and Holtzman later said, "I regret it, because I think the right to take people's lives unilaterally and secretly and with enormous power, and the perversion of that power, is certainly as serious as anything else the President did." Holtzman voted against advancing Gerald Ford's vice presidential confirmation in the Judiciary Committee and at the final vote. She asked Ford whether he had made a deal with Nixon to pardon him. She also asked if the pardon and an agreement that the tapes belonged to Nixon was in order to prevent the release of conversations between him and Nixon. She, Conyers, and Henry S. Reuss asked Charles Ruff to investigate Ford for perjury at his vice-presidential confirmation hearing. She also asked Attorney General Edward H. Levi to investigate claims of perjury and alleged a cover-up after he declined to investigate. She made a motion in the Judiciary Committee to launch a probe into the pardon, but it failed, four to three. United States Senate campaigns 1980 election It was speculated that Holtzman might run in the 1976 United States Senate election in New York. She said that she was "testing the voters" for a senatorial campaign on May 5, 1979. On January 8, 1980, she announced her senatorial candidacy, being the first Democrat to formally announce, for the 1980 election. Linda Davidoff was her campaign manager. At the state Democratic convention, Holtzman received 38% of the delegate vote on the first ballot, above the required 25% support to appear on the ballot without petitioning, but not enough to gain the party's endorsement. She attempted to gain the Liberal nomination, but the party selected incumbent Senator Jacob Javits. She won the Democratic primary, making her the first woman to win a major-party U.S. Senate nomination in New York. Holtzman narrowly lost to Republican, Conservative, and Right to Life nominee Al D'Amato, while coming far ahead of Javits, who was running on the Liberal line. D'Amato's victory was attributed to Javits splitting the vote between him and Holtzman. She raised $1,869,183 and spent $2,003,548 during the campaign. She did not concede the election. It was speculated that Holtzman might run in the 1986 Senate election, but she declined, saying that she would not be able to match D'Amato's fundraising. 1992 election On February 6, 1992, Holtzman announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 U.S. Senate election. She filed a