Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez announced Friday that he would drop out of the race for U.S. Senate, saying he did not want to take a chance of weakening the possibility of a Democrat winning the seat held for the past 35 years by Republican Pete Domenici.

The Democratic primary was already beginning to get heated with Chávez blasting his main opponent, U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, for voting to cut the budget of New Mexico's national laboratories.

But in an e-mail to supporters Friday, Chávez wrote: "A hotly contested primary, as this one certainly could be, would likely dramatically weaken the Democratic nominee and place the general election in jeopardy."

In a news release Chávez said: "Tom Udall has my full support. I will work to help him and all Democrats get elected throughout our great State of New Mexico and our Nation."

Udall's only remaining primary opponent at this point is political newcomer Leland Lehrman, who edits a Santa Fe alternative newspaper.

Meanwhile Republicans are getting ready for two of their heavyweights — U.S. Reps. Heather Wilson of Albuquerque and Steve Pearce of Hobbs — to battle for the GOP Senate nomination.

Neither Chávez nor his campaign manager Mark Fleisher could be reached for comment.

Former Ambassador Ed Romero, a member of Chávez's finance committee, said Friday that the mayor had done internal polling that showed the only way he could beat Udall was "to wage an extremely aggressive, possibly a negative campaign against Tom, which would have created the possibility of a Democratic loss in the general election."

Romero added, "Tom is a very respected and well-liked Congressman."

Several polls published in recent weeks showed Udall with a wide lead over Chávez among Democrats. The same early polls show Udall defeating both Wilson and Pearce in general election match-ups. Chávez, in all the polls, was running behind Pearce and neck-and-neck with Wilson.

Udall also had a financial edge over Chávez. He started out with more than $800,000 in his campaign coffers. Chávez began raising money in October.

Romero, a longtime friend and financial supporter of Gov. Bill Richardson, said the governor did not talk to Chávez about dropping out. "I think the governor's probably as surprised as anyone about this," Romero said.

Chávez's statements said nothing about his running for any other office. Some pundits have suggested he could be a strong candidate for Wilson's seat in the First Congressional District. Before the Senate seat became open, Chávez had been raising money for the 2010 governor's race, also being pursued by Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.

Romero said he doesn't think Chávez will run for either office. "I think he's just going to concentrate on being a great mayor," he said. Chávez has two years left in his term.

The shake-up could spark more speculation about Richardson, who is now running for president, jumping into the Senate race if he doesn't do well in early presidential primaries next month. Richardson has consistently denied such a plan. Udall plans to be in Iowa today to campaign for Richardson.

Despite Chávez's statement saying he didn't want to run a heated campaign, just two weeks ago, his campaign released a statement saying: "Tom Udall now has the dubious distinction of being the only member of Congress from New Mexico in history to vote in favor of decreased funding and cutting jobs at LANL and Sandia. ... Throwing people out of work and endangering our national security is not 'the message' New Mexicans want to hear from people in Washington like Tom Udall."

In July, Udall voted for The House Energy and Water Appropriations Act, which would cut about $400 million from Los Alamos and Sandia compared to the previous fiscal year. Udall has said he cast that vote because the labs should be conducting energy research and science programs to address national security issues. The bill is pending in Congress.

Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff of Research and Polling Inc. told the Associated Press on Friday that Chávez's decision means Udall can now focus on more conservative, rural and suburban Democrats who often vote for Republicans in general elections. "Now he can go to the center and go after the same votes the Republicans will be shooting for come the general election," Sanderoff said.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.