Little Support for Ferraro in New York Senate Contest

Voters turned out in sparse numbers Tuesday to decide the political fate of former vice presidential candidate Geraldine A. Ferraro in a Democratic senatorial primary overshadowed by the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal.

Surveys leading up to the election showed Ferraro trailing veteran Rep. Charles E. Schumer of Brooklyn, who raised almost $13 million and vastly outspent Walter F. Mondale’s 1984 running mate.

Exit polls Tuesday showed the 47-year-old Schumer--who was elected to Congress in 1980 and sponsored the Brady Bill, which mandates a waiting period for handgun purchases--to be running strongly.

Ferraro--the former co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire”--was ahead early in the campaign because of name recognition, but slipped after a lackluster effort marked by mediocre fund-raising.

She has said she will not run again if voters reject her.

“Ferraro has turned out to be a fizzle. She peaked the day she announced,” said Mitchell Moss, director of the Taub Urban Research Center at New York University. “She did not generate any interest.”

New York City’s public advocate, Mark Green, was the third major figure in the race to try to unseat Republican Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato.

That will be a formidable task. D’Amato has amassed a $21.8-million war chest, and already is airing commercials capitalizing on the role he played in the recent $1.25-billion settlement between Swiss bankers and Holocaust survivors.

Polls taken before the election also showed City Council Speaker F. Peter Vallone the favorite to face Republican Gov. George Pataki in November. Vallone’s candidacy soared after the millionaire husband of race rival Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey Ross closed his wallet on her campaign.

So strained was the relationship between Pataki and his running mate that she shifted parties, becoming a Democrat, in the hope of ousting him from office.

David Garth, a veteran political consultant who helped elect three New York City mayors, said President Clinton’s sex scandal was at least partly to blame for the expected low voter turnout in the statewide political races. “Scandals make much better television than paid commercials,” Garth said. “Obviously, the electorate has Monica on the mind.”

Adding to the malaise was the fact that the Senate campaign was basically a three-peas-in-a-pod primary, with little difference in the positions of the candidates.

All the major Democratic contenders favor affordable health care and the right of patients to sue their health maintenance organizations, college tuition tax credits and stronger financial support for public schools.

But unlike Ferraro and Schumer, Green opposes the death penalty.

The tone of the campaign was far different from 1992, when Ferraro faced blistering attacks about her husband’s business relationships. This time, the three Democratic candidates focused largely on D’Amato, who is seeking his fourth term in the Senate.

As the only woman to run on a major party’s presidential ticket, Ferraro was treated like a celebrity at some appearances. At the same time, she faced critics, who asked why she was seeking elective office after an absence of 14 years.

Schumer tried to cast himself in the mold of two former New York Democratic senators: Robert F. Kennedy and Robert F. Wagner Sr.

Underscoring that theme, the Brooklyn congressman ran with the slogan: “He’ll make New York proud again,” and challenged D’Amato by charging, “You cannot name a single piece of legislation he’s passed in 18 years.”

Some political analysts viewed the Democratic primary as an audition for the New York mayoral race in 2001.

Green and Vallone (who has challenged Giuliani’s plan to build a new baseball stadium for the Yankees in Manhattan) are viewed as strong potential contenders in that election.