ALBANY – Governor Pataki has been getting a lot of airtime at taxpayer expense this winter.

At one time or another, television viewers both in New York and in selected areas outside the state have been able to catch the governor in commercials touting environmental-friendly energy programs, a state-supported health insurance program for small employers, winter tourism opportunities in New York state, and the comeback of Lower Manhattan from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The frequent exposure has renewed the debate over the Pataki administration’s use of the governor in taxpayer-financed television and radio ads promoting New York State in various ways. The administration says the ads use a popular politician to good effect while the Republican governor’s critics – mainly Democrats – say the ads mostly promote Mr. Pataki.

“We’re proud of our efforts to make health care more affordable, promote New York as a top tourist destination, and encourage consumers to conserve energy,” said a Pataki spokesman, Kevin Quinn. “As the state’s chief executive, there’s no better or more trustworthy source of information than the governor.”

But Mr. Pataki’s detractors said the governor is using tax dollars to advance his own political fortunes for either another run for governor in 2006, a run for president in 2008, or both. “While the governor is proposing cuts in health care and children’s education funding, he continues to waste taxpayer money on television commercials to promote himself,” said New York state Democratic Committee Chair Herman “Denny” Farrell Jr., who is also a state assemblyman from Manhattan. “It’s outrageous.”