Illinois ? Gov. Rod Blagojevich was hundreds of miles away, but his voice captivated the Illinois Senate Tuesday as impeachment prosecutors played FBI wiretaps of conversations in which he seems to demand campaign contributions in exchange for signing legislation.

One person on the recordings assures Blagojevich that a horse-racing track owner “is good for it” and just has to decide “what accounts to get it out of.” Another assures him the track owner knows he must keep his “commitment” soon.

Blagojevich replies with comments like “good” and “good job.” Legislation sought by the racing industry had been sent to the governor’s desk, and on the tapes, he says to reassure a racing lobbyist he hopes “to do this, so we can get together and start picking some dates to do a bill-signing.”

Senators conducting the trial, which Blagojevich is boycotting though it could remove him from office within days, listened intently as the fuzzy, indistinct telephone conversations echoed through the room — the heating system, reporters typing on laptops and the occasional cough accounting for the only other noise.

Neither the governor nor the others on the call — the governor’s brother and chief fundraiser Robert Blagojevich and former chief of staff Lon Monk, officials say — specifically mentions money or any amounts.