April 21 (Bloomberg) -- The Democrats' prospects for winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November may rest with two high-powered New York politicians who aren't even running for seats: Hillary Rodham Clinton and Eliot Spitzer.

Clinton, who's likely to win easy re-election to the Senate, and Spitzer, the state attorney general who is leading in polls to become the next governor, might help the Democrats pick up as many as six New York congressional seats -- more than one-third of the 15 they need nationally to gain a House majority.

The two are so strong politically that they may lift Democratic candidates across the state, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in Poughkeepsie. Spitzer, 46, led potential Republican candidates by margins ranging from 18 to 66 percentage points in a Qunnipiac University poll last month; a Marist poll earlier this year found that 54 percent of New Yorkers ``definitely'' plan to vote for Clinton, 58.

``It could turn into a Democratic year in New York, which might then have an impact on down-ballot races for Congress,'' Miringoff said.

Democrats are seeking targets of opportunity among Republican House incumbents in the Northeast, long a party stronghold, and in states such as Pennsylvania, which party presidential nominee John Kerry won in 2004, and Ohio, where Republican scandals and missteps have damaged the party.

House Democratic candidates such as Kirsten Gillibrand are campaigning on the theme that their Republican opponents are too closely tied to President George W. Bush's policies.

Challenging Sweeney

Gillibrand is seeking the Democratic nomination in New York's 20th District to challenge four-term incumbent Republican Representative John Sweeney.

Democrats are also targeting seats held by Republicans Sherwood Boehlert, Randy Kuhl, Tom Reynolds, James Walsh, and Sue Kelly, said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He said Democrats may have an advantage because of a flagging economy in upstate New York, and will be helped by the candidates at the top of the ticket.

``Hillary Clinton and Eliot Spitzer are get-out-the-vote magnets for the Democrats,'' Emanuel said in an interview.

Boehlert isn't seeking re-election after 12 terms and Democrats are focusing their hopes on Oneida County District Attorney Michael Arcuri to win a district that Bush carried with just 52 percent of the vote in 2004.

A Top Target

Kuhl won a first term in Congress in 2004 with just 51 percent of the vote, making his southwestern New York district a top target this year. He will probably face off in November against Democrat Eric Massa, a former Navy officer and special assistant to General Wesley Clark.

Reynolds, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is being challenged by his 2004 opponent, businessman Jack Davis, who won 44 percent of the vote in the Buffalo suburban district last time.

Walsh's leading Democratic challenger, former House Ways and Means Committee aide Dan Maffei, has raised $207,000 so far, compared with the $381,000 raised by the nine-term lawmaker. The Syracuse district gave Kerry 50 percent of its vote in 2004 to 48 percent for Bush.

Watch List

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan Washington newsletter, has Kelly's race on a watch list because the district gave Bush only 53 percent of the vote in 2004. As many as six Democrats may face off in a September primary to take Kelly on in November. The front-runner, lawyer Judith Aydelott, has raised $466,000 to Kelly's $1 million.

The Cook Report deems only about three dozen of the House's 435 seats competitive; Democrats are trying to expand that number by targeting traditionally safe seats, such as Sweeney's, said Amy Walter, House editor of the Cook report.

``The question of whether the Democrats take control of Congress or not depends heavily on how people like Sweeney look in October,'' Walter said. ``If Kirsten Gillibrand and John Sweeney are locked in a really tight race and the political environment looks like it does now, then we may be talking about a real chance of a Democratic takeover.''

Walter said the race for Boehlert's seat is competitive and she is watching to see if the others become so. The two most likely to change parties, she said, are the seats now held by Boehlert and Sweeney.

``Rubber Stamp''

Gillibrand, 39, an Albany attorney, told senior citizens in Saratoga Springs this week that Sweeney has been a ``rubber stamp'' for Bush's health-care policies, and has failed to challenge such administration programs as the domestic wiretaps of U.S. citizens.

``The wrong people are leading our country, and they're in it for the wrong reasons,'' Gillibrand told one group.

Gillibrand has raised $716,000 so far this election cycle, compared with the $23,000 Sweeney's opponent raised in 2004.

Kerry held a fund-raiser for her this week in New York City, and Spitzer, Clinton and Democratic Senator Charles Schumer also have headlined events to aide her campaign.

Sweeney, 50, won his fourth term in 2004 with 66 percent of the vote, and has $1.2 million for this race. Republican voters in the district outnumber Democrats by about 2 to 1.

Confident

Sweeney said he's confident he will win re-election, in part because, as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, he has brought federal money back to the district.

``At the end of the day, I've served my constituents well,'' he said.

In order to win, Gillibrand has ``got to get all the Democrats, all the independents and some Republicans,'' said Stuart Rothenberg, who publishes a Washington political report.

While Sweeney is regarded as a tough campaigner, his health may be an issue; he was recently briefly hospitalized for high blood pressure.

Sweeney said he's shown plenty of independence from Bush. He voted against the president's call for oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge and opposed a plan backed by Bush to cut $50 billion from to Medicare and other programs. After the Bush administration approved allowing Dubai's state-owned DP World to purchase port operations in New York and five other states, Sweeney said he was ``appalled'' that Congress never weighed in.

He said that while there's ``no denying'' Republican candidates have problems in the gubernatorial and Senate races, he can overcome that based on his record.

Democrats are buoyed by recent polls that have found Bush's approval ratings at record lows, and more voters favor Democrats over Republicans to represent them in Congress.

A Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll found that registered voters favor Democrats by 49 percent to 35 percent as the party they would like to see win their congressional district this year. The poll of 1,357 adults was conducted April 8 to 11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

``The House of Representatives is in play, and the Democrats do have a chance to win it in November,'' said political analyst Rothenberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 21, 2006 03:36 EDT