A recent democratic debate was held in Brooklyn, and there were numerous harsh exchanges between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

It is clear how important the state of New York is to both campaigns, considering it could either secure Clinton’s success or provide Sanders with a fighting chance.

Both candidates were criticizing each other’s qualifications, policy positions and judgment. Sanders voiced his disapproval of many decisions Clinton made in the past to demonstrate poor judgment on her part.

“I question a judgment which voted for the war in Iraq, the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country, voted for virtually every disastrous trade agreement which cost us millions of decent-paying jobs,” Sanders said. “And, I question her judgment about running super PACs, which are collecting tens of millions of dollars from special interests, including $15 million from Wall Street.”

This criticism was later followed with a disagreement on the specifics of raising the minimum wage. Whereas Sanders supports an immediate raise to $15 throughout the United States, Clinton defended a more gradual approach that may end up with varying wages depending on the cost of living in particular cities and states.

“When this campaign began, I said that we got to end the starvation minimum wage of $7.25, raise it to $15,” Sanders said. “Secretary Clinton said let’s raise it to $12. There’s a difference. And, by the way, what has happened is history has outpaced Secretary Clinton because all over this country, people are standing up and they’re saying, ‘$12 is not good enough. We need $15 an hour.’”

Although it would be incredible to raise the minimum wage to $15, this is simply not a realistic proposition for every region of the country. Raising the minimum wage to $15 is a radical suggestion, and it will have a negative impact on small businesses.

The owners of mom-and-pop shops throughout the United States would struggle to come up with that kind of money for every employee, particularly entry-level positions. Not every business can afford to pay its dishwashers $15 an hour.

Clinton’s proposal is much more sensible because it takes into consideration the variation from city to city and state to state.

“We want to raise it higher than it ever has been,” Clinton said. “But, we also have to recognize some states and some cities will go higher, and I support that. I have taken my cue from the Democrats in the Senate, led by Senator Patty Murray and others, like my good friend Kirsten Gillibrand, who has said we will set a national level of $12 and then urge any place that can go above it to go above it.”

Throughout the debate, there were moments when Clinton and Sanders were yelling at each other and interrupting each other’s responses.

In fact, Wolf Blitzer, the CNN debate moderator, had to remind the candidates that if they kept yelling over each other, the viewers would not be able to hear either one of them.

Both candidates were eager to prove to the citizens of New York that they deserved their votes. The battle for New York has been a rowdy one, but it has provided both candidates with the opportunity to defend their record and earn some votes.

Ultimately, considering the hostilities on the debate stage, it is apparent that the election is heating up, and it seems that New York may have the final say in deciding who the Democratic nominee will be.