Prominent Democrats are treading carefully around the subject of Alan Hevesi following Eliot Spitzer’s decision to rescind his endorsement of the embattled state comptroller.

The move by Mr. Spitzer, the leading candidate for governor, has party leaders walking a political tightrope between abandoning their candidate for a statewide race less than two weeks before an election and risking being tied to a growing legal and ethical scandal.

The state Ethics Commission last week found “reasonable cause” to believe that Mr. Hevesi broke the law by using a state driver to chauffeur his ailing wife for 3 1/2 years. Mr. Spitzer withdrew his support three days after the report’s release, and Governor Pataki appointed a former federal prosecutor to examine whether there is a sufficient case to remove Mr. Hevesi from office.

Senator Clinton yesterday danced around a question asking whether she supported Mr. Hevesi, saying a process was in place that needed “a chance to work.”

“I have said repeatedly that Alan Hevesi has been a friend of mine,” Mrs. Clinton told reporters in Lower Manhattan. “I think he did some very good things as comptroller and he did something very wrong.”

The state Democratic Party has offered lukewarm support for Mr. Hevesi in the wake of Mr. Spitzer’s shift.

Taking a different tack, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, sought to distance himself even further from Mr. Hevesi. His campaign on Saturday issued a statement reiterating that he thought Mr. Hevesi had “gravely compromised his ability to do his job.” The statement also criticized Mr. Cuomo’s Republican opponent, Jeanine Pirro, for distorting his position in a television ad.

Led by the Republican nominee for comptroller, J. Christopher Callaghan, GOP candidates for statewide office have called on Mr. Hevesi to resign. Mr. Hevesi has apologized repeatedly for not initially paying back the state for the cost of chauffeuring his wife, but he denies breaking the law and has vowed to stay in the race. He paid nearly $83,000 to the state last month and he has said the state driver was needed for security, since he had received death threats.

Mr. Hevesi, who just a few months ago was considered a shoo-in for reelection, is no longer assured of victory, according to a recent Marist College poll. Should he win and then be removed by the Senate, the state Legislature, led by Democrats, would pick his successor.

Other Democrats did not follow Mr. Spitzer in taking back their endorsement. Mr. Hevesi received support yesterday from a former opponent, Mark Green, who ran against him in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor in 2001 and made an unsuccessful bid this year to win the party’s nomination for state attorney general. “Alan Hevesi made an inexcusable mistake, but I’ll be voting for him because an election is not a test of purity but a comparative contest,” Mr. Green said. Despite his ethical blunder, Mr. Green added, Mr. Hevesi would still do a better job of protecting the state pension fund than Mr. Callaghan.

Defeating or impeaching Mr. Hevesi would be a “punishment disproportionate to his office,” Mr. Green said.

Stephen Harrison, a Democrat who is mounting an aggressive challenge in the 13th Congressional District to the incumbent GOP representative, Vito Fossella, also stopped short of calling for Mr. Hevesi’s head. Instead, he sought political cover from the Republican governor, saying that since Mr. Pataki was not convinced that Mr. Hevesi should be removed, neither was he. “I’ll go along with Governor Pataki and be cautious,” Mr. Harrison said. But he also echoed the governor in saying Mr. Hevesi “should consider stepping down.”