ALBANY – Senator Schumer is taking himself out of the race for governor in 2006, opting instead to play a more powerful role in Washington.

Mr. Schumer, who was re-elected this month in a landslide, announced yesterday that he will be taking two new jobs within the Senate: a seat on the Finance Committee and the chairmanship of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

In accepting the positions, Mr. Schumer said he promised the incoming minority leader, Senator Reid of Nevada, that he would stay in the Senate through the 2006 elections.

That rules out a run for governor and clears the way for Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to run for the top job here in 2006 without a costly and divisive Democratic primary.

Although Mr. Schumer remains in the minority party of the Senate – the Democrats lost four seats on Election Day – the new appointments significantly elevate his clout at the nation’s capital.

On the Finance Committee, he will have a voice in national debates over Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and have the opportunity to secure more federal funds for the state.

As head of the campaign committee, he will be the Senate Democrats’ chief fund-raiser and political strategist and, in a reorganization by Mr. Reid, part of the minority leadership.

Mr. Schumer will also keep his current seats on the Judiciary Committee, where he has led the opposition to some of President Bush’s judicial nominations, and on the Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over one of New York City’s most important industries.

“This was an offer that, for the sake of New York, I could not refuse,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement yesterday.

Although political insiders had speculated for months about his running for governor, Mr. Schumer said he never seriously considered leaving the Senate.

“I’ve been a legislator for 30 years,” he said. “It is what I know how to do and what I love to do. … The new positions Senator Reid offered me should make the job even more productive and exciting.”

He said he particularly looks forward to following in Senator Moynihan’s footsteps as a New Yorker on the Finance Committee, which he said had been a dream of his. In taking on the campaign committee job, Mr. Schumer also mirrors Senator D’Amato’s former role as chief fund-raiser for Republican candidates for the upper chamber.

“Quite simply, it means more clout and more power” for New York State, a Democratic strategist, Howard Wolfson of the Glover Park Group, said. Mr. Wolfson, who is a political strategist for Senator Clinton, noted that the Finance Committee considers almost every major piece of legislation, and the fund-raising role puts Mr. Schumer in a position to do valuable favors for his colleagues.

“The DSCC and the Finance Committee are a great one-two punch,” Mr. Wolfson said.

“I certainly think it’s good to have a senator from New York on the Finance Committee,” one of New York’s lobbyists at Washington, John Faso, said. “It’s important for the industries of the state, the banking and financial community within the state.”

Mr. Faso, a Republican who was minority leader of the Assembly, noted that the Social Security reforms proposed by Mr. Bush, which would allow younger workers to set up private investment accounts, “would create a big market for Wall Street and would be important to our major industry.”

A Democratic political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, called Mr. Schumer’s elevation “great for Democrats locally and nationally.”

“Chuck’s involvement in the DSCC means that they’ll have somebody who knows how to raise money and, more importantly, knows how to win. He’ll bring New York smarts and gusto to the task,” Mr. Sheinkopf said. “Democrats in the state will avoid a bloodbath between two of the state’s most popular Democrats and, with the Republicans’ weak bench, have a real opportunity to win the governorship in 2006.”

Although Democrats said the development increases their chances of claiming the governor’s office in 2006, the newly elected Republican state chairman, Stephen Minarik of Rochester, disagreed.

“At the end, it’s a Democrat versus a Republican,” Mr. Minarik said. “I don’t think it’s going to make any difference.”

Mr. Schumer’s decision clarifies the Democrat’s side of the 2006 campaign, but the Republican side remains murky. Governor Pataki repeated yesterday that he is not interested in joining the president’s second-term Cabinet or otherwise going to Washington, but he would not commit to seeking a fourth term.

“You never say unequivocally what may or may not happen,” Mr. Pataki said.

“Don’t count George Pataki out,” Mr. Sheinkopf said. “It’s always a mistake. He is tough, smart, and shows his cards when he needs to. … Now people will focus on what George Pataki does or doesn’t do.”

Another viable candidate would be Mayor Giuliani, but most observers expect he will run for president in 2008 rather than seek any statewide office in 2006. After that, there are several lesser-known Republicans with an eye on higher office, including Mr. Pataki’s secretary of state, Randy Daniels; the executive of Erie County, Joel Giambra, and a state senator from Nassau County, Michael Balboni. Some members of Congress, such as Reps. John Sweeney of Saratoga County, Peter King of Long Island, and Thomas Reynolds of Erie County, are also considered possible statewide candidates.

Mr. Spitzer issued a statement yesterday congratulating Mr. Schumer.

“His appointment to the Finance Committee will go a long way toward helping New York get its fair share of assistance from the federal government,” the attorney general said. “And his designation as head of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee will bring new energy and direction to our national party.”

A spokesman for the attorney general, Darren Dopp, said Mr. Spitzer is considering a run for governor but has made no decision.

“He’ll say what his intentions are sometime soon, but not today,” Mr. Dopp said. “It’s a day for Chuck to be congratulated.”