Giuliani Senate Run in Doubt as Divorce Looms

First it was cancer. Now New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is facing the possibility of an ugly and very public divorce that may cause him to drop out of the U.S. Senate race against Hillary Rodham Clinton, perhaps as early as today, according to sources close to the mayor.

Aides, however, insisted that he will remain in the race.

A somber, downcast Giuliani, who revealed less than two weeks ago that he is battling prostate cancer, told reporters Wednesday that he and his wife, actress-journalist Donna Hanover, are separating after 16 years of marriage.

“I’m very sad and I feel terrible,” the Republican mayor said, choosing his words carefully. He conceded that “over the course of some period of time, in many ways, we have grown to live independent and separate lives. . . . It’s cost me a great deal emotionally.”

Giuliani’s stunning announcement, delivered in Bryant Park near the New York Public Library, came on the heels of his admission last week that he has been spending time with an Upper East Side divorcee, Judith Nathan, whom he described as a “very good friend.”

The mayor, who has two children with Hanover, tried to put the best face on his comments, praising his wife as a “wonderful” woman.

But hours after his announcement, an emotionally distraught Hanover stood on the steps of Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, and thrust the equivalent of a political dagger through Giuliani’s heart. She told reporters that, although she had tried to keep her marriage together, she found it impossible to do so “because of his [Giuliani’s] relationship with one staff member.”

Hanover did not elaborate, yet it was clear that she was referring to persistent stories in the media that the mayor had an affair several years ago with Cristyne Lategano, his former press secretary and communications director.

Both Giuliani and Lategano have denied the allegations. Pressed by reporters, Lategano, who now heads the city’s Visitors and Convention Bureau, declined Wednesday to comment on Hanover’s statement, saying: “I’m not going to speculate. . . . I think enough has been said about this.”

Until now, Hanover had refused to comment on the allegations about Giuliani and Lategano, who has since married. In the past, the mayor’s wife cited the need to protect her children from adverse publicity.

Hanover, her hands trembling, suggested that the mayor’s new relationship with Nathan, a registered nurse who manages a pharmaceutical company, may have been the last straw in a marriage that had grown publicly chilly in recent years, with Hanover and Giuliani almost never appearing together.

“Rudy and I reestablished our personal intimacy through the fall,” she noted, but “at that point, he chose another path.”

Beyond the personal turmoil, political observers were divided over what kind of impact Giuliani’s announcement will have on his presumed race against Democrat Clinton. On Wednesday night, City Hall was ablaze with speculation--some coming from Giuliani’s camp--that the combination of his health and personal problems now make it all but certain that he will drop out of the Senate race, perhaps as early as today. Others, such as Bruce Teitelbaum, the mayor’s Senate campaign manager, insisted that the campaign “is all systems go.”

But running may prove to be impossible because of Hanover’s comments, said Andrew Kirtzman, a New York political journalist who has just completed a biography of Giuliani. “You’ve got the ‘War of the Roses’ at Gracie Mansion, a tearful wife accusing him of infidelity,” he said. “And that’s potent stuff for any politician to deal with in the midst of a campaign.”

Others said that the mayor could still run--and win--because voters are weary of scandals that do not affect the way a politician performs in office. “All of this may even create some sympathy for him,” said GOP consultant Joseph Mercurio. He pointed to a recent New York Daily News poll, showing that 77% of New Yorkers do not judge the mayor harshly for the revelations about Nathan.

If Giuliani remains in the race, some experts, such as Democratic consultant George Arzt, believe that the latest news could damage his credibility. Others, such as GOP consultant Jay Severin, believe that voters will pay attention only to his performance in office and ignore his personal and private life.

Either way, some GOP leaders are impatient with the brewing controversy and have asked Giuliani to address these problems and make an announcement soon for the sake of his party. New York Senate leader Joseph Bruno, for example, urged the mayor to “work things out” quickly, certainly before the state’s GOP convention on May 30.

Should the mayor withdraw, Republicans will focus on two leading candidates to replace him, including New York Gov. George Pataki, who has said that he does not want to give up the governor’s office, and Long Island Rep. Rick Lazio, who has made no secret of his desire to run if Giuliani falters.

Mrs. Clinton, who was campaigning in Syracuse on Wednesday, refused to comment.

Asked about his next move, Giuliani said:

“I don’t really care about politics now. . . . Politics come at least second, maybe third, maybe fourth, somewhere else, at least.”

The mayor said earlier that he would be making final decisions this week about the course of his medical treatment--and perhaps the Senate race.

Although he conceded that his public life is fair game for reporters, Giuliani pleaded for a “zone of privacy” in coming days so he could deal with the twin problems of his health and his marriage.

In doing so, he said, “I’m motivated by all the tremendous invasion of privacy that’s taken place. . . . This is something between Donna and me, not anyone else.”

In her announcement, Hanover said that she would remain in Gracie Mansion with her children, Caroline, 10, and Andrew, 14, for several months, citing “security concerns.”