Sex Issue Won’t Affect Plans for ‘88--Celeste

SANDUSKY, Ohio —  Gov. Richard F. Celeste said today that a newspaper report linking him romantically to three women during the last decade won’t affect his plans to consider running for President.

Celeste and his wife, Dagmar, talked to reporters after a breakfast meeting with elected officials in Sandusky. He did not refer specifically to allegations made in today’s editions of the Plain Dealer.

The Cleveland newspaper, which cited unidentified sources, did not identify the women or detail any involvement but said two of them were married to friends of Celeste.

Today, Celeste, his wife of 25 years standing beside him during the hastily called news conference, said:

“Twenty-five years ago, Dagmar and I made a choice to get married for better and for worse. . . . We sustained that choice not because we’re a perfect couple, but we’ve sustained it and I think we’ve grown stronger together. . . .

“I want you to know that I believe our personal lives are just that. It’s between me and Dagmar, between me and my kids. That’s where it ought to be. That’s where it is. That’s where I intend to keep it.”

Two of the women said to be linked with Celeste could not be reached for comment and the third declined comment, according to the newspaper.

The newspaper said the governor’s close advisers fear that womanizing could become an issue if Celeste decides to seek the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. Similar charges torpedoed Gary Hart’s campaign last month.

The newspaper said it learned that Dagmar Celeste has been aware of some of the governor’s romantic involvements and that she even joked with reporters on at least two occasions about her husband’s extramarital activities.

In 1985, according to the newspaper, there were reports in the governor’s inner circle that he was involved with a member of his office staff. That woman resigned.