Cynthia Nixon wants to make Andrew Cuomo sweat — literally

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is known for freezing out his opponents — and everyone who comes into his office. So ahead of their gubernatorial primary debate, opponent Cynthia Nixon is requesting they turn up the heat.

Cuomo and Nixon will meet up Wednesday for the incumbent governor's first solo primary debate since 2002, and the first political debate ever for Nixon, a longtime actress and activist. But before the Democratic foes even make it to Long Island, where the debate is being held at Hofstra University, Nixon's team has requested the debate hall be heated to a toasty 76 degrees, The New York Times reports. The thermostat twist would combat what a Nixon strategist calls the "sexist" cold temperatures that Cuomo coincidentally favors.

Wednesday's debate is the only one Cuomo agreed to out of Nixon's many proposed matchups, the Times says. Nixon strategist Rebecca Katz also says Cuomo's team laid out strict terms for the debate: There will be no handshakes, and the candidates will sit at separate desks. But Cuomo's preferred room temperature, which an attendee of his 2011 State of the State address described to the Times as "meat locker," wasn't specified.

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So Nixon jumped in with a request of her own. In an email to debate host WCBS-TV, Katz asked the station to set the thermostat to 76 degrees because work conditions are "notoriously sexist when it comes to room temperature," per the Times. Since the 1960s, thermostats have often catered to thin, middle-aged men who wear suits to the office.

Read more about how the candidates will go "tush to tush" — as Nixon described the seated debate — at The New York Times.