Ray '82 considering run for N.J. Senator

Robert Ray '82 resigned as independent counsel yesterday in a move that has freed him for a possible run for New Jersey's seat in the U.S. Senate.

Ray said he will return to the Garden State today but declined to comment on whether he would declare his candidacy.

However, he said he has given a run for the Senate "serious consideration."

Federal employees are required by law to resign their posts to run in partisan elections. Until now, he has not been able to raise funds or form a campaign team.

Ray succeeded Kenneth Starr at the independent counsel's office in the investigation of President Clinton's involvement with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

The Republican primary is scheduled for June 4, but the deadline to file for candidacy is April 8. Currently, there are five Republican candidates in the primary to decide who will face Democrat incumbent Robert Torricelli.

Ray has discussed a possible candidacy with several members of the N.J. Republican State Committee including Chairman Joseph Kyrillos, committee spokeswoman Jeanette Hoffman said.

"He has been received well. He holds a very impressive position," she said. "[He has an] ability to paint a strong contrast to Torricelli."

However, Hoffman said she was uncertain whether the media attention surrounding the Clinton investigation would translate into votes.

Though the five-year federal investigation into Torricelli's fund-raising activities for his 1996 Senate run closed in January, 43 percent of Garden State residents would like to send a new Senator to Washington, according to a recent Eagleton Institute-Rutgers University poll. There were no charges filed in the federal investigation, but the Senate Ethics Committee is considering an investigation of its own.

The Torricelli campaign would focus primarily on issues such as public education, improving healthcare and tax reform, Torricelli spokeswoman Debra Deshong said.

"[Torricelli] thinks a Ray candidacy would expose the Republicans to defend the entire Clinton episode and the waste of resources by Ray and independent counsel Starr," she said.

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A Quinnipiac poll released last week indicated that Torricelli has a double-digit lead over all the Republican challengers and would have a 53 percent to 28 percent margin over Ray if he were to file.

Monika McDermott, the director of the Eagleton poll, said most of the Republican challengers do not currently have a wide name recognition and therefore would not pose much of a challenge to Ray's candidacy.

Ray's history at the office of independent counsel could prove a strong attribute in light of the allegations leveled at Torricelli and their lingering effects with potential voters.

"In that sense it could be a very effective strategy to pursue Torricelli," McDermott said. "[Ray] is possibly the strongest candidate to do that."

McDermott highlighted one potential obstacle to Ray's campaign, saying he does not hold a solid geographic base of support in the state.

Ray has not held elected office. As independent counsel since October 1999, he negotiated the deal that spared Clinton from an indictment in the perjury and obstruction of justice inquiry concerning Lewinsky.