Record spent on NY race

The McCall camp will find it difficult to overhaul the incumbent

By Matthew Wells for BBC News Online in New York

Of the 36 state governorships up for grabs in these mid-term elections, only one is more high-profile than the New York contest - and that is because the president's brother is fighting for his political life in Florida.

It is easy to forget that beyond the city limits, there is a whole state that has little in common with the barely suppressed chaos of New York's five boroughs.

Half of the state's population is crammed into the metropolis, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans five-to-one.

In the cities of the north like Rochester and Buffalo the candidate making the biggest splash is local billionaire Tom Golisano, who is running as an independent. He has spent a staggering $54m on his campaign, forcing his rivals to dig deeper themselves.

Big spenders

This contest is now officially the most expensive non-presidential race in American history. The total so far for all the candidates is $119m.

Defending his eight-year reign in the state capital Albany, is Republican candidate George Pataki who has so far spent $39m. To stay popular across this diverse state he has had to be a malleable moderate. Avoiding controversy and running on his record, has been the strategy.

The Democrats are fielding an experienced administrator who also fails in the "big character" stakes. Carl McCall (just $14m so far) was New York state's chief financial officer, and he is trailing his Republican rival by well over 10 points.

George Pataki has so far spent £39m

Experienced pollsters say his education-focused campaign has not been aggressive enough, and he has failed to force Mr Pataki into a real policy debate about anything. The governor has been able to sit on his hands and just watch the days tick-down to polling day.

What the race clearly demonstrates is the immense power of incumbency in these elections. Mr Pataki does not rest on his laurels - he holds them up and flaunts them all around the state.

Picture the scene in a rundown area of Brooklyn last week. The district of Bushwick is impoverished, largely Hispanic, and on the national level, classic Democrat territory.

Crossing party lines

On Gates Avenue, several hundred locals - mainly Puerto Ricans - are standing around waving 'Pataki for Governor' and 'Democrats for Pataki' placards with genuine enthusiasm some 15 minutes before he has even arrived.

Governor Pataki has worked to win the Latino vote in New York. A youth centre is in mid-construction on one side of the street, opposite newly reconditioned houses.

Despite the symbolic importance to the Republicans of controlling the governorship and mayor's office in this unique city, party labels are largely irrelevant

Local resident Gloria Torres said: "I vote Democrat but I support the Republican Pataki. All the years he has been governor he has done a lot of things for Bushwick. I've lived here 27 years, and I can see the difference."

That view from the street applies high up the political food chain. Numerous senior Democrats in the state have crossed party lines to give their endorsement. Quietly and without fuss, George Pataki has built himself a base that crosses all divides and gives him a huge advantage.

As the governor shakes hands and signs autographs for giggling schoolgirls, the man who has organised the visit, Democrat city assemblyman Vito Lopez, tells me there is nothing wrong with his own party's candidate, but he owes the governor too much not to support him.

"He's a moderate, that's why he's doing well," he said. "He's got our attention in the Latino community and he's made a commitment to our issues."

Press influence

Strangely, Carl McCall appears almost shy about his own natural credentials. He would be the first African-American governor if elected, but he does not want to talk about race.

In keeping with this back-to-front election where a Republican incumbent steals the Democrats' clothes, I caught up with Mr McCall on a quiet street in one of Manhattan's richest neighbourhoods.

Mr McCall has not had a kind press. The influential New York Post ran a series of damaging and embarrassing stories about his days as state comptroller.

Needing to land punches at this late stage of the election, he launched into an attack on Mr Pataki's stewardship of the various departments of state.

The problem with the attack strategy, is that it stays on the governor's chosen agenda - his own record - and offers nothing in terms of alternative policy. For most of the press conference, Mr McCall was on the defensive.

'Buying' the vote

Despite his huge focus on education, one fact sums up the way that the Democrat candidate's luck is running. Along with the police and firefighters' unions, the 140,000 member United Federation of Teachers' decided to endorse Mr Pataki.

The McCall camp says that the governor effectively "bought" their vote by providing more than $400m in this year's budget for teachers' pay rises. But this is American politics, where few votes are cast without something explicit in return.

In New York state and elsewhere, only the rogue candidates get to serve up policies based on idealism.

As the airwaves become increasingly cluttered with short, sharp attack- advertisements, the fact is that despite the symbolic importance to the Republicans of controlling the governorship and mayor's office in this unique city, party labels are largely irrelevant.