D’Amato was considered unbeatable. Now under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee for his role in federal housing deals, he’s vulnerable. But before Ferraro can get at him, she must overcome her own past with the ethics police and win the nomination from a strong field of fellow Democrats, including state Attorney General Robert Abrams (the favorite), Rep. Bob Mrazek, and perhaps New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs Mark Green. And then there is The Other Woman. Elizabeth Holtzman, New York City’s comptroller, almost beat D’Amato in 1980. “We obviously have overlapping constituencies,” says Ferraro, “but why not say, “Is Liz in the race going to affect Bobby because they’re both Jewish? Or is Mrazek in the race going to affect Bobby because they’re both white men?’” Ferraro has a national fund-raising base the other candidates can’t match. But she carries some heavy baggage from 1984. A statewide poll found that vague memories of her husband’s financial improprieties still stick in people’s minds. “In a race against D’Amato, the issues of integrity will come up again,” says Lee Miringoff, director of the poll. Ferraro’s own polls show that women like her for standing by her man. Her polls also say D’Amato can be beaten by taking ethnic Democratic voters away from him–and that is Ferraro country.
