LBANY, N.Y. - Hillary Rodham Clinton and Representative Rick Lazio picked up valuable endorsements yesterday in their Senate race, with Clinton winning the support of the state Liberal Party leader and the Republican congressman gaining the support of the Conservative Party chairman.
New York allows major party candidates to count votes from third-party ballot lines, which can be critical in a close race.
No Republican has been elected to statewide office in New York since 1974 without Conservative Party backing, and no Democrat has been elected governor or senator in New York without Liberal Party backing since the party was founded in 1944.
The head of the Conservative Party, Michael Long, had refused to get behind New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani because of Giuliani's support for abortion rights and his closeness to the Liberal Party. Giuliani dropped out of the race Friday.
''It's going to be a real race. The difference is there's going to be a contrast here,'' Long said yesterday. ''There's going to be a united front. Old alliances are going to be working together again.''
Liberal Party leader Raymond Harding has been a top political adviser to Giuliani, and the mayor's withdrawal from the race cleared the way for Harding to get behind Clinton. Harding said he was ''100 percent'' behind her.
The Conservative and Liberal party leaders' choices are expected to be ratified at their state nominating conventions June 3.
