Hillary Clinton to Run for Senate

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Clinton said she will cut back on her duties as first lady and will make an official announcement after January 1, 2000.

“I believe that this campaign is about the issues that people talk to me about,” Clinton said. “It is a year out and I think there’s going to be a lot of time between now and then, but I think it’s time to get moving and get started.”

Asked about how she would handle her likely opponent, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Clinton said she would campaign “as vigorously as possible.”

“This is going to be a very hard-fought campaign,” Clinton said. “I have no illusions about that. There will be a lot of contrasts between the both of us.”

Clinton said she would move into her newly-purchased house in New York’s Westchester County “as soon as the Secret Service tells me it’s ready.”

She said she would commute between Westchester and Washington to fulfill her dual role as candidate and first lady.

Clinton’s statement to reporters came after the head of a New York teachers’ union asked the first lady whether her “listening tour” would result in a Senate run and on the day Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo told reporters “you can bet the farm” that Clinton is running.

Cuomo, the son of former New York governor Mario Cuomo, said the first lady told him of her decision Tuesday morning while on the phone discussing another matter.

The first lady has been under pressure from some New York Democrats to intensify her campaign by declaring her candidacy and spending more time in New York.

Clinton said her official declaration next year would outline her stances on issues central to the campaign. That formal declaration would make Clinton the first first lady to seek political office.