This New York Sun article speculates on whether New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in considering a challenge to Governor Eliot Spitzer in the next election, and wraps with a nod to Cuomo's support for public financing.

Spitzer has made campaign finance reform and public financing a centerpiece of his first term agenda, so where does Cuomo stand?

Lawmakers have also noticed Mr. Cuomo's absence from the debate over campaign finance laws, an issue that has become the governor's top policy priority in the last weeks of session. Mr. Spitzer is struggling to get lawmakers to agree to an overhaul of campaign finance restrictions, including an across-the-board reduction in limits and bans on certain forms of giving.

At any moment, Mr. Cuomo could have voiced support for Mr. Spitzer's plan and urged lawmakers to pass the legislation. Instead, the attorney general — to the disappointment of the Spitzer administration — has decided thus far to stay on the sidelines.

"The attorney general is a strong advocate for public campaign finance, and that's where he stands," a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, John Milgrim, said.