With Governor Pataki still quiet on whether he plans to seek a fourth term and with Mayor Giuliani apparently uninterested in the job, officials with the state Republican Party are said to be sizing up potential backup candidates with one common trait: wealth.

A former Republican governor of Massachusetts who moved to New York five years ago, William Weld, proved he could win over Democratic voters with conservative fiscal and liberal social views three years before Mr. Pataki beat Mario Cuomo with a similar ideological strategy in 1994.

According to Republican insiders, however, Mr. Weld’s name has surfaced as a potential Republican candidate not so much because of his electoral accomplishments – his last race ended in defeat, to Senator Kerry in 1996 – as for his potential ability to put personal money into a campaign against the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, who is the only avowed Democratic candidate for next year’s race.

The chairman of the state Republican Party, Stephen Minarik, was criticized in December for saying he would look to wealthy candidates if Mr. Pataki chose not to seek a fourth term. That Mr. Weld’s name has surfaced as a potential candidate in recent days, insiders said, demonstrated that the strategy has only solidified since December.

A similar sign, insiders said, Republican officials’ apparent lack of interest in a gubernatorial campaign by the former Republican minority leader of the Assembly, John Faso, who lost the state comptroller’s race to Alan Hevesi by a mere 3% in 2002. Mr. Faso is said to be interested in running for governor.

“He’s not being considered right now,” one Republican insider with knowledge of party thinking said, on condition of anonymity. “Not in 2006.”

Some Republicans said Mr. Faso should get stronger consideration, based on his proven ability to win votes and raise money. They said that if Mr. Pataki decides not to run, a period of debate is likely to ensue over the importance of personal wealth.

“I think the committee will need some arm-twisting to raise money,” one Republican insider said. “But I think there would be enough mobilization. This shouldn’t depend on whether a candidate is self-financed.”

Mr. Faso, who did not return a call for comment, raised more than $7 million and won 1.8 million votes in the race for comptroller. A resident of Kinderhook, Columbia County, he is now a partner in the law firm Manatt, Phelps, Phillips, LLC. The committee he used to raise money for the comptroller’s race, Friends of John Faso, had $2,448 left over as of January, according to records kept by the state Board of Elections.

Mr. Weld, a partner at Leeds Weld & Co., a private equity investment firm, was raised in Smithtown, Long Island. Son of a New York City investment banker, he maintains homes throughout the state. Mr. Weld told The New York Sun on Tuesday he would seriously consider a run for governor in 2006, but business interests could take precedence.

“I’ve got another race in me,” he said. “I think it would be fun.”

The chairman of the state Conservative Party, Michael Long, acknowledged that money would be important to the governor’s race but said the backing of his party would also be important. A Republican candidate for governor has not won in New York without Conservative Party backing since 1974.

Mr. Weld’s views on social issues suggest he would not win Conservative backing, Mr. Long said this week. “We would have to have a conversation,” he said.

Mr. Long said Mr. Faso would win Conservative Party backing if he were a candidate.

“John Faso would be acceptable to the Conservative Party,” Mr. Long said. “I do know he has an interest in statewide office. He ran a very successful campaign in 2002. He’s articulate and knowledgeable, and I think he would run a very effective campaign.”

Yet even if Mr. Faso were to convince Republican strategists of his viability and win the backing of the Conservative Party, one Republican insider said, some of his conservative views could end up hurting his chances of being nominated.

“I think what hurts him even more than the money is the fact that he’s pro-life,” the source said.