ALBANY – A Wall Street public relations executive who worked for both Alfonse D’Amato and the late John Heinz in the U.S. Senate is preparing to challenge Senator Clinton’s 2006 reelection bid.

A key problem for Adam Brecht, however, is that major New York Republicans, not to mention rank-and-file voters, don’t seem to have a clue who he is.

“I know nothing about this guy,” said the executive director of the state GOP, Bill McGahay.

Mr. Brecht hopes to remedy that lack of recognition by making the rounds this week at the Republican National Convention. The openly gay liberal Republican is also running a full-page ad in Hamptons magazine aimed at piquing the curiosity of the rich and famous who summer there.

“There are a lot of money movers and shakers out there and media movers and shakers out there,” the youthful Mr. Brecht said last week.

Mr. Brecht plans to create an exploratory committee after this fall’s election to determine if enough money can be raised to take on Mrs. Clinton.

“Obviously, money is the most important thing the exploratory committee is looking at,” Mr. Brecht said.

Mr. Brecht comes from a wealthy area in suburban Philadelphia. He is descended from the inventor of FM radio and quit his p.r. job this year to manage money left him by his late mother, but said he can’t afford to finance the race himself and hopes his Wall Street contacts help.

During the Democratic National Convention in Boston last month, Mrs. Clinton vowed she would win re-election and would “raise whatever money I need to raise.” Mrs. Clinton said she raised $45 million for her 2000 race and expected to have to raise at least that much again.

Mr. Brecht said Mrs. Clinton would be a tough challenge.

“She badly needs to win that race because she’s using New York as her waiting room for returning to the White House,” he said, echoing the sentiments of many Republicans that the former first lady has her heart set on running for president. The potential Republican challenger said Mrs. Clinton’s “distraction” has hurt when it comes to delivering for New York.

“She’s been a better celebrity than a senator,” he said. Nonetheless, Mr. Brecht conceded “there is a lot of star power” in Mrs. Clinton’s corner.

Given speculation that Mayor Giuliani or Governor Pataki might challenge Mrs. Clinton in 2006, there could also be star power on the GOP side.

“If one of the big brand names of the Republican Party stepped forward, I’d definitely step aside,” Mr. Brecht said. “I could never bring to the campaign what Giuliani or Pataki would bring.”

However, Mr. Brecht said: “My sense is that neither of them will run.”

Mr. Brecht grew up in a Democratic household but became a Republican when Ronald Reagan ran for president. He moved to New York City at the age of 17 to study political science at New York University. He took a year off between his sophomore and junior years to work for Heinz.

“He was very intense, very cerebral,” Mr. Brecht recalled. “He was very dedicated.”

After graduating from NYU, Mr. Brecht worked for Mr. D’Amato for three years.

“He was a great boss…. I got my feet wet in New York politics working for him,” the former aide said.

Mr. Brecht then spent more than a decade working in public relations, making headlines last year when he started a campaign to raise private funds to keep open New York City firehouses threatened by budget cuts. The effort stalled after Mayor Bloomberg refused to accept the money.