Alfonse M D Amato

SENATE WATCH II: In another closely watched Senate primary, a tight race appears likely in New York's September contest for the Democratic nod to oppose GOP incumbent Alfonse M. D'Amato. . . . A Times survey of Democrats voting in the state's April 7 presidential primary showed 30% backing the former congresswoman and former vice presidential nominee, Geraldine A. Ferraro, while 27% supported state Atty. Gen. Robert Abrams.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain raised more than $1 million Tuesday on rival Rudolph W. Giuliani's turf and picked up the endorsement of the former New York mayor's longtime nemesis. Former Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) switched his allegiance in the presidential race from former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who abandoned his bid Tuesday, to McCain. D'Amato has long been at odds with Giuliani.

Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) and his wife, Penelope, were granted a divorce Friday, the lawmaker's office announced. The couple had been legally separated for 13 years but had continued to share a home on Long Island. The divorce has been expected since earlier this year when D'Amato told reporters he'd fallen in love with Claudia Cohen, the former wife of cosmetic company heir Ronald Perelman.

It is the most expensive Senate race in the nation, a tooth-and-growl contest between two political pit bulls marked by raw language and derogatory charges. With the election less than two weeks away, most polls show New York's Republican incumbent senator, Alfonse M. D'Amato, in a statistical dead heat with Democratic Rep. Charles E. Schumer.

The Senate Ethics Committee was formally asked to investigate Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) for a "pattern of exploiting" his office to benefit campaign contributors and friends. The request for an investigation was made by Mark Green, a Democrat, who was decisively beaten by D'Amato in the 1986 senatorial election. Green said his complaint is based on news stories. In a statement, D'Amato said the request is "a blatant campaign document."

Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.), who began running TV ads for his reelection more than a year ago, officially announced his candidacy for a fourth term. D'Amato called his latest reelection bid a continued fight for the forgotten middle class and for the things that are right about America. D'Amato is unopposed in the Sept. 15 primary. The Democratic candidates are former Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro, Rep. Charles E. Schumer and city Public Advocate Mark Green.

Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.), chairman of the Senate Whitewater Committee, got the go-ahead from special prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr to offer immunity to David Hale so President Clinton's chief accuser can testify at Senate hearings next week. On Wednesday, the committee will consider whether to grant the immunity, D'Amato said. Hale testified at the Little Rock, Ark., trial of Clinton's Whitewater partners, James B. McDougal and his ex-wife, Susan, and of Gov. Jim Guy Tucker.

Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato, a leading New York Republican, said he has decided against challenging long-serving Democratic Gov. Mario M. Cuomo in next year's election. Cuomo, a nationally known political figure who had considered a run at the presidency in 1992, is expected to seek a fourth term as governor. D'Amato had said he was close to agreeing to run, but in a letter to the state Republican chairman, D'Amato said he wants to stay in the Senate.

One of President Clinton's chief critics on Capitol Hill said the Whitewater prosecutor's investigation has dragged on too long, according to news reports. "The American public has just grown sick and tired of it," Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday outside the Senate chamber in Washington, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Wednesday. D'Amato's remarks also were carried in New York's Daily News.

Days after criticizing House Speaker Newt Gingrich as out of touch with voters, Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) lashed out at Patrick J. Buchanan, calling him "a philosophical ayatollah," the New York Times reported. In a speech to the Republican National Committee's Northeast Leadership Conference in Uniondale, N.Y., D'Amato said Buchanan, who ran for the GOP presidential nomination this year, has been a divisive element in the party and has turned off mainstream voters.

"How is it," state Assembly Majority Leader Michael Bragman recently asked delegates to the New York Democratic Convention, "that a state that gave us Al Smith and Franklin Roosevelt and Mario Cuomo elects Al D'Amato?" That question has tormented New York Democrats ever since 1980 when Alfonse M. D'Amato--then an obscure Republican county supervisor from Long Island--first won his U.S. Senate seat. His two reelections have rubbed salt in his foes' wounds; the Democrats have a hard time reconciling their state's liberal tradition--forged by Govs.

Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.), who began running TV ads for his reelection more than a year ago, officially announced his candidacy for a fourth term. D'Amato called his latest reelection bid a continued fight for the forgotten middle class and for the things that are right about America. D'Amato is unopposed in the Sept. 15 primary. The Democratic candidates are former Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro, Rep. Charles E. Schumer and city Public Advocate Mark Green.

One of President Clinton's chief critics on Capitol Hill said the Whitewater prosecutor's investigation has dragged on too long, according to news reports. "The American public has just grown sick and tired of it," Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday outside the Senate chamber in Washington, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Wednesday. D'Amato's remarks also were carried in New York's Daily News.

Some donations made to the National Republican Senatorial Committee ended up in the campaign war chest of New York Gov. George Pataki, with the help of Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato, it has been reported. Instead of depositing the money into the D'Amato-headed fund, to be used in Republican Senate races around the country, the checks were deposited into one of two state-level accounts, the New York Times said today. Some were given to a "New York State Victory Committee" that made a $1.

If moderation is now the best ticket to political survival in the era of divided government, there may be no greater personification of it than Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato. The pugnacious New York Republican--best known for his vigorous hammering of the Clinton White House over Whitewater in the months before the election--is now going full throttle in the opposite direction. He is making nice. Like D'Amato's other positionings, this one has attracted attention.

The Senate Ethics Committee has cleared Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) of wrongdoing for any special treatment he may have received from a brokerage firm that earned him a quick and hefty profit on a stock trade. In a letter made public by D'Amato, the committee said it "concluded that no improper conduct and no violation of law or Senate rule occurred." Victor Baird, the chief counsel of the panel, said no further action would be taken. The complaint was lodged in June by a watchdog group.

The Senate Ethics Committee has cleared Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) of wrongdoing for any special treatment he may have received from a brokerage firm that earned him a quick and hefty profit on a stock trade. In a letter made public by D'Amato, the committee said it "concluded that no improper conduct and no violation of law or Senate rule occurred." Victor Baird, the chief counsel of the panel, said no further action would be taken. The complaint was lodged in June by a watchdog group.

Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.), who has led Republican attacks on alleged ethical breaches by President Clinton and his wife, reaped one-day profits of $37,125 in a questionable stock deal, according to a government report. D'Amato, chairman of a special Senate committee that has investigated the Whitewater controversy for the last year, was criticized in a confidential report commissioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The report was made public late Wednesday by U.S.

Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.), chairman of the Senate Whitewater Committee, got the go-ahead from special prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr to offer immunity to David Hale so President Clinton's chief accuser can testify at Senate hearings next week. On Wednesday, the committee will consider whether to grant the immunity, D'Amato said. Hale testified at the Little Rock, Ark., trial of Clinton's Whitewater partners, James B. McDougal and his ex-wife, Susan, and of Gov. Jim Guy Tucker.