Republicans allied with gubernatorial candidate John Faso are planning an attempt to oust the chairman of the New York Republican State Committee, Stephen Minarik, who has labored to unite a fractious party that has seen its political and financial fortunes decline in the waning days of George Pataki’s governorship.

Mr. Minarik, a powerful local party boss from Monroe County who was handpicked by Mr. Pataki for the top job in 2004, is vowing to remain leader at least until his two-year term ends in September 2007.

Republican county chairmen clustered around western and central New York and the Hudson Valley are quietly searching for a replacement for Mr. Minarik, who they say has not done enough to build the party infrastructure when the GOP is in danger of losing four statewide races in November, the Republican leader of Wayne County, Daniel Olson, said.

“To me, it’s almost as if Chairman Minarik has disappeared,” Mr. Olson said. “I don’t see any activity coming out of state committee.”

Some county leaders are pressing for a change in leadership as early as this month, he said.

A coup could have political implications for the governor’s race and Mr. Pataki. Opponents of Mr. Minarik are seeking to install a new leader who is loyal to Mr. Faso and would throw around the party’s weight on his behalf. Such a move would threaten Mr. Pataki’s control of the party, which will be important for him if he runs for president.

A new leader close to Mr. Faso could also put pressure on Mr. Pataki to transfer millions of dollars that the governor has raised for his dormant re-election account to the state committee, money that could be steered toward Mr. Faso’s campaign.

Mr. Olson said the county leaders involved in the discussions concerning Mr. Minarik would be willing to give him another chance to run the party if he is able to “infuse himself with new energy.”

“One end of the continuum is to go ahead and recruit and install a new chairman for the campaign season,” he said. The other “is to ratchet up the current chairman we’ve got.”

Told of Mr. Olson’s comments, Mr. Minarik said: “He should try to find a new leader if he doesn’t like me. I don’t care, quite frankly.”

The movement against Mr. Minarik appears to be only in planning stages. County leaders from Republican-heavy downstate counties, including Westchester and Suffolk, say they have been given no indication that a coup is in the works. The Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, a Republican, has shown little desire for such drama, which could upset his efforts to get Republicans re-elected.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t think there’s anything to it,” the Republican chairman of New York County, James Ortenzio, said. “I’m not a coup d’etat type of person. That’s for other countries.”

County leaders can force Mr. Minarik to step down by holding a referendum. Opponents would need two-thirds of the vote, which would be weighted toward counties with higher numbers of Republican voters. It’s more likely that county leaders would try to urge him out during private meetings.

Mr. Minarik said his harshest critics have contributed little in the way of financial support to the committee. The party’s executive director, Ryan Moses, suggested that some are trying to pin Mr. Faso’s financial woes on Mr. Minarik.

“We do the very best we can given the circumstances,” Mr. Minarik said. “We’re not in the best position right now. And people have to understand that.”

As party chairman, Mr. Minarik has faced difficulty tending to delegates and Mr. Pataki, whose marching orders have often been at odds with party chairmen. Most significantly, Mr. Minarik was pushed by Mr. Pataki to endorse William Weld for governor, only to see him falter.

Mr. Faso’s victory at the Republican state convention was a blow to Mr. Minarik and led delegates to talk about seeking a new party leader. The talk died down after Mr. Minarik urged Mr. Weld to drop out of the race and endorse Mr. Faso. Some party leaders argued that it would be unwise to rock the boat months before the November election, and Mr. Faso said he wasn’t looking for Mr. Minarik to step down.

Discussion of a coup has heated up in the last two weeks, with county chairmen raising fresh concerns about the state party’s financial shape. Critics of Mr. Minarik say the committee is running out of money and they fear its lack of resources will drag down Mr. Faso and other Republican political candidates facing uphill battles in November.

They are planning to focus attention on the committee’s upcoming Board of Elections filing, which will show how much the committee has raised and spent since January.

“There are a lot of questions, and we don’t have answers. Until July 15 rolls around, we don’t know,” the chairman of Onondaga County, Robert Smith, one of the party members being considered for the top post, said.

State committee officials would not say how much money they expect to have on hand by the July 15 filing. County chairmen expect the total to be well under $1 million. Mr. Minarik said the state party has less in the bank than the Monroe County party organization, which he runs.

Mr. Moses said it’s not unusual for county committees to have more money than the state party because local candidates rely on county organizations more for support than statewide candidates rely on the state party.

Records show the committee in January had $667,000 in two state accounts, $575,000 of which came from the Senate campaign account of the Westchester County district attorney, Jeanine Pirro, who transferred the money after she decided to run for attorney general. The state committee could transfer that money back to Ms. Pirro’s attorney general campaign account.

Since January, the state party has had one fund-raiser, from which it took in $600,000, according to Mr. Moses. It has at least two more fundraisers slated in the next two months. The proceeds from one will be split between the committee and Mr. Pataki’s national PAC.