Janice Arnold-Jones (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
With U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich considering running for the Senate seat being vacated by Jeff Bingaman, former State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones announced today that she’s launching an exploratory as she considers running for the seat Heinrich currently holds.
“Since the announcement by Senator Jeff Bingaman that he will retire at the end of his term I’ve received numerous telephone calls and e-mails asking me to run for several different offices,” the Republican Arnold-Jones said. “The majority of these calls have been supporters asking me to step forward and run for Congress. Forming an exploratory committee is the first step in a possible run.”
“At this time I am not a candidate for office. I am testing the waters,” Arnold-Jones said. “The two biggest things that must be tested are whether or not we can raise the financial resources necessary and how much support can be generated.”
Arnold-Jones said the possibility of Heinrich, a Democrat, vacating the seat to run for U.S. Senate “definitely helped lead to the formation of this exploratory committee.”
The former state lawmaker gave up her state House seat last year to run for governor, but she lost in the primary.
She has considered running for the 1st Congressional District seat before. In 2008, she tried to raise enough money to launch a congressional campaign but was unsuccessful.
Arnold-Jones is currently a regular contributor to the talk radio program News New Mexico.