Tom Suozzi announced his gubernatorial campaign today. He is now positioned to run in a tough Democratic primary against Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Some, including the Buffalo News, look back to the last time there was an open seat in the governor's office in New York - 1982 - when upstart Mario Cuomo stunned then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch and won the Democratic primary.

From the Buffalo News:

Koch notes the comparison between those two earlier primary races and this year's primary is not precise.

Cuomo and Carey had big union backing in their bids, which Suozzi will not have.

Koch's recollection isn't exactly precise, either.

Cuomo beat him in 1982 with not just labor support, but a coalition of labor, social liberals and suburban/upstate voters fuming at Koch's earlier "the suburbs are sterile" remark in a Playboy interview.

Suozzi is already showing the beginnings of a coalition forming behind him: Wall Streeters eager to exact revenge on Spitzer for his many regulatory lawsuits; suburban property owners who are paying the highest property taxes in the country; and moderate Democrats who see Spitzer with the ready support from the far left including NARAL, Rep. Charlie Rangel; and the MoveOn.org-like Citizens Action of New York.

A lot can happen in six and a half months, when the state holds its primary elections. It may not be 1982 redux, but Spitzer-Suozzi will be the most interesting race in New York in a long time.

MORE: Elizabeth Benjamin has more on the Suozzi announcement.

MORE: The Liberal Walrus is not impressed.