44th SENATE DISTRICT — The two Democrats fighting over who is the better match against longtime Sen. Hugh T. Farley, R-Niskayuna, have drawn clear battle lines.

As the primary season campaign nears its end, Fred Goodman has established himself as the traditional candidate who would fight for Democratic ideals, while B.K. Keramati has positioned himself as a maverick who could change the system.

On Tuesday, voters will decide which candidate can best take on Farley in the general election for the 44th Senate District. Local endorsements are split, with Goodman having the support of the Schenectady County Democrats and retiring Rep. Michael McNulty, D-Green Island, while Keramati has the endorsement of the Montgomery and Saratoga county Democrats.

The first fight of the campaign centered around campaign finance. Keramati wants to ban all private funding and have every campaign supported by public financing, which Goodman has derided as unrealistic, given the state’s mounting deficit.

But Goodman then rolled out a series of plans that are far more expensive.

He wants a “Marshall Plan” for upstate New York, in which the state would match local governments dollar-for-dollar on economic development projects. To make that more affordable, he wants the state to support development that uses existing infrastructure wherever possible.

He also wants the state to take on all the costs of Medicaid, an expense that is now partly supported by the counties.

“It’s going to be expensive for the state but the state can do things to save money,” Goodman said, citing the Canadian prescription drug plan that saves Schenectady County about $1 million each year.

“Imagine if that were extended to all counties and all state workers,” he said.

He says he also wants to fund more juvenile delinquency prevention programs to catch children before they commit serious crimes. Although it would cost money in the short term, he said, the state would save in the long term if fewer children were placed in juvenile delinquency centers.

“We often get to kids when they are in more trouble. Putting one of them in a placement facility costs $75,000 to $125,000 per year,” he said. “We have to make the investment.”

To fund his ideas, he says he wants to cut “less responsible funding” from the state budget — particularly economic development dollars that he says are being spent unwisely.

The AMD facility to be built in Malta is a perfect example, Goodman said.

“That’s economic development that’s not based on need but political expediency,” he said. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t like having AMD. I think the siting of it was forced. We’re going to spend millions on new roads and water systems.”

The state is spending $1.2 billion in job-creation incentives for the AMD project.

Keramati has also criticized the AMD project, saying he thinks legislators reviewing the project were influenced by campaign contributions.

His campaign was launched to draw attention to such influences and build support for campaign finance reform, he said.

“I support the unions for what they do, but I think the whole campaign contributions and lobbying — that will really sway the legislators to do what they want,” Keramati said.

Instead, he wants public financing, funded by a tax increase of “a few dollars per person,” he said. He argues that it would save the state money in the end because fewer spending bills would be passed to please donors.

Unlike Goodman, Keramati said he won’t defend the Democratic ideology against all comers.

“I want to get away from a government representing ideology, to a government that comes up with pragmatic solutions,” Keramati said. As an example, he said he would work to reduce the number of abortions rather than debating pro-choice versus pro-life.

“It’s a little bit more complicated than ‘compromise,’” he said. “[The opposing sides] have to sit down and really explore what they really care about to get to the root of the problem and come up with a pragmatic solution.”

His ideas caught the attention of Tom Golisano’s Responsible New York program, a campaign funding organization with millions of dollars to distribute. The agency endorsed him and will donate to his campaign.

Keramati said that gives him the chance to not just run against Farley but possibly defeat him. Still, he’s of two minds about the whole arrangement.

“The system allows him to have an influence because he has money and I don’t like that, but the influence he will have would get rid of the system,” Keramati said.

Golisano has pledged to put up to $5 million into the state races this year in an effort to craft a legislative majority of reform-minded candidates. Keramati had pledged not to accept donations that have been raised elsewhere and packaged for him, but he will accept Golisano’s money, which was raised partly through contributions to Golisano’s group.

Goodman has criticized Keramati’s fundraising, saying he couldn’t stick to his ideals once he entered politics. Goodman promised to refuse donations of more than $250, although election regulations allow him to take in $6,000 per donor for the primary and $9,500 for the general election.

That dearth of funding could be a crucial issue in the general election. Farley has $416,000 in his war chest, has withstood more than a dozen Democratic challengers and is now running for his 16th consecutive term. Even with Golisano’s help, the Democratic nominee will run with a fraction of Farley’s bankroll.

The 44th Senate district includes all of Fulton, Montgomery and Schenectady counties, as well as most of Saratoga county including a small portion of Saratoga Springs.