The Nassau County executive, Thomas Suozzi, took on the state Democratic establishment last night, saying party leaders like the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, and the state party chairman, Herman “Denny” Farrell, were part of the problems plaguing Albany.

Appearing on New York 1, Mr. Suozzi, who is considering a run for governor, said Mr. Farrell and other party leaders were “upset” at him for saying that Democrats in the Assembly were “as much to blame as Republicans in the state Senate for the dysfunction in the New York state Legislature.”

Mr. Suozzi earlier this month formed a fund-raising committee with an eye toward challenging the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. State party leaders have endorsed Mr. Spitzer’s candidacy and are urging Mr. Suozzi not to run and risk dividing the party.

Mr. Suozzi, who this month began his second term running Nassau County, is touring the state to gauge support for a bid for governor, and said last night he would only run if he thought he could win. “I have to be convinced I can win the race,” he said.

He did not give a specific timetable for his decision, saying he would decide within the next couple weeks to the next couple of months.

In defending his possible run, Mr. Suozzi, 43, dismissed suggestions that he should defer to Mr. Spitzer, who for years has been considering a run for governor. “There’s no such thing in politics as waiting your turn,” he said.

At the same time, Mr. Suozzi steered away from directly criticizing his possible opponent, repeatedly saying that if he chose to pursue the nomination, he would run on his own record. He called Mr. Spitzer a “very, very talented attorney general.”

“I have nothing bad to say about the attorney general,” Mr. Suozzi said. “He deserves the reputation he enjoys.”

Mr. Spitzer on Monday picked the state Senate minority leader, David Paterson, as his running mate in a move that some political observers suggested was timed to solidify his campaign ahead of a possible challenge by Mr. Suozzi. “I’m very flattered that he’s as concerned as he is about my candidacy,” Mr. Suozzi said.

Mr. Suozzi cast himself as a reformer coming from outside the party establishment, saying he’s “always had to run from the outside.”

“I want to go against the establishment, because the establishment is broken,” he said. When asked if he thought Mr. Spitzer could not effectively reform Albany, Mr. Suozzi pointed to his own stewardship of Nassau County, where he has touted improvements in the county’s bond rating since he took office in 2002, as well as his success in keeping property taxes down. “The difference is, I’m going to do it, because I’ve done it,” he said. Mr. Suozzi launched a Web site, www.fixalbany.com, and has been a frequent critic of New York’s high tax rate and the cost of the Medicaid program.

In the NY1 interview last night, he also defended one of his major backers, the Home Depot founder, Kenneth Langone, who has been targeted in a lawsuit by Mr. Spitzer. “He doesn’t want anything from government,” Mr. Suozzi said of Mr. Langone.

Despite the support of Mr. Langone, a registered Republican, Mr. Suozzi said he would only seek the governorship on the Democratic Party line. He said, however, that if Republicans wanted to support him as well, he would welcome their endorsement.