Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

by Jonathan Singer, Wed Oct 03, 2007 at 02:44:19 PM EDT

I mentioned it in an update to my post noting the news that New Mexico's long-serving Republican Senator Pete Domenici will be retiring next year rather than seeking reelection, but we're trying to put together an effort to draft Congressman Tom Udall into the race for United States Senate.

For those who don't know too much about Udall, here's a quick primer. Udall comes from a leading Western political family that currently has three members serving in the Congress and that has also had other members previously serve in Congress, state legislatures, mayoralties and state supreme courts around the region. Udall's first cousin Mark (who is also a Congressman) is running for Senate as a Democrat in Colorado this cycle, and another cousin, Gordon Smith, is also running for reelection to the United States Senate, though as a Republican.

Udall has represented New Mexico in the United States House of Representatives since 1999 after having previously served for eight years as the state's Attorney General and three years as the state's Assistant United States Attorney. During his time on Capitol Hill, Udall has racked up a fairly progressive voting record. Back in May, for instance, Udall voted against the Iraq supplemental funding legislation that did not include a timeline for the withdrawal of American troops from the country. In short, he doesn't vote perfectly 100 percent of the time, but he is a solid progressive and would presumably continue to be one should he be elected to the United States Senate.

Looking at the dynamics of this race, Udall would have a good shot at winning next fall should he get in the race. As alluded to above, Udall has already won two statewide contests in New Mexico in addition to his five House wins, so he has a proven track record of being able to win in this highly competitive state. (On the presidential level New Mexico is one of the most competitive states in the nation, with Al Gore defeating George W. Bush in the state by about 300 votes in 2000 and Bush topping Kerry in the state by about 6,000 votes in 2004.) Udall would also come into this race in a strong financial position, with more than $715,000 in the bank as of the end of July and likely more on hand as of the end of September -- money that could all be transfered to a Senate campaign.

So what we're trying to do is help cajole Udall into this race by sending $5 contributions to his campaign through the Draft Tom Udall for Senate page set up on ActBlue earlier today. The total amount of money sent to his campaign is not nearly as important as the total number of donors. So if you'd like to help make a 60-seat Democratic majority in the Senate a reality -- and, perhaps more importantly, send a real progressive to the United States Senate -- make a $5 contribution today to the ActBlue Draft Tom Udall for Senate page.

Tags: New Mexico, NM-Sen, Senate 2008, Tom Udall (all tags)

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Re: Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

I'd rather have Richardson... I think he's as close to a sure thing as one could get...

Thanks,

Mike

by lordmikethegreat 2007-10-03 03:04PM | 0 recs

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Re: Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

Problem with Richardson is that he's running for President. Even though he probably won't win, he probably won't exit the race any time before Iowa, either.

What's more, I think it would be viewed negatively if Richardson exits the Presidential race in, say, January and then decides to run for the Senate seat. Richardson would have to step on quite a few toes to do so, and if we get a serious, non-Richardson candidate between now and February, will that person be willing to step aside? Imagine if Udall announces for the seat next week. He'll start raising money for a Senate race immediately. If you've been raising money and traveling around the state in preparation for a Senate race for four months, and suddenly Richardson decides that he's not going to win the Presidency and instead wants to be a Senator, how are you going to react?

My point is that while I think Richardson would be a great candidate, I don't think he's a realistic possibility.

by Tom 2007-10-03 03:49PM | 0 recs

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Re: Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

The GOP Bench is mediocre at best. What's best for the United States isn't a US Senator Richardson. He can do a ton more as Secretary of State or as Governor of New Mexico.

by JeremiahTheMessiah 2007-10-03 03:49PM | 0 recs

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Re: Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

Please don't do this!

Is this coming out of the blogsphere or New Mexico?

Udall is quite beatable. He really doesn't have that great a reputation outside of Northern New Mexico. He screwed up big time protecting LANL's budget and doesn't have a reputation for carrying what happens to New Mexico's economic development.

We need Richardson, the State needs Richardson and I don't even like the guy that much. He's the only one that will win without a doubt.

Heater Wilson will destroy Udall -

by mwfolsom 2007-10-03 03:51PM | 0 recs

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Re: Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

"Heater Wilson will destroy Udall -"

She can barely hold her own district. I highly doubt she would destroy Udall.

