Sen. Bill Bradley announced Monday that he will seek a third term on Capitol Hill, quashing speculation about a 1992 presidential bid by saying he planned to represent New Jersey for the full term. ``I'll say the same thing in 1990 that I said in 1984 ... that I will serve my six-year term,'' the Democrat told about 150 people gathered at Montclair State College. ``I can't conceive of anything that would change it.'' A poll of Democratic state chairmen from throughout the nation recently put Bradley, 46, at the top of their list for the presidential nomination in 1992. Bradley, however, said he wants to make his contribution representing New Jersey. Bradley, a Rhodes scholar from Denville who played basketball for Princeton University and the New York Knicks, is seen as one Northeasterner who would be acceptable in more conservative regions. His wife, Ernestine Schlant Bradley, a professor of German and comparative literature at Montclair State, introduced her husband. Speaking beneath an arch of red, white and blue balloons inside the college's student center, he talked of children, the environment and education. ``I want to make sure the kids of New Jersey get their share,'' he said. Bradley planned a second campaign stop at a water treatment plant outside Camden, N.J., later in the day. The senator is running what is expected to be a $10 million campaign to keep his seat. Aides say most of the money will pay for television advertising in the expensive New York and Philadelphia media markets and fend off possible negative campaigning by the GOP. Republican Christine Todd Whitman, 44, of Far Hills, N.J., said she will run a positive race strictly on the issues, including tax and spending. Bradley declined her challenge to cap his campaign spending at $3 million. He reaffirmed, however, his support Monday for public financing of campaigns, spending limits, limits on contributions by political action committees and reduced television costs for candidates. Mrs. Whitman, former president of the state Board of Public Utilities and a former Somerset County official, anticipates running a $1.5 million race. A possible GOP primary candidate is John Scott, chairman of the Conservative Caucus of New Jersey. Candidates have until April 12 to file for a place on the June 5 primary ballot. As of Friday, no other Democrat had filed. Bradley built a national record through 1986 tax reform and his positions on Third World debt and trade relationships with Canada, Mexico and Japan. In his 1978 race against Republican Jeffrey Bell, Bradley captured 56 percent of the vote. In 1984, he defeated Mary Mochary with 64 percent of the ballots cast.
