SCHENECTADY – Free from the burden of facing an incumbent in the governor’s race next year, New York’s attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, offered a glimpse yesterday of what his campaign might look like, even as speculation spread that the Democratic darling will face a primary challenge from a downstate politician accustomed to rocking the boat.

Governor Pataki’s announcement Wednesday that he will not seek another term in office eased the already smooth path many had predicted for Mr. Spitzer in next year’s race. The attorney general has raised $12 million since announcing his candidacy last December and was leading the governor by double-digit margins in a number of statewide polls. Mr. Spitzer has been reluctant, however, to provide specific details on the policies he would favor as governor. He spoke more expansively yesterday, hinting at the themes he will take up and taking a few mild swipes at the lame-duck governor.

“We are going to have vision in terms of a transportation policy, an energy policy, an education policy, health care,” Mr. Spitzer said after a private talk with business and civic leaders in this financially strapped upstate city. “We will have that vision. We will articulate it. We have not seen it, in my view, adequately in any of those areas.”

On health care, Mr. Spitzer defended his oversight of the state’s Medicaid fraud unit by blaming the Department of Health for sending too few referrals to his investigators. He said recovery of wrongful Medicaid charges has improved sevenfold during his tenure and would have been even greater had the unit been fed more information.

On economic development, Mr. Spitzer outlined a vision in which private investors would work in partnership with the state. Mr. Pataki’s Centers of Excellence initiative is built on a similar principle.

“It will be up to the private sector to have specific investment ideas that will generate the jobs,” Mr. Spitzer said. “What we in government have to do is make sure the inputs are available in a low-tax environment.”

Mr. Spitzer offered his opinion on some additional issues but declined to weigh in on others. He said he would sign a bill that passed the Legislature this summer giving women of any age unregulated access to emergency contraception. Political observers eagerly await Mr. Pataki’s decision on the bill as the governor eyes a presidential bid in 2008. Mr. Spitzer’s position was unequivocal. “I would sign that,” he said.

Just as Mr. Spitzer appeared to be finding his groove as a candidate, one of the state’s top elected Democrats indicated that the executive of Nassau County, Thomas Suozzi, is mixing for a fight against the attorney general next year. Mr. Suozzi, who upset a Republican incumbent in a heavily Republican county to win his current job, garnered statewide attention last fall with his Fix Albany campaign, aimed at rooting out dysfunction in state government.

Democratic sources said Mr. Suozzi would wait for the end of his own reelection race this year before making known his plans on a statewide race. But the state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, a Democrat from New York City, implied during an interview on the Albany-area “Fred Dicker Show” on WROW-AM yesterday morning that Mr. Suozzi has suggested to him an interest in challenging Mr. Spitzer.

“My understanding is that Tom Suozzi is seriously considering doing that,” Mr. Hevesi said. ” … I’ve urged him to go in another direction.”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Suozzi’s reelection campaign, Kim Devlin, did not deny Mr. Hevesi’s suggestion. “Right now, Tom is focused on his job as county executive and being reelected to that position in November,” Ms. Devlin said.

A potential primary between Messrs. Spitzer and Suozzi could bring drama to a gubernatorial race that many, as of yesterday, had predicted would be a walk for the popular attorney general. One veteran political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, said the prospect of Mr. Suozzi’s mounting a serious challenge to Mr. Spitzer should not be ruled out, adding that a showdown between the men would probably be potent political theater.

“Suozzi would be a significant challenger,” Mr. Sheinkopf said. “He is a suburban Catholic, very aggressive, very smart, and he can raise money. He has built a constituency in the suburbs, and he has a significant amount of money in the bank. There are those who are hoping for that contest so they can see blood sport. Nobody’s opened up on Eliot Spitzer with several million of negative media. That’s when the rubber hits the road.”