Senator Seat

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and defeated Sen. Alfonse D'Amato are front-runners for the Republican nomination in 2000 for the Senate seat being given up by Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a statewide poll reported today. Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion poll found no clear favorite among Democratic voters for their party's nomination. Among Democratic voters surveyed, 23 percent favored state Comptroller H. Carl McCall; 21 percent felt environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be just the ticket; and 16 percent said federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo should get the nod. Trailing them for the Democratic nomination were New York City Public Advocate Mark Green, at 10 percent; federal Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, at 6 percent; and U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey of Westchester County, at 2 percent. Twenty-three percent of Democratic voters were undecided. Among Republican voters, Giuliani was favored by 35 percent while D'Amato was the choice of 32 percent for the nomination. Former congresswoman Susan Molinari was the favorite of 16 percent of GOP voters with U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio of Long Island at 4 percent. Fourteen percent of GOP voters said they were undecided. While such early polls are largely based on name recognition, they can help potential candidates with fund raising and in lining up potential support.The telephone poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday. The sample of 319 registered Democrats has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points while the sample of 209 registered Republicans has a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points. None of the Democrats, or Republicans, mentioned in the poll have yet said they would seek the nomination or ruled it out. McCall, who just won easy re-election, has said he is interested and plans to make a decision sometime in January. While there had been wide speculation that Moynihan would not seek a fifth, six-year term in 2000, his early announcement on Nov. 6, just three days after D'Amato's defeat by Democrat Charles Schumer, caught much of the New York political establishment by surprise.