Madrid decides against another congressional run

Former state Attorney General Patricia Madrid has decided against running for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Heather Wilson, R-N.M.

Madrid notified the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other groups today that she won’t run.

“I think that this is a Democratic year and I would have been the strongest person in the race, but this is just not the year for me,” Madrid said in a telephone interview.

That’s largely due to the fact that her father, who lives in Las Cruces, is not well.

“I’ve spent quite a number of years away from my family, particularly in my last year in office, and they need me and I need them,” she said.

Madrid also spoke about her job as a consultant for a powerhouse Washington law firm, and said she’s truly enjoying it.

On the Democratic side, attorney Jon Adams, Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich and former state Health Secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham are running for the House seat. On the Republican side, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White is the only announced candidate. Other Democrats and Republicans are considering the race.

I asked Madrid if she’s run her last race – she’s run in seven major elections in her lifetime – and she said she doesn’t know.

“It could be enough for any lifetime but I’ve been in this business long enough to know that you never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I always think of myself as being in politics, but truly I am a lawyer. I’m a lawyer and I’ve gone back to the law.”

Madrid noted that she’s actively working for John Edwards’ presidential campaign and will travel to Iowa next week to give a speech about him.

“I’m not retiring. I’m just doing a lot of other things, and I just don’t think it’s a time for me to move to Washington,” she said.

Madrid narrowly lost to Wilson last year – by 861 votes out of more than 211,000 – in a bitterly fought contest. Wilson is vacating the seat to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici.

Update, Oct. 26, 10:10 p.m.

I neglected to report earlier that Democrat Jason Call is also running for this seat.