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Five candidates for state attorney general debated the issues at the WABC-TV studios on the Upper West Side and made their case for why they should be the state's top lawyer.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, former Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo and former federal prosecutor Sean Coffey are seeking the party's nod, and the candidates sometimes went on the attack.

With a strong fundraising lead, Rice emerged as the candidate her rivals seemed most intent on knocking. Schneiderman went after Rice's apparent flip-flopping on the Rockefeller drug law reforms.

Rice says she supports the reforms, which loosened the state's strict drug laws, but opponents pointed to concerns she raised at the time about a key aspect of the legislation as evidence that she opposed the changes.

"I don't know why you are changing your position now, it's pretty well documented. We are entitled to disagree but we should make sure our record is clear," said Schneiderman.

"I didn't change my opinion at all," replied Rice.

Rice in turn went after Coffey, calling him a Wall Street insider. Coffey represented corporations earlier in his career before taking on Wall Street as a trial lawyer. Bloomberg Markets magazine called him "Wall Street's New Nemesis" in a 2005 profile.

"Calling me an insider is like calling [Prohibition agent] Eliot Ness a member of the Capone gang," said Coffey.

State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, meanwhile, stood out from his rivals with his opposition to a mosque slated to go up near the World Trade Center site.

"The mosque being built in that area is offensive to me as a matter of my role as a citizen," said Brodsky.

Rice was the only candidate to say she would have prosecuted former Governor Eliot Spitzer over the prostitution scandal.

The debate did not touch upon news that Schneiderman left the scene of an accident with a parked car outside the NY1 studios earlier this week. Schneiderman previously said he did not know his car caused any damage.

Rice weighed in on the matter after the face-off.

"The next person elected attorney general should have good judgment," said Rice. "I think everyone agrees that when you hit a car, you should stop and at least call the police, leave a note."

All the candidates stuck around after the debate to talk to reporters about how it went, except for Schneiderman.