ALBUQUERQUE -- U.S. Rep. Tom Udall says his decision to seek the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Pete Domenici is not about ambition, but about ending deadlock in the closely divided chamber.
''I have not been aiming for this job, but I am aiming for a better New Mexico and a better America,'' he said Thursday as he announced his campaign.
After Domenici announced he would retire in 2009 because of an incurable brain disease, Udall initially said he would stay in the House. But his staff said he reconsidered after a ''groundswell'' of encouragement from New Mexicans.
''I went places and people said, 'Run, Tom, run. Get out there and do this.' There was truly a very sincere draft Tom Udall movement that made a big impact on me,'' he said in an interview.
Udall said Americans made a clear choice in the 2006 election that they wanted a change.
''It's time to let the will of the American people be heard. It's time for a new direction,'' said Udall, who pledged to work to end the war in Iraq, promote renewable energy, fully fund schools and strengthen homeland security.
He mentioned a bill he co-authored on global warming to cap carbon emissions and his other environmental work.
''Conservation is the legacy of the Udall family,'' said the candidate, who was joined Thursday on the podium by his father, former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall. Udall will face Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez and Leland Lehrman, who publishes an alternative newspaper in Santa Fe, in the June primary. A fourth Democrat, Jim Hannan, finance director of a Santa Fe housing trust, dropped out of the race and endorsed Udall. Setting the tone of his campaign in a message to his fellow candidates, Udall said, ''Let us keep it positive and purposeful and focus on what really matters to the American people.'' Udall has been criticized for voting against funding for Los Alamos National Laboratory, a nuclear weapons lab in his congressional district that faces up to 750 job cuts. He said he spoke against the spending cuts in the House Appropriations Committee and later offered an amendment to restore $200 million for the nuclear weapons lab to take its research in new directions the only New Mexico congressman to do so. On the final House vote, he said that before he voted to cut funding, he was assured there would be $600 million in new money that Los Alamos could compete for to do energy research. Los Alamos needs to understand that the nuclear weapons complex will shrink, and it needs to diversify its mission, Udall said. ''My vote was about the jobs of the future,'' he said. Chavez's campaign manager, Mark Fleisher, responded: ''That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard for negatively affecting thousands of New Mexico families.'' Fleisher said any decrease in lab funding would have a ripple effect on other businesses around the state. Udall's decision to run for the first open Senate seat in New Mexico in 36 years leaves the state with three wide-open congressional races in 2008. On the Republican side, Rep. Heather Wilson, who represents the Albuquerque-area 1st Congressional District, will face Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs, who represents the 2nd District that spans the southern half of the state. Udall made his announcement at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. He also has events scheduled in Los Lunas, Las Cruces, Silver City, Clovis, Las Vegas, Mora, Taos and his hometown of Santa Fe. He has about $800,000 in a congressional campaign fund he can use for the Senate campaign.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
12 comments:
...and it just gets worse
Pink slip issued at LANL should come with the bold type wording: "Courtesy of Tom Udall".
How can a man who helped destroy the economic vitality of Northern New Mexico be the correct man to elect for New Mexico Senator? The idea of a Senator Udall makes me shudder.
I now fear for the future of the US. It seems as if the core valuses instilled at inception has been disregared by the rich.
How do we repair the damage?
You guys have balls of steel, can't wait to see your reaction when you get your pink slips....
Thanks Tom, you DOLT!
Yes, let's blame Udall. Let's blame the Santa Fe crowd. Let's blame Congress. Let's blame Nanos and LANS. Let's blame anyone and everyone, just not ourselves.
"I now fear for the future of the US...How do we repair the damage?"
12/2/07 6:37 PM
Oh, pleeeeaazzzz...! Give it a break already.
I say we shove a cattle prod up old Pete to get him charged up for another Senate run. How dare him abandon us now that we need him the most. Maybe Heather-baby will be our saviorette? Oh, mamma!
the LANS debacle is the fault of LANS and not Udall... no matter what NNSA/DOE/Congress decided LANS already had the RIF project in the works.... it has nothing to do with the politicans.... it's a corporate matter.
"How do we repair the damage?" (6:37 PM)
We don't. Head for Canada and become a Canadian citizen.
They have lots of rich oil tars to help cushion the coming financial meltdowns. They have free health care for everyone. They have free college education for your kids. They have a good democracy. They speak mostly normal english. They are pro-business. Their dollars are worth a lot more than our dollars. They have Molson's beer. You can easily come back across the border to visit the declining US from time to time.
Other than the extreme cold, Canada looks like a wonderful place for US professionals to immigrate. Canada has policies that favors immigration of highly educated workers into their country.
What's not to like, eh?
Udall campaign bumper sticker...
"Was it good for you, too?"
Come on people, Udall didn't demand that LANL be taken over by corporate America. That was St. Pete's cure for disks that weren't missing or some other non-happening. The day the decision was made to corporatize LANL, RIFs were inevitable. LANS is a disaster even if their "expertise" weren't so expensive that massive lay offs are needed to pay for it. The work doesn't go away just the people trying to do the work and the place's ability to get anything done. Anyone know anyone above Division Leader who has more than 2 neurons to rub together? I guess there are a couple of good people but they are pretty helpless in the tide of mediocrity in our upper management. Just try asking them where the improvements are--no answer, no ideas. Just big salaries that they will do anything to protect while the workers are lucky to get raises that don't quite keep up with real inflation levels. Whoever ends up being our Senators and Representatives please, please get rid of LANS!
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