Reno Ponders Run for Fla. Governor

Former Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said Friday that she is seriously considering running for governor next year, which could pit her against Gov. Jeb Bush, the president’s brother.

Reno, 62, in a telephone interview from her Miami-area home, said she will probably decide whether to run by the end of the year.

“I have to decide what can I do that would best serve the interest of Florida,” Reno said. “I want to talk about the vision I have of what the state should be. Maybe there are other people out there who could address that better than I can, but let’s see.”

Reno was elected Miami-Dade County’s state attorney five times before serving as attorney general under President Clinton. She said she didn’t know how much money she would have to raise to mount a viable campaign, she but said it would be in the millions.

“I think it would be very expensive,” she said.

Bush, who took office in January 1999, has said he plans to announce next month whether he will seek reelection next year. He declined comment Friday on Reno’s possible candidacy.

The governor and other Florida officials were in the spotlight during last fall’s marathon presidential election battle. Bush’s brother, George W. Bush, won the state’s pivotal 25 electoral votes and the White House when the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the Florida recount sought by Vice President Al Gore.

The first female attorney general in U.S. history, Reno was surrounded by controversy for virtually her entire tenure but stayed nearly eight years in office--longer than any attorney general in the 20th century.

She had sometimes chilly relations with a White House that thought she ordered too many independent counsel investigations of Clinton and top administration officials.

She also was the target of persistent criticism from Republicans who thought she should have sought appointment of an independent counsel to investigate allegations of Clinton-Gore fund-raising violations.

Still, Reno served longer than all but one of the 77 other attorneys general--William Wert, in office for nearly 12 years ending in 1829.