ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – Republican Edward Cox, a son-in-law of President Nixon, will soon form an exploratory committee for an expected run against Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a top adviser said Tuesday.

Lynn Mueller, an Albany-based consultant, said the budding campaign has already hired fundraisers and a pollster.

Asked about the chances that Cox will challenge Clinton for re-election in 2006, Mueller said: “It’s as close to 100 percent as you can get unless something bizarre happens, which we don’t expect.”

Mueller said a federal campaign committee will probably be operating by the end of June and a formal announcement will probably come this fall.

Asked about the potential Cox challenge, Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson noted that the election is almost 18 months away and said: “Hillary Clinton is going to continue working hard in the Senate on behalf of all New Yorkers.”

GOP leaders have been looking for a strong challenger to beat or at least bloody Clinton in 2006 and make a 2008 presidential bid by her more difficult. Polls show the former first lady is the Democratic front-runner for the White House nomination.

Cox, 58, married Tricia Nixon in a Rose Garden ceremony in 1971. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he worked with consumer advocate Ralph Nader and is a partner in the law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler.

Clinton, as a young lawyer, worked in Washington on the impeachment proceedings against Nixon.

AP-ES-05-17-05 1639EDT