{"id":26806,"date":"2011-03-03T21:53:56","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T04:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=26806"},"modified":"2011-03-07T08:00:14","modified_gmt":"2011-03-07T15:00:14","slug":"wilson-to-announce-senate-run-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/03\/wilson-to-announce-senate-run-monday\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilson to announce Senate run Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M.<\/p><\/div>\n

Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a> will announce Monday that she\u2019s running for the Senate seat being vacated next year by Jeff Bingaman<\/a>, D-N.M.<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s decision was first reported this evening by Politico<\/a>, and later confirmed by NMPolitics.net with a source who has knowledge of the situation. Wilson, a Republican, is expected by many to be the frontrunner for her party\u2019s nomination and a formidable candidate in the general election if she makes it that far.<\/p>\n

Many like Wilson\u2019s chances because she\u2019s a moderate Republican. In a presidential election year like 2012, when turnout among Democrats will be higher, sources say it\u2019s especially important that the GOP look to a moderate.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M., who is further to the right than Wilson, has also said he\u2019s considering running, and sources say Lt. Gov. John Sanchez<\/a>, another member of the GOP, is being pushed to run.<\/p>\n

In addition, two lesser-known Republicans \u2013 Greg Sowards<\/a> and\u00a0William S. English<\/a> \u2013 have already entered the race.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pearce has called for Republicans to select \u201ca conservative candidate\u201d who can motivate tea party members to show up to vote. Many see that as a shot at Wilson, though it\u2019s not clear if Pearce is pushing himself as an alternative to Wilson or looking for someone else to run.<\/p>\n

Pearce has also said that, although his name \u201chas been suggested as being on a short list of Republicans with statewide name ID, it is quite possible that a completely new face would be suggested\u201d as the best candidate.<\/p>\n

No Democrats have entered the Senate race, but U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich<\/a> and State Auditor Hector Balderas<\/a> have said they\u2019re seriously considering running. Sources say former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a> is also considering running, as is U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Update, 10:40 a.m.<\/h3>\n

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee<\/a> put out a news release that included this quote about Wilson:<\/p>\n

\u201cHeather Wilson\u00a0has been part of the problem in Washington for years. At a time when voters want fresh faces and new energy, she brings to the race a long record of standing-up for the entrenched interests in Washington. Heather Wilson\u2019s connections to some of Washington\u2019s darkest scandals and shadiest figures will be a problem for her in a primary and \u2013 if she makes it \u2013 in a\u00a0general election.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED: Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson will announce Monday that she\u2019s running for the Senate seat being vacated next year by Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[156,116],"class_list":["post-26806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2012-election","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26806","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=26806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}