If you're going to make arguements, make arguements. If you're going to throw crap around (like Heather Wilson crushing Udall) you're not doing anyone any favors.

by JeremiahTheMessiah 2007-10-03 04:25PM | 0 recs

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Re: Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

Sorry but she still won -

And please note - she has won 6 different elections against 4 different opponents.

by mwfolsom 2007-10-03 04:33PM | 0 recs

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Re: Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

She got a ton of help from the NRCC. She is draining their bank account, and she barely skidded by against a bad opponent.

by JeremiahTheMessiah 2007-10-03 04:44PM | 0 recs

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Re: Draft Congressman Tom Udall for Senate

2004 Presidential Results. NM-1 Kerry 51-48 NM-2 Bush 57-42 NM-3 Kerry 54-45. Wilson received 50% of the vote in her last House Race. In all of Wilson's US House Races. She never got more that 55% of the popular vote. Too be conservative- I would say Wilson defeats Udall in NM-1 55-45 percent margin. In Pearce(NM-2)- Pearce did not get more than 60% of the popular vote in NM-2. Wilson defeats Udall in NM-2 60-40 percent margin. Udall won all his re-election campaigns with 65-75 percent of the votes in all of his races. This is a 55-45 percent race favoring Udall.

by nkpolitics 2007-10-04 08:31AM | 0 recs

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Yes.

Udall is progressive and he will own Wilson. Plus then the current Senate candidates in NM can run for Udall's seat because they are all from Santa Fe.

If Udall gets in and Kerry gets it then we are looking at UHC, EFCA and more. Plus KY, NC and more will be competitive.

by Populista 2007-10-03 04:26PM | 0 recs

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Re: Yes.

Sorry, but this ---,,,,,,

Udall is progressive and he will own Wilson.

is silly.

by mwfolsom 2007-10-03 04:35PM | 0 recs

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Why Udall Won't Run & Can't Win

Before folks launch into this please think!

The Republican bench in New Mexico is weak - their candidate for Senate will either be Heather Wilson or Steve Pearce. The Republican establishment fears nominating Steve Pearce because he is such a left wing wacko. This is another reason why Saint Pete's announcement is such a surprise - he knows that the Republicans in NM like Steve better than Heather but Steve is poison and Pete knows it. I always thought Pete would not run and in the end find another way to handle handing the nomination to Heather - maybe Pearce has agreed not to run, who knows - but its clear that something is bad wrong with Pete.

The Republican power structure (Pete leads it!) will do all it can to nominate Heather and my guess is that in the end they will succeed.

So unless we are really lucky the race is against Heather Wilson - she's smart and evil.

Please understand that NM is divided into 3 Congressional Districts - for simplicity call them Northern NM (NNM), Southern NM (SNM), and Albuquerque (Abq). NNM is the most liberal/progressive part of the State. SNM makes Texas look moderate to liberal. Udall does well in NNM but he won't win in Albuquerque (Heather's base) and he will loose horribly in SNM.

The only way he can win is if he runs against Steve Pearce. If the race is against Heather Wilson she will loose in NNM, win slightly in Abq and win big in SNM - ergo Heather wins.

The question that needs to be asked is - can Udall win big enough in NNM to make up for the huge loss he will face in SNM and a slight loss in Abq? Tom knows that and so does everybody else so he won't run.

by mwfolsom 2007-10-03 04:31PM | 0 recs

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Re: Why Udall Won't Run &amp; Can't Win

Considering the political environment, he will probably win his district with somewhere between 68+% with a high end ceiling of 75%.

Second, Wilson can BARELY hold her district. She got a significant ammount of help from the NRCC last year. So they would probably break 50-50 in her district.

Pearce's district was split 60-40 when he outspent his opponent 6-1. Seeing as Wilson cannot outspend Udall 6-1 in Pearce's district, she won't win it by a very significant margin.

by JeremiahTheMessiah 2007-10-03 04:38PM | 0 recs

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Re: Why Udall Won't Run &amp;amp; Can't Win

Considering the political environment, he will probably win his district with somewhere between 68+% with a high end ceiling of 75%. Winning NM-3 with at least 60% of the popular vote is enough for a Udall victory state wide. Kerry won NM-3 by a 55-45 percent margin despite losing by a less than 1% margin. NM is a Democratic Pick up.

by nkpolitics 2007-10-04 08:09AM | 0 recs

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a leading Western political family

I must say I'm tired of political dynasties. Unless Udall is the only person who can beat the Republican nominee, I hope the good people of New Mexico find someone else.

by PeakVT 2007-10-03 04:36PM | 0 recs