Democrat Eliot Spitzer, the New York Attorney General, won the election over former Republican state Assembly minority leader John Faso.

This is the last gubernatorial election where any of the following counties voted Democratic: Genesee, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Niagara, Fulton, Steuben, Tioga & Schoharie.

Following the early campaign announcement of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in late 2004, attention turned to the state Republican Party, especially the future of three-term governor George Pataki.

He initially faced former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, former Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and Assemblyman Patrick Manning.

[4] Faso gained increasing support from party leaders in various counties, including Westchester and Suffolk, both of which had large delegate counts to the state convention.

[5] On the day he received the Conservative nomination, Faso announced his selection of Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef as his running mate for lieutenant governor.

[2] As The Washington Post put it, "[n]ow it turns out whoever loses the GOP primary will stay in the race—in a position likely to siphon votes from the Republican nominee.

Spitzer won an early vote of confidence on January 22, 2005, by gaining the endorsement of the Working Families Party, which has taken advantage of New York's electoral fusion system to act as a kingmaker over Democratic nominees.

It is backed heavily by figures from community group ACORN and labor unions, particularly those that broke from the AFL–CIO to form the Change to Win Federation.

An additional consideration for Spitzer was the status of billionaire businessman Tom Golisano, a three-time candidate on the Independence Party ballot line.

[10] Spitzer selected African-American New York State Senate minority leader David Paterson as his choice for Lieutenant Governor and running mate in January 2006.