Cheevers is little-known outside Broome County, where he has spent almost all of his 66 years. His political experience is limited to several stints as supervisor of the town of Union (pop. 56,298), and a failed -- but not humiliating -- state Senate race in 1972 against the man who was then the Republicans' majority leader, Warren M. Anderson.

But now Cheevers is taking on two well-funded political heavyweights -- former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo and state Comptroller H. Carl McCall -- in a quest for the Democratic nomination for governor. He knows winning is all but impossible. He knows some people call him crazy. But, frustrated by what he sees as a broken system of government, he is determined to run.

"Nobody's willing to take a stand on issues,'' Cheevers said in a recent interview at his investment brokerage firm in Endicott. "What is the significant difference between Carl McCall, Andrew Cuomo and George Pataki?''

Cheevers speaks passionately on a lot of issues. And he is not short on potential solutions.

He considers the practice of paying majority party state legislators more for holding leadership positions illegal because it gives their constituents an unfair advantage over those represented by minority party lawmakers. Last week, he sued the state Legislature over it.

When it comes to upstate New York's economic woes, Cheevers has seen them firsthand. Endicott was once a prospering factory town of sorts for shoe giant Endicott-Johnson and computer pioneer IBM. But EJ closed and IBM, which spent $100 million on its local facility, significantly downsized. The companies left empty buildings and took the area's best jobs. When young people depart, an aging population high on needs and low on assets remains, and taxes go up.

Empire Zones designed to stimulate business investment in targeted areas don't work, Cheevers said, because they offer businesses relief from New York's high taxes and utility costs for a limited time. When the benefits end, he said, the companies leave.

Cheevers sees a solution in casino gambling, but he supports changing the state constitution to allow casinos not only on Native American land, provided local voters agree.

In a no-frills pinstriped suit, with a fluff of thinning gray hair and metal-framed glasses, Cheever has the look and habits of an unpretentious man. As Union's part-time supervisor (salary: $20,000), he has access to a town-owned car, but prefers to drive himself in a burgundy Toyota Avalon. He has spent all his life in Broome County except for three years in the U.S. Navy and four at Clarkson University. He raised three children here with his wife, Nadeen. He opened his brokerage in 1976.

Cheevers seems bewildered and more than a little overwhelmed by the challenge of reaching 11 million registered voters on a shoestring budget. He plans to rely heavily on the Internet to get his message out. So far, he has $3,694 in his warchest. That compares to the roughly $3.8 million each of fellow Democrats Cuomo and McCall, and the $12 million held by Pataki.

Cheevers' most prominent Democratic supporter is former Binghamton Mayor John Burns, no stranger to Albany's backdoor dealings after four years as former Gov. Hugh Carey's appointments secretary and nearly seven as state Democratic chairman.

"I told Jack what anyone would tell him: He's sort of a long shot,'' said Burns, now 80. "He knows what the odds are, but he wants to raise the issues. And I think they should be raised. I don't think they should be answered with generalities and words of good cheer, but with specific programs.''

In Broome County, Cheevers is known as competent and smart, fiscally conservative but solidly Democratic on traditional issues like abortion (he's pro-choice) and the death penalty (he favors a moratorium due to emerging DNA technology that has exonerated several death row inmates).

"Jack's a respected businessman,'' said Republican Assemblyman Jay Dinga, who represents Broome County. "He has common sense. He's very conservative ... If I had to vote for one of the three (Democrats), I'd vote for him.''

But Cheevers' local reputation will not likely help him much overall against McCall's statewide experience or Cuomo's federal service, celebrity friends and Kennedy-born wife. The best he could realistically hope for is to raise his name recognition for a future run, said Mitchell Moss, director of New York University's Taub Urban Research Center.

"Usually you don't go from the minor leagues to the big leagues in one jump,'' Moss said. "There's nothing wrong with running and losing if you're not well known.''

Cheevers' candidacy, along with that of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Donald Hassig, could force the other candidates to address controversial issues that they might otherwise avoid. And the presence of a Southern Tier politician like Cheevers in the race could bring "a little upstate civility and folksiness to compensate for the downstate aggressiveness'' that has come to dominate the Democratic Party, Moss said.

Cheevers plans to give all his attention to this race.

"If the message gets out and people identify with it, fine. If they don't, at least the message is out there,'' Cheevers said. "If they all line up and say I'm a raving lunatic ... that's OK.''