N.Y. elects first lady to Senate seat

NEW YORK (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton triumphed in her historic quest for the U.S. Senate, defeating homegrown Republican Rep. Rick Lazio to become the only first lady ever elected to public office.

Just after 3 a.m. this morning, with 99 percent of precincts counted, Clinton had 3,410,511 votes, or 56 percent; Lazio had 2,669,374 votes, or 44 percent.

"You came out and said that issues and ideals matter," Clinton told a cheering crowd. In the wings, her husband, the president, watched and grinned.

"I am profoundly grateful to all of you for giving me the chance to serve you," she said. "I will do everything I can to be worthy of your faith and trust and to honor the powerful example of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan."

The campaign, which pitted her against a powerhouse New York City mayor and then a lesser-known Republican congressman, was the longest and costliest race in the state's history. It saw issues of character, place of birth, marital fidelity, and campaign finance collide with discussion of education, Social Security and the state's economy.

But Clinton herself - her activism, her issues, her president husband and her love-it-or-hate-it personality - proved to be the main issue in the campaign against Lazio to replace retiring Democrat Moynihan.

Lazio, in conceding, called for unity and pronounced the effort worthwhile.

"She has won this race," Lazio said of Clinton. "It's time for us to stand as New Yorkers together."

N.Y. Senate

Lazio GOP 2,669,374

As of 3 a.m.

AP PHOTO

First lady Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea celebrate her victory over Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.) for New York's open U.S. Senate seat. She is the only first lady who has been elected to public office.