Westchester County Executive Andy Spano and Republican challenger Rob Astorino went head to head during a heated debate on News 12 Wednesday night.

"He's going to blame everybody else for the high taxes, the highest in America," Astorino said, adding that his opponent is "out of touch."

Among the issues the candidates tackled during the debate were the county's high taxes and the controversial settlement to build 750 affordable housing units targeting minorities in mostly white communities.

Astorino has previously accused Spano of falsifying documents and defrauding the government - allegations found to be untrue by the independent Fair Campaign Practices Committee.

Spano was originally against the plan, but says he changed his position to save taxpayers money and avoid the stigma of Westchester being labeled racist.