Republican Joe Lhota is daring his better-known Democratic opponent in the race for mayor to debate every week before November’s election.
The Campaign Finance Board has scheduled just two telševised mayoral showdowns between Lhota and rival Bill de Blasio.
Both are in Manhattan and will take place on October 22šnd and 29th.
Lhota’s campaign says his call for weekly debates — including one in each borough — is an outgrowth of his pledge to increase communication between City Hall and the public if he’s elected.
But more exposure would clearly be a boon to Lhota, a former chairman of the MTA and deputy mayor to Rudy Giuliani — who in an early poll this week was far behind deBlasio and was unknown to 30 percent of those surveyed.
That’s in part because the relatively drama-free Republican primary drew limited attention.
By contrast, de Blasio benefited from a rough and tumble roller-coaster of a Democratic primary, during which he gradually climbed from fourtšh place to first.
De Blasio’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.