U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce says his belief on what’s right, not poll numbers, will drive his decision on whether to run in a Senate GOP primary against U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson.
“I’m not sure what the math lays out, what the polls would say, but we’re very little driven by polls. We’re more driven by what’s the right thing in our heart, what do we feel we need to and must do,” Pearce said. “So it’s not like we’re going to go out and run polls and then do what the polls say. We’ll reflect and then decide what’s right for the state and what’s right for our office.”
Pearce made the comments on Thursday to Jodi Breisler of Capitol News Connection, whose story you can listen to by clicking here. You can listen to the full interview by clicking here. Earlier today, Pearce’s campaign finance director told me the congressman may have a comment in the next 24-48 hours on whether he’s running.
Pearce said news of Domenici’s retirement came as a “complete surprise,” and, because of that, “it’s a little bit sudden for us to have any plans laid out. We’ll give it a respectful time.”
He didn’t define “respectful time,” but when asked to do so, said this about Domenici:
“We’ve got a guy here who served for 36 years with honor, with dignity.”
Pearce said his decision on whether to run for Senate will be “very reasoned.”
“We will consider the good things we are doing in the Second Congressional District of Southern New Mexico,” Pearce said. “In my mind and the staff’s mind we are doing stunning, good things.”