First, whether the Democratic incumbent, Tom Dinapoli, is competent.
The other is whether his Republican challenger, Harry Wilson, is too cozy with Wall Street.
Dinapoli's campaign has hammered Wilson as a Wall Street insider in t-v ads.
"What's wrong is he represents the worst of Wall Street values. He was involved in the kind of risky behavior that hedge fund executives are often involved in," Dinapoli said.
Dinapoli claims Wilson will bring a Wall Street gambling ethic to how he'll manage the state's money.
"And as comptroller he'd put Wall Street in charge of our pension fund," Dinapoli says in the ad.
But Wilson has seemed flabbergasted that his business experience is portrayed as a negative. He made a small fortune on Wall Street, worked for Goldman Sachs and helped the president restructure General Motors.
"It is remarkable that my opponent is taking finance experience as a negative for a finance job. It shows you just how screwed up Albany is," Wilson argued.
Dinapoli got his job after his predecessor Alan Hevesi was forced out in scandal. Hevesi has since pleaded guilty to official misconduct.
The assembly then appointed Dinapoli. Fast-forward almost four years and all three major city newspaper editorials say Dinapoli is not the better choice.
Wilson is trying to portray Dinapoli as the ultimate Albany insider in his ads.
The latest polling shows Dinapoli doing pretty well, ahead by 17 points 49 to 32 percent.
Mayor Bloomberg, campaigning for Wilson, said on Thursday that the polls are often wrong.
"When people next Tuesday go to the polls, they're gonna say wait a minute. We do need competency, and the newspaper endorsements do carry a lot of weight," Bloomberg said.
