{"id":2332,"date":"2007-10-05T13:08:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-05T19:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/10\/state-waits-as-pearce-considers-senate-race\/"},"modified":"2007-10-05T13:08:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-05T19:08:00","slug":"state-waits-as-pearce-considers-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/10\/state-waits-as-pearce-considers-senate-race\/","title":{"rendered":"State waits as Pearce considers Senate race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M., has made no public comment to this point on whether he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici<\/a>, but he\u2019s also said little to most GOP insiders, leading to rampant speculation. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

According to the Albuquerque Journal<\/a>, Pearce has been silent because he hasn\u2019t yet decided what to do.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a>, R-N.M., is announcing at 4 p.m. today that she\u2019ll run for the seat, but Land Commissioner Pat Lyons<\/a> is trying to talk with Pearce before he decides whether to take his chances in a Republican primary.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Pearce is seriously considering running. When I reached his campaign finance director, Andrea Goff, on her cell phone earlier today, she was with Pearce Chief of Staff Bob Carter. She asked him whether they had comment on Pearce\u2019s plans before answering my question.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cNo comment; however, there may be a comment developing in 24-48 hours,\u201d Goff said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A number of conservative Republicans are pushing Pearce to enter the race. The fact that news of Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s decision to run for Senate leaked before Domenici formally announced his retirement also upset some Republicans.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Some Republicans think Pearce is too conservative to win a statewide race against a Democrat in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. Others think Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is too vulnerable and Pearce is the stronger candidate.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Eyes are also on the 2010 gubernatorial race. Domenici\u2019s retirement has opened up two or three \u2013 depending on Pearce\u2019s decision \u2013 of New Mexico\u2019s seats in Washington that are currently held by Republicans. Not only do Republicans have to defend those seats, but they also have to try to find a way to win the governor\u2019s race if they want to have any say in redistricting that will occur in the next decade.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Realizing that, some Republicans don\u2019t want to see the party\u2019s resources spent on a primary between two giants.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Wilson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> vs. Pearce: an analysis<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

New Mexico pollster Brian Sanderoff said Pearce is in a more comfortable position in the House than Wilson because she gets \u201cpummeled\u201d in hotly contested races every two years while Pearce \u201ccould stay there for a very long time if he so chooses.\u201d In addition, Sanderoff said, Wilson<\/st1:city> probably has better name recognition statewide because her races have resulted in millions of dollars of advertising in the Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> market, which covers every county in the state except Do\u00f1a Ana.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That might give Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> \u201ca leg up\u201d in the primary, Sanderoff said. Another factor is the reality that Bernalillo<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> \u201chas a lot of clout\u201d in a Republican primary because it has a lot of Republicans, he said. Though Pearce\u2019s support is huge on the state\u2019s east side, a lot of those people are conservative Democrats who can\u2019t vote in a GOP primary.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

However, Sanderoff also noted that conservatives tend to do better in Republican primaries.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cObviously either Heather Wilson or Steve Pearce would be formidable candidates for the Republican Party to nominate, and being more conservative helps in a Republican Primary, so (Pearce) should be able to compete in a primary,\u201d Sanderoff said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In a general election, Sanderoff said, either would get the votes of conservative Democrats. The question, he said, is whether \u201csuburban Democrats\u201d in areas around Las Cruces<\/st1:city> and on Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s west side would vote for the more conservative Pearce.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sanderoff also noted that the state\u2019s voters tend to elect Republicans who are moderate, including Domenici.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Second Congressional District fallout<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

If Pearce opts to try to keep his House seat, it\u2019s likely only Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley<\/a> and Al Kissling<\/a>, who Pearce beat last year, will battle it out in a Democratic primary for the right to challenge him.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

If Pearce runs for Senate, however, there\u2019s a very good chance that state Rep. Joseph Cervantes<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, would run for the open House seat. Cervantes refused to comment.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Pearce will be in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> this weekend, which includes the Monday Columbus Day holiday. The statement Goff referred to could be an announcement that Pearce will make a statement next week, or it could be an answer to the big question. Only time will tell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has made no public comment to this point on whether he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici, but he\u2019s also said little to most GOP insiders, leading to rampant speculation. According to the Albuquerque Journal, Pearce has been silent because he hasn\u2019t yet decided what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}