PATAKI RIDES ECONOMY TO WIN IN NEW YORK

From the very beginning of his campaign New York's three-term governor Mario Cuomo knew he was in trouble over his handling of the state's economy, which lagged behind the nation. Mr. Cuomo, a liberal star of the Democratic Party, turned out to be correct and state senator George Pataki harnessed the voters' anger to beat Cuomo 48 percent to 46 percent.

The key to Mr. Pataki's victory was a huge vote from upstate New York, where the job losses have been heavy. ``The economy upstate has been absolutely terrible,'' says Glenn Bellitto, a Republican organizer in Westchester County. To try to revitalize the state, Pataki is planning to cut income taxes 25 percent over four years. Pataki also received a lot of support from the orthodox Jewish community, which was unhappy with Cuomo's handling of the Crown Heights racial incident in which the stabbing death of a Jewish scholar set off three days of New York City rioting.