Maybe Tom Udall isn’t going to be running for Senate against Pete Domenici in 2008. What makes me say that is his latest campaign fundraising numbers. Sure, the numbers look good. Udall has $712,941 cash on hand after the end of the first quarter.
But when you begin the quarter with $712,873, it’s not all that impressive. In other words, he netted something under $100 for his fundraising efforts. Udall raised just $1600 in the first quarter. I could go on and on on the numbers (the number of “other income” which includes interest and dividends is nearly four times that of the money he raised), but I think you get the point.
More under the fold. Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP.
This doesn’t look like someone gearing up for an intense Senate run against an incumbent of over thirty years. It looks like a safe incumbent who is willing to stay in the position he is at.
Sure, Udall has more cash on hand than Domenici, but if Udall was serious about going after Domenici — or of even scaring Domenici into retirement — he would have been out trying to put up a big number. Raising $300,000 would have put Udall at twice the amount of money Domenici has at this point.
I’m disappointed that Udall looks to not be interested in running for Senate. I’m just not sure which credible New Mexico Democrat will step up to the plate to take on Domenici.
Because Steve Pearce raised $142K this quarter, which is an unusually large amount for a guy whose seat is pretty safe. Yeah, he may be a lot more conservative than Heather Wilson, but with her higher aspirations basically shot to peices at this point, he’s clearly the heir apparent to Domenici.
If Pajama Pete does retire, it would be a mistake of epic proportions if Udall wasn’t ready to hit the ground running. And that would be compounded if he had to face a primed Pearce.