It looks like Rep. Tom Udall is well beyond merely “reconsidering” his decision not to run for the open Senate seat of retiring Republican Pete Domenici next year — local sources say that he’s actively assembling campaign team, according to Heath Haussamen:
A number of sources are confirming that U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., has moved beyond simply reconsidering whether he should run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. He’s now trying to put the pieces in place for a Senate run.That’s sort of obvious, even without the confirmation from sources. Udall considered a Senate run once and decided against it. To reconsider now – and confirm it publicly – means he must be very serious.
With so many Democrats in New Mexico and Washington unsatisfied with the Democrats currently running for Senate, Udall will have no difficulty assembling the team and raising the money he needs for a run. That, coupled with his attempt to put a campaign together, means a Udall Senate run is likely.
Additionally, his press secretary is publicly acknowledging Udall’s decision to give the race another look:
Udall’s press secretary is now confirming that the congressman is reconsidering.“New Mexicans have urged Tom Udall to reconsider running for the United States Senate, and he’s doing just that,” Marissa Padilla said.
Sounds like this is one “draft” movement that may yield results. If Udall gets in, this race will be a great example of the type of “DSCC primary meddling” that we can all get behind.
UPDATE: Haussamen says that Lt. Gov. Denish has taken her name out of consideration:
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has decided to forgo a 2008 U.S. Senate run and instead run for governor in 2010 as she originally planned.A knowledgeable source confirmed on Thursday that Denish had decided against running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici.
If so, I’d take that as a good sign that Udall is really giving the race a serious look. It’s no secret that Denish would prefer to be Governor, and would have been glad to pass the race off to someone else who could win it. Perhaps Udall tipped her off that she no longer had to consider a bid.
Udall is in. He’s bringing his A-Game. Let’s put this baby in the top tier chart, above Colorado now.
Virginia
New Hampshire
New Mexico
Colorado
New Senators
ZING! You totally almost thought that last one was a state.
we need to come up with nick names so we can tell them apart. my suggestion is M-dall and T-dall, what about yours?
Honestly, this is entirely possible. Still, a COMPLETE stretch but is at least every so slightly attainable.
Wait, how many does that make now that we can seriously win. VA, CO, NM, NH, MN, OR, ME, NC, AK. That is 9 right there and it doesnt including TX and if Cochran retires and we get our top choice, that could be MS as well. We have the opportunity to win 11 Senate seats, 11! Fuck Lieberman, kick his ass out of the caucus and lets make sure he goes down in 2012. (I only say that because he is campaigning for Collins, I really do believe in allowing all Democrats to the table, even if stupid pro-war ones, but campaigning directly for a Republican, hell no.)
This is such a great time to be us!
Someone may have answered this already in a previous thread. If so, I apologize.
In New Mexico, there’s one Senate seat up for re-election and three House seats. The Senate seat is open through retirement. NM-01 and NM-02 are open because they’re both running for the open Senate seat. Now, NM-03 might be open for the same reason.
Has there ever been an electoral cycle before (not counting, like, 1789) where a state has had ALL of its federal offices that year as open seats? And has there ever been an election before where a state’s ENTIRE House delegation is running for the same Senate seat? (Not counting, of course, states with only one House member, where those sorts of things probably happen a lot.)
It just seems amazing to me. Has this ever happened before?
Here’s what probably happened behind the scenes:
Bill Richardson said, “I’m not running for Senate, I really want to be Hillary’s VP or Secretary of State” (since he’s a Clintonite). At the worst, he’ll still be Governor of New Mexico.
Denish’s calculations are more complex. She’s figuring, “Well Hillary/Obama/Edwards will win, so one of them will surely appoint Richardson to their Cabinet. So I get to be Governor and continue Richardson’s work without facing an election. I get to build up two years of goodwill as an incumbent governor to put myself in a commanding position in 2010, when the political environment may require some serious political capital built up for individuals with a D next to their name.”
Udall looks at the current Senate field and says, “I’ll blow away all these schmucks on the Democratic side (Marty Chavez, Wiviott, etc.), but if I get in against Denish, we’ll have the same bloody primary that Pearce and Wilson are running on the Repub side of the house.” He probably talked to Richardson and said, “Look, if you’re stepping out of New Mexico for good, get Denish out of the fight too so she can run the state while I landslide Pearce, Wilson, or anyone else in front of me.”
Richardson gives Denish a call, “You can be the Governor, I trust you.” Denish high-fives Janet Napolitano, her next door neighbor, and Udall’s disposition suddenly changes drastically.