Underdog Joe Lhota likely will have his last, best shot to cut into Bill de Blasio’s commanding lead when the top candidates for mayor of New York City square off for their third and final debate.

Lhota, a Republican and one-time deputy mayor to Rudolph Giuliani, delivered perhaps his finest moment of the campaign in their debate last week. He and de Blasio traded sometimes angry barbs, frequently raising their voices over charges of race-baiting and the legacies of their one-time mentors.

But while de Blasio, a Democrat and the city’s public advocate, at times appeared rattled during the debate, the fierce exchanges did nothing to dent his lead. He has led Lhota by more than 40 points in every poll taken since the primary, including one released after the testy debate.

Lhota has remained on the attack but is running out of time. Voters go to the polls in less than a week to elect a successor to three-time incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Wednesday night’s debate was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed a day out of respect for the one-year anniversary of the landfall of Superstorm Sandy in New York. Across the five boroughs, 44 people were killed in the historic storm.

Lhota was steering the Metropolitan Transportation Agency at the time of the storm and received kudos for his handling of the crisis, from which the vast commuter network largely escaped unscathed. The debate is expected to feature several Sandy-related questions which could give Lhota a chance to bolster his executive background and suggest that de Blasio has little experience running large organizations.

The two men also will likely continue their sparring from last week over their previous stints in City Hall, both as aides. Lhota worked for Giuliani, while de Blasio was a staffer to David Dinkins. Giuliani and Dinkins competed in two elections, in 1989 and 1993, and at times this campaign has resembled the making of a trilogy.

Lhota has repeatedly suggested that a de Blasio victory would send New York back to the high crime rates it experienced while Dinkins was in charge, a claim that was the center of his most hard-hitting campaign ad. De Blasio has suggested that the ad, which features graphic images of violence and crime, was reminiscent of the “race-baiting and fear-mongering” tactics used by Giuliani.

Giuliani, a polarizing figure in the city he once led, has not campaigned for his former top aide in the general election. Lhota has said Giuliani would make some appearances in the race’s final days but has not released any details.

The first hour of the 90-minute debate, which is co-sponsored by WNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Telemundo and the city’s campaign finance board, will be aired live on broadcast TV. The final 30 minutes will be streamed online.

(AP)