HARRISBURG -- Republican Lynn Swann's spotty record of voting over the past 20 years won't cripple his candidacy for governor, but it's a sign that the gushing adoration he's been getting may be over.

That's what several political analysts said yesterday in sizing up the disclosure this week that Mr. Swann voted in only 17 of 43 elections since he first registered to vote in Allegheny County in 1984.

Christopher Borick, a political science professor and pollster at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, said he doubted the poor voting record "will make a significant difference" in Mr. Swann's campaign against incumbent Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.

"But it slows the momentum Swann had gotten from the Republican endorsement and the limelight he was basking in during the Super Bowl," Dr. Borick said. "It's a bump in the road, which isn't catastrophic, but it will chip away at the luster he's had as a newcomer from the outside coming into the governor's race."

Political commentators said Mr. Swann must realize that almost every aspect of his life will now be put under a microscope, and it isn't enough for him to simply coast on the celebrity status he got from his days as a star for the Steelers or a TV football commentator.

"It's not unusual for celebrity candidates, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jesse Ventura, to have spotty voting records," said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. "It's not lethal because voting hasn't been a central feature of their existence."

But this week's bad press, Mr. Madonna added, "is where the campaign begins to turn away from adulation and positive stories about him and football. He'd better realize that now that he's the Republican candidate, it's down to real scrutiny time."

According to Allegheny County records, Mr. Swann lived in Bethel Park from 1976 to 1987. But he didn't register to vote until 1984, and has only voted in 17 of 43 elections since then.

He didn't actually vote for the first time until the November 1987 general election. That year, he re-registered at an address in Sewickley Heights, where he still lives. After he didn't vote from 1989 to 1991, the county Elections Division required him to renew his registration, and he did in May 1992.

Since then he has missed nine primary elections, including the 2004 presidential primary, and three general elections. He has voted by absentee ballot three times.

Democratic critics will seize on Mr. Swann's failure to take the time to vote as evidence that he doesn't have the background or political acumen to serve as the top elected official in Pennsylvania.

"A pattern has emerged," said Democratic State Chairman T.J. Rooney. "Lynn Swann lacks the political experience to lead this state. He's inexperienced when it comes to politics and when it comes to exercising his right to vote."

Tom Baldino, a political science professor at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, said how much damage has been done to Mr. Swann depends in large part on what use Mr. Rendell and the Democrats make of it.

"Suppose they make a 30-second TV spot this fall asking 'Why isn't he voting? He claims he cares about the people of Pennsylvania, but did he ever care about politics? He didn't vote.'''

Mr. Swann was unavailable to talk with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday, said campaign spokeswoman Melissa Walters.

But he was interviewed yesterday morning on KDKA radio by hosts Larry Richert and John Shumway. Mr. Swann played down any serious consequences from his voting record.

"I think my voting record is fine," he said. "If Democrats want to nitpick at small things, that's fine. I think the people of Pennsylvania will understand there are other reasons you don't get back to vote, things you can't control."

He said he did a lot of traveling as an athlete and a sportscaster and sometimes planes were delayed or flights were canceled. He added he has used absentee ballots in the past.

"There are obviously more important issues" than his voting record, he said.

As for a lack of political experience, he said former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey was a basketball player before running, and George W. Bush was a businessman and sports team owner before running for president.

"People come to politics from all walks of life. Some have political experience and some don't. It doesn't mean you can't do a good job."