Kevin Connolly had heard all the feel-good solutions from both state Senate candidates Thursday about how they would curb rising taxes, free businesses of red tape and fix school aid if elected.

But the Volney resident was more concerned about whether Darrel J. Aubertine or David A. Renzi cared more about service than self, even when special interests weighed so heavily.

The candidates gave Mr. Connolly their most candid answers of the first 90-minute debate, which was held in front of a packed crowd at Tavern on the Lock Restaurant, Fulton.

"When we win this thing, this is not going to be a career for me," said Mr. Renzi, a Republican who has no prior local government experience. "I think the opportunity I bring to the district is new eyes. I do not owe anything to anybody except the people of the district and that's how I'm going to vote."

Mr. Aubertine, the Democratic incumbent and a former Assemblyman, also said he didn't see the post as a lifetime career, but added: "It would be nice if this lasted another two years, certainly."

The senator then noted his vote for a property tax cap, which limits local, school and county property tax increases to 4 percent annually.

"The teachers union took a very dim view of that," Mr. Aubertine said. "(But) I put people ahead of politics."

And then the candidates returned mostly to their messages.

Mr. Aubertine talked of a comprehensive plan to lower property taxes: a trifecta of legislation that included the tax cap, a "circuit breaker" he said would help low- and middle-income families, and mandate relief, which gives locally elected officials the freedom to put money toward the programs that need it most.

Mr. Renzi championed himself as a passionate voice for Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties who would work across party lines to fix inequalities. He rarely missed an opportunity to suggest that Mr. Aubertine had failed to stand up for his constituency since being elected senator in February, even though it caused the predominantly pro-Aubertine crowd to boo him once.

"We all have our ways of getting things done," Mr. Aubertine said in response. "I could be looked at more as a work horse than a show horse."

Mr. Renzi criticized Mr. Aubertine's favored circuit breaker because it would "gut" the Middle Class School Tax Relief rebates.

"It's basically 'the Albany two-step,' in my opinion," he said.

But Mr. Aubertine held fast, noting the cost of administering the STAR program was exorbitant.

"I can save you $7 million by not cutting the check," he said. "There are a lot of things you want to think all the way through before you put it out there."

Mr. Renzi then noted that former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer's proposal offered the district about $1 million more in aid than the final 2008-09 budget.

"I would respectfully say to the senator, 'Where were you when that was happening? You should have been screaming,'" he said.

Mr. Aubertine acknowledged that the governor's executive budget did contain more money for local schools.

"What he failed to tell you was this district got an additional $46 million over what we'd gotten before" in 2007, the Democrat added.

Mr. Renzi replied that other schools districts "got billions more" and "that's why we're in the mess we're in."

Both men advocated against the Assembly's pro-gun-control agenda and advocated for reducing regulations on small businesses, developing college programs that would entice young students to stay locally and work locally after graduating, and helping municipalities and school districts consolidate where appropriate.

The candidates will next debate Sept. 16 at Ogdensburg City Hall, 330 Ford St. A time and moderator have not yet been set.