AUBURN - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has recently been traveling all across upstate New York, announcing his plan to revitalize various cities, and the city of Auburn, he said, could see economic development in just a few years.

Spitzer pointed to his agenda of reforming workers' compensation, reducing property taxes, providing affordable health care and investing in schools as ways to encourage economic development.

Spitzer made his first visit to Cayuga County since he was elected in November 2006 on Saturday, speaking to Democratic candidates running for public office and their supporters at a political fundraiser at Sunset Restaurant in Auburn.

Campaigns for Michael Bass for district attorney and Michael Quill for Auburn mayor top the list of races that include town, city and county offices.

June O'Neill, state chairwoman of the New York Democratic State Committee, was also in attendance.

In the coming weeks, Spitzer will tour other upstate cities like Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, explaining how initiatives to revitalize those cities can positively impact the regions in which they are embedded.

"I'll be going to each of the cities saying 'These are the investments that will bring back the region, the city,'" he said following his speech Saturday. "We are focusing on the sectoral economics that makes sense, whether it is aerospace in certain areas, biotech, optics, nanotech. Each region has its own special (feature) and we will be investing in those so we are bringing a wiser approach to economic development that is going to percolate throughout Upstate and have a real impact. We've already seen thousands of jobs that are being created in the country and it's current. You will see the momentum build and the economics improve, and I would say between two, three, four years, people are really going to sense it."

And medium-sized cities like Auburn are not forgotten in this plan, he said.

"It is integral to the entire economy," he said.

New York State Republican State Committee Chairman Joseph N. Mondello issued a news release early Saturday in which he contended that Spitzer's visit to a political fundraiser in central New York was "the latest example of his misplaced focus on partisan politics at the expense of real results."

"Governor Spitzer made endless promises to families and businesses in Central New York about how things would improve," Mondello said, "but sadly the only change we've seen has been an administration consumed with fundraising jaunts and mired in scandal and political dirty tricks."

Spitzer spoke to energize and mobilize the Democratic candidates and charged them to not falter in the last three weeks of campaigning before election day.

He pointed to his campaign in 1998 for the contentious race for state attorney general and how he had defeated Republican incumbent Dennis C. Vacco after three recounts as an example of how hard work can turn change the outcome of race.

"So what I want you to know is, that between now and election day, we can turn every race, win every race, make our arguments, bring some passion to it and persuade every voter we need to speak to," he declared. "So don't quit. If your shoes don't have holes in the bottom of them yet, I want them to have holes in the bottom of them by Election Day. That's how hard we are going to be working. We are going to win."

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239