Giuliani: Don't count me out Thursday, 11 May 2000 22:42 (ET)

Giuliani: Don't count me out http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=85622

NEW YORK, May 11 (UPI) -- A day after New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani revealed that he and wife are seeking a legal separation, the mayor said Thursday to not count him out of the U.S. Senate race.

"I very much would like the opportunity to carry on my public service, yes, run for the Senate," the Giuliani said. "Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated."

The Republican mayor said he was angry about "false rumors" of anonymous sources that said he was about to drop his bid to be the GOP nominee to face Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton for the U.S. Senate. "I didn't discuss it with anyone," Giuliani said. "I didn't even think about it myself yesterday."

Giuliani sent shock waves through the GOP in Albany, N.Y., and Washington, D.C., after he admitted Wednesday that he and his wife of 16 years, Donna Hanover, are discussing a separation agreement. The announcement came a week after it was reported that Judith Nathan, who has been called a "very good friend" by the mayor, accompanied the mayor to several city events and that they had spent time together in the Hamptons last summer.

Hanover, a broadcaster, actress and the mother of the mayor's two children, dropped her own bombshell Wednesday when she said it was difficult to participate in her husband's public life for the past two years because of "his relationship with one staff member."

It was clear that she was referring to that the mayor's former press secretary and communications director, Cristyne Lategano Nicholas, who had a news conference of her own in which she denied she and the mayor had been intimate.

Nicholas' closeness and constant presence with the mayor fueled speculation that the two had a relationship -- something both denied. "Allegations by unnamed sources are not true, and there is no need to comment on malicious works of fiction," Nicholas said in 1997. "When a woman works closely with her male boss, it's called intimate. When a man does the same, it's called loyal."

Last spring, she went on an extended vacation and later took a $150,000 job at the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau. She later married golf reporter Nicholas S. Nicholas.

Giuliani said on April 27 that he had prostate cancer and that he would take two weeks to determine which treatment he would seek and whether that treatment was compatible with running for the Senate. "I haven't made up my mind if I have the energy and the capacity to run," Giuliani said.

Giuliani's health and marital problems have resulted in a firestorm of speculation on whether he will stay in the race and, if not, who should be the GOP candidate.

Gov. George Pataki seemed the logical choice to many, since he had the name recognition and the warchest to enter the most visible and probably the most expensive Senate race this year.

However, Pataki has pulled himself out of the running. On May 4, he told reporters in New York City, "I won't speculate on the race, the mayor has earned it. If Rudy chooses not to run, I will not run, I have no intention of running, I love the job of governor."

"Nothing has changed, the governor has answered the question explicitly," Charles Deister, the governor's aide told United Press International. Those mentioned as possible replacements for Giuliani are U.S. Reps. Peter T. King, Rick Lazio, Jack Quinn and multi-millionaire Ted Forstmann.

King, in his fourth term in the House, represents Nassau County on Long Island. He is the author of legislation: to make English the official language, to stop criminal gangs smuggling illegal aliens into the United States and to stop taxpayer funding of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam. He's a lawyer who was elected to local political offices on Long Island.

Lazio, elected in 1992 after upsetting an 18-year incumbent, represents Suffolk County Long Island. He's chairman of the House Banking Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity where he has increased the eligibility for federal home-buying assistance. Lazio, a lawyer, was a district attorney and was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature.

Quinn, elected to a district in Buffalo, N.Y., with a Democratic majority of 100,000, was first elected in 1992. He authored legislation to increase the minimum wage and the number of police officers on the street. He has sought campaign finance reform, the line-item veto and a balanced budget amendment. Quinn, a former English teacher and Hamburg Town Supervisor, has strong ties to organized labor.

All three congressmen are married and have two children.

Forstmann, of New York City, has said that if Giuliani drops out he will seek to be Clinton's opponent. The bachelor, who is reported to be dating supermodel Liz Hurley, is estimated to have a fortune of $500 million. The 60-year-old has never held elective office but served on former President George Bush's re-election campaign in 1992. He's a founder an investment firm and the free-market conservative group Empower America, that includes Jack Kemp and William Bennett. Last year he donated $50 million to Children's Scholarship Fund, a program to help poor children attend private schools.

-- Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserved.