Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer is poised as one of the strongest incumbents facing re-election this year. Schumer, who was unopposed in the primary, will seek a second term against Republican Howard Mills, who is favored by Gov. George Pataki. Mills is the deputy minority leader of the state Assembly.

Two Republicans from the state's Congressional delegation are retiring in 2004 _ Jack Quinn of the 27th district and Amo Houghton of the 29th.

In the 29th CD, Houghton-endorsed state Sen. John Randy Kuhl beat Mark Assini of Rochester, a member of Monroe County's legislature, in a GOP primary. Kuhl will take on Samara Barend, a former campaign aide to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. She easily beat former stripper Jeremy Alderson, a Cornell University graduate, in the primary. Should the 27-year-old Barend beat Kuhl in November she would become the youngest member of Congress.

Erie County Comptroller Nancy Naples is the Republican choice to replace retiring Quinn. She'll face state Assemblyman Brian Higgins of Buffalo, who won a five-way Democratic primary.

Two 22-year congressional veterans, Republican Sherwood Boehlert and Democrat Major Owens turned back primary challenges aimed at sending them into forced retirement.

Owens, 68, had said it was his last campaign, and the decision touched off a three-way Democratic primary in Brooklyn's 11th Congressional District, where the former librarian and one-time state senator faced two well-known New York City Council members, Yvette Clarke and Tracy Boyland.

In upstate's 24th CD, Boehlert, 67, easily survived a repeat GOP primary against conservative David Walrath, a doctor from Auburn who came within 2,700 votes in 2002 of knocking off the moderate chairman of the House Science Committee.

Republican Gov. George Pataki is serving his third term, having easily won re-election in 2002. Since then, though, his job approval rating has fallen sharply in the face of state budget woes.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is a possible contender for the governorship in 2006. The Democrat has made no secret of his desire to be governor of New York. And his attacks on unethical trading practices, self-dealing and conflicts of interest in the financial world have produced big headlines and favorable coverage.

The Harvard Law graduate has stopped just short of saying he is in the race. But in nearly every other respect, he appears to be running.

In addition to stepping up his criticism of Republican Gov. George Pataki _ last year, the governor was "engaging and smart;" this year, the Pataki administration is "lacking in real strategic thinking and accountability" _ Spitzer has begun raising the money he will need to get there.

In 2002, Pataki beat Democratic Comptroller H. Carl McCall and billionaire Independence candidate B. Thomas Golisano in a record $118 million race. McCall is the only black ever elected to statewide office and had been endorsed by former President Bill Clinton.