Pataki is surrounded: There are two Democratic senators, a Democratic comptroller.

By entering the Democratic comptroller primary and seeking the Republican and Liberal nominations, too, he would be signaling a complete turnaround since his first race for citywide office in 1969.

In 1990, he defeated the incumbent Democratic comptroller in a primary, using his outsider status as a campaign theme.

Three people are seeking in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary to succeed Elizabeth Holtzman, who is running for New York City comptroller.

"Everybody knew we would elect a Democratic comptroller in 1989," she said.

Tensions between the Republican governor and the Democratic comptroller have been roiling below the surface of late, but rarely have they been this contentious with each other in public.

There is also special reason for voters to turn out for H. Carl McCall, the Democratic incumbent in the contest for state comptroller.

It was in a 1994 report by the state's Democratic comptroller, John Sharp.

A Democratic comptroller must be just as independent from Democratic governors and legislators as Mr. Regan was in auditing state accounts and investing pension funds.

Two independently elected Democratic comptrollers served with Mayor Lindsay throughout his eight-year tenure.