N.J. Gov. Whitman Opts Not to Run for Senate : Politics: Unexpected decision gives Democrats better chance to retain seat. She cites a desire to finish ‘the work New Jersey voters have asked me to complete.’

New Jersey’s moderate Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman walked away Tuesday from a promising campaign for the U.S. Senate, surprising officials in her party and pleasing Democrats eager to hold on to the seat in the 2000 election.

“I am convinced that a statewide campaign would be a distraction from finishing the work New Jersey voters have asked me to complete,” the two-term governor said in a statement. Until her announcement, she had been considered a strong contender to succeed retiring Democrat Frank R. Lautenberg and become the first New Jersey Republican elected to the Senate since 1972.

Possible Democratic candidates for the seat include Jon Corzine, wealthy former chairman of Goldman Sachs and the target of a courtship by Democratic campaign officials in Washington; former Gov. James Florio; and Tommy Byrne, former state party chairman.

Whitman’s sudden withdrawal is a boon for Democrats, who now have a much better chance of holding onto the seat.

“This is the best piece of news Democrats have had in a long time,” said Jennifer E. Duffy, an analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

New Jersey’s first female governor, Whitman, 52, was the leading Republican contender for Lautenberg’s seat. Early polls had Whitman leading Florio and Corzine.

“The only thing that would have surprised me more is if Hillary Clinton had said she was pulling out of the race in New York,” said Ross K. Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.

Among Republicans, Rep. Bob Franks, state Sen. Bill Gormley and Essex County Executive James Treffinger have expressed interest, and the names of Rep. Frank A. LoBiondo and Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler have also surfaced.

Whitman’s withdrawal may help Florio most, analysts said, because it could leave him as the sole contender with statewide name recognition. Corzine has based his campaign on the notion that Democrats should back him because he had a better chance to beat Whitman. Whitman ousted incumbent Florio in a bitter contest in 1993.

Republicans command a 54-45 majority in the Senate, with one independent who normally votes with the GOP, which means Democrats must gain six seats in next year’s elections to gain power. Republicans must defend 19 of the 33 seats on the ballot, many held by freshmen who could face difficult reelection campaigns.

In public comments and private conversations Tuesday, Whitman repeated that her decision was based strictly on a desire to focus on her gubernatorial duties.

Her spokesman, Peter McDonough, said that since forming an exploratory committee several months ago, the governor has raised $2.23 million for the race.

“It wasn’t a matter of health, heart, politics or finances. It was simply a matter of trying to balance the needs of being a governor with the needs of running the kind of campaign that the governor would like to run,” he said.

Whitman’s decision leaves her without an obvious next political step after she leaves office in January 2002.

A moderate in a party that has become increasingly conservative on social matters, she rode into office as a tax-cutter but also outlined a strong position in favor of abortion rights.