ALBANY — Governor Spitzer derailed an attempt by lawmakers to give themselves pay raises by pressuring Senate Democrats, a conference dependent on the governor’s fund-raising apparatus and political influence, to withdraw their support.

The Senate Democrats’ sudden reversal yesterday surprised other lawmakers and outraged Senate Republicans, who assumed they had enough votes to override a governor’s veto. They spent the day belittling the Senate’s rookie Democratic minority leader, Malcolm Smith, whom they accused of breaking a promise to support a pay raise bill and acting as a puppet of the governor.

Mr. Spitzer, who has proposed a separate bill that would hike the pay of only judges, is vowing to oppose any measure that would increase the salaries of lawmakers until they agree to a major tightening of campaign finance laws.

“If a pay raise is advanced now, without action on key bills — particularly campaign finance reform — it would undermine the people’s confidence in government,” the governor said in a statement.

For the moment, no side appears to be budging, a worrisome development for Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who has threatened to sue the state if the Legislature does not grant judges their first pay raise in more than eight years. At the annual Law Day ceremony in front of the Court of Appeals, she used her speech to beg for more money.

“Most definitely the picture of our judges hat in hand, on bended knee, begging and pleading for even cost-of-living increases these past eight-plus years is not what Alexander Hamilton or anyone else had in mind when they crafted the pillars of American government,” she said.

Senate Republicans have balked at the governor’s campaign finance proposal but came to work yesterday confident that they could circumvent the governor’s demands.

Last week, they introduced a bill that would increase the annual salaries of state Supreme Court justices to $165,200 — the level of federal district court judges — from $136,700 and would create a 13-member commission that would recommend new salary levels for lawmakers and statewide elected officials.

The bill, which was co-sponsored by all 62 senators and supported by the Democratic speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, appeared to be veto-proof and was expected to pass both houses yesterday.

The momentum came to a halt when Mr. Smith announced yesterday that he had changed his mind over the weekend, saying his conference would no longer support the bill unless the Legislature addressed “priority bills, including the reform agenda.”

He reversed course after speaking with the governor more than once over the weekend. Sources said Mr. Smith was concerned about protecting his conference members’ relationship with the governor, whose financial and political support they are counting on to defeat Republican incumbents in the 2008 races and take control of the Senate. Senate Democrats also have millions of dollars in capital project requests that are waiting the governor’s approval.

“I’m glad he did what he has done,” Mr. Spitzer said.

Several members of Mr. Smith’s conference said they had not read the bill before they were listed as co-sponsors and demanded that their names be removed. Senate Democrats privately acknowledged that their leader had miscalculated last week when he agreed to join Republicans in support of the measure.

They said Mr. Smith may have underestimated the governor’s reaction and did not expect Mr. Silver to agree to vote on it in the Assembly so quickly, forcing the senator’s hand. Mr. Silver ended up postponing a vote after learning that Mr. Smith had backed away. Instead, they spent hours debating a resolution urging President Bush to sign the Iraq war spending bill that includes a deadline for withdrawal. The resolution passed.

Among Senate Democrats uneasy with the governor’s influence over their conference, there was a concern that the sudden turn-around has made them look weak.

Senate Republicans, who passed the pay raise bill with support from only one Democrat, seized on the flip-flop with glee. “I think Malcolm Smith ought to be the leader that he was elected to be and stop just following along in the footsteps of what the governor is dictating,” Mr. Bruno said. “People ought to say what they mean and mean what they say and not be run over by others.”

On the Senate floor, the rhetoric was even harsher. “On Wednesday, we’re all together. On Monday, someone gave us a lollipop and we’re sucking on the lollipop,” a Republican senator, Bill Larkin, said.

Another Republican senator, Stephen Saland, noticed that Mr. Smith had addressed the chamber with his left hand in his suit pocket. “I was fearful his left arm was broken,” he said.

The positions taken by each side were a perfect distillation of Albany gridlock. The governor and legislative leaders each had an incentive to sabotage the other’s plans. If Mr. Spitzer had allowed Mr. Smith to approve the bill, he would lose important leverage that could help win not only agreements on campaign finance restrictions but could come in handy in coming weeks during supplemental budget negotiations with billions of dollars of capital money up for grabs.

Mr. Bruno, whose conference is holding a fragile two-seat majority lead, is refusing to back a campaign finance bill that isn’t a top priority for voters and could weaken an already vulnerable conference by making it harder for his members to raise money.

The senator has accused the governor of hypocrisy, saying he wouldn’t resume talks on campaign finance legislation until the governor agreed to cancel a June 7 birthday fund-raiser. Mr. Spitzer reportedly has told donors who raise $1 million for his 2010 campaign that they will be granted invitations to special private events with the governor.

Lawmakers, elected officials, and judges haven’t received a pay raise since 1999. Lawmakers, who are technically serving as part-time officials, receive an annual salary of $79,500, not including stipends of up to $30,000 they can earn through committee assignments.