Scott Stringer for New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, faced a tough primary battle for New York City comptroller against a far richer and better known candidate, Eliot Spitzer. But when Democratic voters considered their choice - the solid public servant or the scandal-scarred former governor - they elected Mr. Stringer by a wide margin. Now Mr. Stringer faces the Republican, John Burnett, in the general election on Nov. 5. Mr. Burnett, making his first bid for elective office, has built a strong private-sector résumé in 20 years on Wall Street. He grew up in East New York, Brooklyn, and Jamaica, Queens, and earned degrees from New York University and Cornell University. He says he has the money-management experience that Mr. Stringer lacks, and he promises to bring entrepreneurial skills and independence to the office. Mr. Burnett's emergence is good news for New York's Republican Party, which is short of fresh, appealing candidates. But Mr. Stringer is better qualified to be comptroller, a position responsible for overseeing the city's pension funds, conducting fiscal audits and acting as a watchdog over day-to-day operations and contracts. Mr. Stringer, who got his start in reform-minded government by volunteering for Bella Abzug and serving as teenage community board member in Washington Heights, represented the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the State Assembly for 13 years, and he shone there, occasionally angering party bosses while promoting a good-government agenda. As borough president, Mr. Stringer has ushered in an array of excellent initiatives, like screening applicants to make community boards more diverse, competent and accountable. He has raised the office's profile with investigations like one that criticized the City Council's tainted practice of allowing members to use taxpayer funds for pet projects in their districts. He promises to make the comptroller's office more streamlined, to upgrade its technology, to hedge more cautiously against deep downturns, and to use his audit power to help agencies work better. Mr. Stringer would bring the right mix of experience, doggedness, political skills and integrity to the job, which is why we recommend him for this office.