BINGHAMTON -- With nearly 40 percent of its members attending and voting, the Broome County Democratic Committee endorsed a long list of local and state candidates Saturday at its first-ever endorsement convention in Binghamton.

Roughly 100 members or their proxies -- out of 255 on the county committee's roll -- voted to endorse 32 unopposed candidates and four who face Democratic primary races.

After the 3 1/2-hour meeting at the Holiday Inn-Arena, Chairman Michael A. Najarian said the initial session gave committee members a chance to be involved at a grassroots level.

"It's a way for the party to say who we like for public office and let the voters know our choices," Najarian said. "The point is to get people involved and keep them involved."

In the primary election, the endorsement carries no formal or financial weight other than to give political spin to the candidates who were endorsed.

Within two hours of the convention's closing gavel, one statewide candidate touted her local endorsement.

Former U.S. Attorney Denise O'Donnell, who is running for state attorney general, issued a news release calling the vote a "key upstate endorsement" and an "upset" over acknowledged front-runner Andrew Cuomo, former secretary of the federal Housing and Urban Development Department and elder son of former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo.

"This is an excellent example of true grassroots support," O'Donnell said.

In other contested Democratic races, the local committee endorsed:

* Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi for governor.

* Oneida County District Attorney Michael Arcuri for the U.S. Congress seat being vacated by Sherwood L. Boehlert, R-New Hartford, who will retire.

* Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate over union leader and organizer Jonathan Tasini of New York City.

Some local candidates who received endorsements were: Bridgette Van Norman and Scott B. Clarke for Windsor town assessors, Linda Yonchuk for Kirkwood council, and Sharon D. Bagg for Windsor mayor.

The first day for candidates to get signatures on designating petitions is June 6. The deadline to file is July 10. If races require primaries, the elections will be held Sept. 12, with polls open from noon to 9 p.m. The general election is Nov. 7, with voting from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to the Broome County Board of Elections.