Posted on 10/16/2007 5:34:50 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Republican Congressman Steve Pearce will run against Congresswoman Heather Wilson for the Republican nomination to succeed Senator Pete Domenici, according to an online report published Tuesday.
ABQJounal.com cites a “person familiar with Pearce’s plans” in reporting that the southeastern New Mexico Congressman will notify friends and supporters by email of his intention to run.
The Associated Press reports that "a source close to Pearce" confirms he will run, but only on the condition of anonymity.
Pearce, who represents the southern part of New Mexico, is generally considered to be more conservative than Wilson, whose congressional district is in the central part of the state and includes Albuquerque.
Domenici, the state’s longest serving member of Congress, announced on Thursday, October 4th, his intention to retire from the Senate after 36 years. Wilson announced her candidacy to replace him 24 hours later.
Wilson is generally considered to be Domenici’s protégé and it’s believed that Domenici has been grooming Wilson to succeed him.
On the Democratic side, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez has announced he’ll seek the nomination for U.S. Senate. He’ll face Santa Fe businessman Don Wiviott, a relative political unknown.
Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, has said that he won’t run for Domenici’s seat and will continue seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
Looking forward to comments about this race.
FYI
Two words: Blood bath.
Actually, I think that Pearce is marginally the better candidate. He doesn’t have the U.S. Attorney controversy hanging over him (though it’s a phony scandal). He has a more solid base in his Congressional district than Heather Wilson does. I think he has some personal wealth to draw upon (he’s an oilman). And he actually polls better against the Democrats than Wilson does, in spite of her moderate record.
If Wilson is the nominee, I’ll happily support her, but I prefer Pearce.
I really like Steve. I’d like to see him trounce Heather Wilson. She’s a RINO!
Wilson should really step aside and let Pearce run to avoid a bitter primary. Plus by giving up her House seat it probably will go Democrat now. Still it is good to see two heavyweight candidates going for this seat. Perhaps Wilson can be persuaded to wait and take on Bingaman? Of course he is in his fifth term now. He ought to call it quits at the end of this one.
“Plus by giving up her House seat it probably will go Democrat now.”
Actually, that’s not the case. Republicans have a first-rate candidate in Albuquerque Sheriff Darren White.
We have a great candidate to keep NM-1.
Good news out of New Mexico.
Didn’t see my post 4 ?
Martin Chavez won’t have the Rodent field all to himself. Look for some mudslinging there, too.
Glad to hear it. Maybe NM will not be such a bad state for Republicans next year.
Check out the comments on the New Mexico board:
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/profiles?location=79
Rep. Steve Pearce, a conservative Republican from southern New Mexico, has decided to run for the U.S. Senate, setting up a potentially fierce primary battle against fellow Republican Rep. Heather Wilson. ...The old saying "a bird in the hand..." comes to mind.New Mexico Democrats, meanwhile, celebrated Pearce's entry into the race Tuesday, looking forward to a rough-and-tumble GOP primary battle.
"I couldn't have asked for a better gift," said Brian Colón, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. "It's pretty exciting to know they (Wilson and Pearce) will have an opportunity to highlight each other's failures." ...
Steve Bell, Domenici's chief of staff, said he had "no idea" whether the senator would endorse Wilson— his protege— or Pearce. But Bell lamented the coming Republican primary campaign. "It's not going to be good for the party and we've got a bigger risk (of losing potentially two House seats) in a year that looks like it could be tough on Republicans," Bell said.
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There is a field ready to form to succeed Pearce in the House. For the time being, state Senator Lee Rawson is the man to watch. If he isn’t interested, than it’s wide open.
I’m glad that Sherrif White is a strong candidate to hold the House seat. Perhaps bringing in new blood in the Congress is a good thing. I just hope Pearce and Wilson will have a gentle brawl and quickly kiss and make up.
Those that read the FR NM board have already heard this, but I’ll repeat it here anyway:
And he would make a good Senator... IF he can get elected.
But I have to wonder if his personal style will work with the majority of NM voters outside his Congressional district, and if he will be pressured to sell out his good conservative principles to get votes much north of Highway 60... And even if he does move way leftward as Wilson had to do to get re-elected last time, will he be able to get more than about 20% of the ‘northern’ vote (and that is where the majority of our population resides).
And that isn’t even taking into consideration the pre-stuffed ballot boxes and the ‘hey, look at what I found in the closet after the real votes were counted’ that Bernalillo and San Miguel counties are so good at.
Well, either way, I’ll support him financially and maybe even do a little volunteer campaign work for him again here in my neighborhood, but I am very worried about losing a great Representative for the gamble of MAYBE getting a decent Senator.
Can he run for both seats like the Senators do when they run for re-election AND for President at the same time? ;-)
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