Four Republican candidates for governor are facing off Monday night for their first primary debate ahead of the June 28 election.

Ahead of the debate, the last Republican to hold the office — 1995 to 2006 — weighed in on what New Yorkers can expect from what could be an hourlong slugfest.

“It’s not gonna be so much about massive policy differences as different approaches leading the state,” said the former three-term governor of New York, George Pataki, who has not endorsed anyone in the race.

“There are two big questions I think in Republican voters’ minds: Who can win first and if they do, when can they actually get anything done in Albany?”

The debate between Rep. Lee Zedlin (R-Suffolk); former White House aide and son of ex-New York City mayor Rudy, Andrew Giuliani; businessman Harry Wilson; and former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino will begin at 7 p.m. on CBS-2.

With early voting beginning June 18, the race remains up in the air with up to two other debates being planned ahead of Election Day but none yet set.

The primary winner will face the Democratic nominee in November, most likely Gov. Kathy Hochul, who ascended to the executive chamber last summer after Gov. Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign amid a wide-ranging sexual harassment scandal.

Zeldin has been the putative GOP frontrunner in the primary based on his long-standing edge with polling, fundraising and endorsements from party leaders.

But Wilson, who is self-funding his campaign, has blitzed television with ads touting his business experience while Giuliani has taken the lead in at least one poll in recent weeks, buoyed by his dad’s name recognition and connection to former President Donald Trump. 

“Lee Zeldin is the party leadership candidate. You have Harry Wilson, who’s the business outsider. Then you have Andrew Giuliani, who is the young guy running as a young fresh face, and Astorino who’s the experienced candidate,” Pataki said.

While the candidates broadly share right-of-center positions on most policy issues, there are significant differences on some issues.

Wilson, a former economic advisor to Democratic President Barack Obama, is the only pro-choice candidate in the race while Astorino has called for strengthening the state’s red flag law in the wake of massing shootings in Buffalo and Texas.

Zeldin has faced tough headlines in recent weeks after making controversial statements about appointing a pro-life health commissioner if elected governor while calling for a weakening of the red flag law in New York.

A recently-filed lawsuit by Wilson has also raised questions about Zeldin’s fundraising.

Giuliani, meanwhile, has stuck out from the competition by refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

That distinction means he will have to participate remotely in the debate per CBS rules barring unvaccinated people from its broadcast studios.

Pataki says the GOP gubernatorial candidates ought to stick to messaging Monday that can appeal to primary and general election voters alike if they want to maximize their chances of becoming the first Republican to win a statewide election since Pataki in 2002.

“I’ve always believed you have one message regardless of the audience,” said Pataki.

“So I don’t think they should be saying something tonight to appeal to Republican primary voters with the idea that you can say something different in November to appeal to the million-plus Democrats.”