Top state Republican Party officials say they don’t know who is behind one of the largest contributions the party has received in years.

On the same date as the cut-off for the most recent campaign finance filing period, the New York Republican State Committee received $253,000 from the Empire State Leadership PAC, a political action committee that has had ties to Rep. Thomas Reynolds of New York, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Republican officials say Mr. Reynolds no longer controls the PAC, but they couldn’t say who made the decision to transfer the money.

For a party that has been struggling financially, the money was no small change. It was the largest contribution received during the January 15 to July 15 filing period, and represented more than a third of the party’s cash on hand.

Asked about the donation, the executive director of the state party, Ryan Moses, said Friday he didn’t know offhand who is responsible for the PAC and said he would provide The New York Sun with a list of its board of directors. Yesterday, Mr. Moses said he was unable to “track down”the list, saying: “I don’t know who runs it.” He said the state party dealt with the treasurer, whose name he said he couldn’t recall.

The party’s fund-raiser, Cathy Blaney, who also raises money for Governor Pataki, said in an e-mail yesterday that she didn’t know “offhand” who controls the PAC. The finance chairman of the state party, James Ortenzio, told the Sun he hadn’t heard of the PAC.

The officials’ unawareness of the PAC struck one prominent Democratic operative, Howard Wolfson, an adviser to Senator Clinton, as highly improbable. “How can that possibly be?” he asked in an email. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. It’s like ‘Great Expectations.’ The state GOP has a mystery benefactor.”

Filings with New York Board of Elections show that the state party received two checks from the PAC, both dated July 11. The money was split between the party’s two state accounts. The “housekeeping” account received $168,600 and the “reporting” account received $84,400. State political parties are allowed to accept a maximum of $84,400 a year from an individual or PAC, but their housekeeping committees can receive unlimited gifts.

The contribution arrived at a difficult time for the state party, whose chairman, Stephen Minarik, has been fighting off criticism from some Republicans that that the state GOP has been weakened in power and resources. The money brought the party’s cash total in its state and federal accounts to $702,000 from $449,000. Mr. Moses said the money was a contribution and not a loan, and part of it would be used to support Republican candidates.

Board of Elections filings show that the mystery PAC has been essentially dormant in recent years. The last major activity occurred in November 2002, when the PAC received $286,000 from Citizens for Reynolds.

In 2002, the PAC received $160,000 from Tompac — which stands for “Together for Our Majority” — the leadership committee of Mr. Reynolds. Empire State Leadership then transferred $76,500 to the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee and $30,700 to Friends of Pataki, which supported Mr. Pataki’s gubernatorial campaigns.

A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee said Mr. Reynolds does not control Empire State Leadership. The New York Board of Elections lists the treasurer of the PAC as Patricia Krzesinski, who has a residence in Williamsville near Buffalo. Ms. Krzesinski has reportedly served as the treasurer of Tompac.

Transfers from Tompac to Empire State Leadership are no longer legal, according to a 2004 report by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity, which said the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act “prohibits federal lawmakers from controlling nonfederal accounts.”