Hillary Clinton may face primary challenger

July 9, 2000
Web posted at: 8:12 p.m. EDT (0012 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton may have a U.S. Senate primary after all.

Mark McMahon is pursuing a statewide petition drive to get on the primary ballot in September

Mrs. Clinton, who was endorsed by the Democratic party's state nominating convention on May 15, is now facing a possible challenge from Mark McMahon, a New York-born orthopedic surgeon.

McMahon, who tried and failed to be considered by party activists at the convention, has instead pursued a statewide petition drive to get on the primary ballot in September.

On Monday, McMahon plans to announce the successful completion of his petition drive, having gathered the required 15,000 signatures, including 100 names each from at least 16 of the state's 31 congressional districts.

McMahon has until Thursday, July 13 to file his petition. He faces an uphill battle because state party leaders have lined up behind Mrs. Clinton, and she enjoys a tremendous fund-raising advantage.

"I'm running because I care about New York," McMahon says in a statement posted on his Web site. "I don't think Hillary cares about New York. I believe she is using us. I'm just not buying it. Someone has to stand up to her," the statement says.

New York's primary day is September 12. Even when there is no competition, the state board of elections doesn't legally certify a candidate as the actual party "nominee" until after the primary.

In New York, any office seeker who is not the chosen winner at the party convention but gets at least 25 percent of the convention delegate vote is entitled to be in a primary.

At the state Democratic convention in Albany, McMahon failed to obtain enough required delegate signatures to even place his name in nomination.

Mrs. Clinton campaigned in Rochester and near Syracuse Sunday, the fourth day of a five-day trip to promote her platform for reviving the upstate economy.

Her campaign, when alerted to the development, had no immediate comment.

On the Republican side, Rep. Rick Lazio, his party's U.S. Senate designee since a May 30 state convention, faces no competition.

McMahon, 39, has never before sought elective office. He grew up in Jericho, Long Island, and went to college in Washington, D.C., at Georgetown, where he was the valedictorian in 1981.

He earned his medical degree at Harvard and a masters degree from the London School of Economics before becoming and intern and then a resident at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

He established a private practice in 1993 in Manhattan, where he and his wife of 10 years, Lynne, also a doctor, and their three children live.

CNN Producer Phil Hirschkorn contributed to this report.