Gov. Whitman Launches Senate Bid

Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, one of the stars of the Republican Party, launched a bid for the U.S. Senate with the formation of a fund-raising committee. Barred by law from seeking a third term as governor, she ended speculation about her political future with the announcement that she intends to run for the Senate seat being vacated by three-term Democrat Frank R. Lautenberg. If elected, New Jersey’s first female governor would become the state’s first female senator. Whitman, 52, would also have to cut short by one year her second term as governor, which runs through January 2002.