Easy for a comptroller race to slip under the radar

Finally, we can drop the word "alleged." Alan Hevesi was on the take when, as the state's elected comptroller, he oversaw New York's mega-billions in pension funds.

Hevesi, for decades a blend of articulate academic and Queens Democratic hack, happens to cop to this felony at a critical moment for his former office and the people it affects.

Escalating pension costs are stepping up pressure on public budgets. Economies of the world, nation and state raise hard questions about what to expect from pension-fund investments. Elected officials such as the current attorney general urge a board of directors be set up to run the pension system - instead of the comptroller as sole trustee.

If there ever comes a year for citizens to focus on a state comptroller race, this is it.

As usual, the attention isn't there. For one thing, the dark gubernatorial drama involving Carl Paladino and Andrew Cuomo rivets most state political coverage. For another, it takes more homework to develop a feeling about these candidates. These contests tend to be followed most closely in the financial media.

If you're just tuning in, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, then a Democratic Assemblyman from Nassau, was appointed by his legislative colleagues to this post in 2007 to replace Hevesi - who by then had pleaded to a felony unrelated to the pension fund.

Then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer had a fit, blasting DiNapoli as unqualified, but it had no effect. And Spitzer dialed it back and made up with DiNapoli way before becoming the second member of the winning 2006 Democratic ticket to implode.

Behind the scenes, early on, tension had been evident between Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and DiNapoli over investigations, safeguards and reforms.

The Republican challenger, Harry Wilson, a private-sector restructuring expert, has been doing his best to adhere DiNapoli in the public mind to the pay-to-play scandal of the Hevesi regime - or at least to show he's no antidote. There is a tussle with DiNapoli over freedom-of-information release of the incumbent's datebooks.

Team DiNapoli dubs Wilson "Hedge Fund Harry" to try to associate him with dubious Wall Street practices, and to offset the plaudits Wilson boasts for having advised President Barack Obama's task force on restructuring the auto industry.

Governor candidates, front and center, can say "mad as hell" or "new New York." Attorney general candidates can say, "Lock 'em up" or "People's lawyer." But it is difficult to create a distinctive or resonant slogan for comptroller.

Wilson has criticized DiNapoli for how his office estimates future pension portfolio returns. DiNapoli says if Wilson's suggestions were accepted, it would further burden local taxpayers. The devil is in the data.

But "He curbed placement agents!" or "He'll maximize returns!" aren't too catchy. And so, you can expect this race to fall short of a full airing even in a crucial time.

Remember: On Election Day 2006, even with scandal encroaching over his use of state resources to chauffeur his ailing wife, Hevesi won his second term - with a decisive 56 percent to Republican Chris Callaghan's 39 percent.

Hevesi never made it to the swearing-in. He admitted defrauding the government and quit before Christmas.

Take it as a warning of what happens when a powerful public office operates in the shadows.