Comptroller candidate Salim Ejaz may have lost the support of the Rent Is Too [Damn] High Party, which originally put him on the ballot, but at a debate with Democratic nominee John Liu on Oct. 16, he managed a feat many of Liu’s Democratic rivals tried, but failed, to achieve: He put Liu on the defensive.

In an interview with two reporters after the debate, he questioned the authenticity of Liu’s background as a certifi ed actuary. One of the reporters, Frank Lombardi of the Daily News, then pressed Liu on the claim.

It may have edged into the realm of conspiracy theory, but Ejaz’s attack at least shifted the attention, momentarily, away from his own problems: He is vastly outmatched in money and name recognition; he moved back to New York City from Long Island only last year; his own party has rejected his candidacy and endorsed Liu. Each was touched upon in the debate, moderated by an oftenexasperated Diana Williams (“Okay, Mr. Ejaz,” she would frequently interrupt).

As Liu delved deeply and relentlessly into the minutiae of the city’s pension portfolio, Ejaz assailed what he saw as a citywide assault on middle- and working-class families.

“This is a horrendous state of affairs,” he said in his thick Pakistani accent. “This is the typical government in action. Incompetent. Ineffi cient. I’ll repeat the word: Incompetent.” One of Ejaz’s rare openings came when Williams questioned Liu on the scandal that nearly ended his campaign: Allegations that his claim to have worked in a sweatshop as a child had been embellished. Liu gave the standard line. “People like to say that I was made in Taiwan,” he joked.

Ejaz attempted perhaps his most withering attack.

“To obtain the sympathies of the working class, John comes up with a sob story,” he said. “Sympathies of the working class. It can be arrived at by actions.” He then pledged not to support any new tax increases to balance the budget, which prompted Liu to quip, “I think Mr. Ejaz is repeating Mayor Bloomberg’s line of ‘no new taxes.’”

After the debate, Liu would not say whether lines like those had allowed him to effectively neutralize his general election competition. But Ejaz, when asked who had won, was not so gracious.

“I did, of course,” he said. “What did you expect?”