Democrats outnumber Republicans in Mora County by about 6-to-1. But on a recent Friday, a roadside restaurant in tiny Cleveland, N.M., just north of the village, almost seemed like a secret GOP headquarters.

A bus painted with stars and stripes and wrapped with a huge McCain-Palin campaign logo was parked on one side of the road while on the other, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce played host to a free lunch at Casa de Theresa's Tamales. The small crowd was joined by three clean-cut bikers — a retired cop, an aviation worker and a Methodist minister — from the East Mountain area outside Albuquerque. At least one of the hogs had a McCain sticker, and a Pearce sticker was expected.

The trio had been out enjoying the warm weather and autumn scenery. "We didn't know about this," Dick Porter, the retired police officer from Edgewood, said. "But we saw the bus and knew we'd be among friends."

Earlier in the day, speaking at San Miguel County Republican headquarters in Las Vegas, N.M., Pearce had used an anecdote about Theresa's Tamales to illustrate his small-government philosophy. He said the state had tried to tell owner Theresa Olivas the "correct" way to make tamales, but she had protested, saying none of those state bureaucrats ever made any tamales. (Olivas later verified she had been in a dispute with the state Livestock Board over her food.)

But the real reason for the stop, Pearce confessed is that his wife, Cynthia, who accompanied him on his Northern New Mexico trip is a "tamale connoisseur." The couple had heard about Theresa's one time while in Santa Rosa and had driven all the way to Cleveland that day to see if the tamales were as good as their reputation. Apparently they were.

The day of the northern trip happened to be Steve and Cynthia Pearce's 27th wedding anniversary. Asked whether campaigning was the way shed like spending her anniversary, Cynthia Pearce told a reporter that was how they had spent the day nearly every other year since Steve Pearce went into politics.

The stop at the tamale house was just a small part of Pearce's busy schedule that day. He'd started out that morning at another legendary Northern New Mexico eatery, Charlie's Spic and Span in Las Vegas. He sat down for breakfast and mingled with other diners. He spoke to supporters at the GOP headquarters a couple of blocks away before driving to Mora to visit a senior center. After the tamales, he returned to Las Vegas for an hourlong radio interview on KNMX-AM, then some campaigning in Las Vegas' business district.

Pearce is well aware that the heavily Democratic, heavily Hispanic North is his weakest area in the contest with Democrat Tom Udall, who has represented these communities in Congress for 10 years.

But Pearce expressed optimism. He told Las Vegas Republicans he gets nearly half the Hispanic vote in his own district because "we've got the same values as the Hispanics — family, faith, service and freedom."

Pearce said doing well in the North is essential. "We've gotta break even in Albuquerque. We're going to win in the south. And if we get about 45 percent up here in the north ... we're going to win the race."

Pearce later added he would win "if people in New Mexico vote their conservative values. But you've gotta be able to tell 'em, and you've got to believe what you're telling them."

He knows, however, that he's got an uphill battle. "The financial things began to happen, and people are blaming President Bush, blaming the Republicans," he said in Las Vegas, "Believe me, both parties got plenty of blame in the whole deal."

Pearce is proud of his image of an uncompromising conservative. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have a sense of humor. And some of his best jokes are aimed at himself. Speaking with a group at the GOP headquarters in Las Vegas, Pearce was talking about majoring in economics in college. "That's why I didn't get a date until I was about 30," he joked.

Earlier that week, in his first debate with Udall, Pearce criticized the Democrat for trying to sound more conservative in the election. "Tom, if you want to look like Steve Pearce, you're going to have to get a haircut to look like Steve Pearce," he said referring to his bald pate.

His early years: In Northern New Mexico and at debate appearances, Pearce frequently stresses his modest upbringing. He "grew up poor," he said during one debate. His father was a sharecropper before moving to New Mexico.

Pearce joined the Air Force and flew missions over North Vietnam during the war. After the military, he worked as a chief pilot for a small charter flight company in Hobbs and flew crop-dusters.

But he made his fortune in the oil business. For years, he and his wife ran Lea Fishing Tools, an oil-field service company. The couple sold the company after he was elected to Congress.

Entering politics: Pearce is a relative latecomer to the world of electoral politics. He won a seat in the New Mexico state House of Representatives in 1996 and won re-election two years later. In his last term in the Legislature, he served as House GOP caucus chairman.

But Pearce had bigger things on his mind. He ran in the Republican U.S. Senate primary in 2000 but lost to Bill Redmond, who went on to lose to Democrat Jeff Bingaman.

But two years later, when ailing Republican Congressman Joe Skeen announced he wouldn't seek re-election, Pearce won a crowded Republican primary to replace Skeen, beating Ed Tinsley — who now is running to replace Pearce in the House — as well as Phelps Anderson, Earl Greer and Leo Martinez. Pearce went on to defeat Democrat John Arthur Smith, a state senator, in the general election.

When Domenici announced his retirement, Pearce jumped in to challenge fellow Rep. Heather Wilson, who was largely viewed as Domenici's choice to replace him.

The senior senator stayed out of the race, declining to endorse anyone until the final days of the campaign. But on the day of the final debate between Pearce and Wilson, he announced he was supporting her after all because he didn't like advertisements run by Club for Growth, a Washington, D.C.-based anti-tax organization that paid for ads calling Wilson a "liberal" and denigrated the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which both Domenici and Wilson backed.

Both candidates fought hard. Wilson said Pearce was too far right to win. "Statewide, it's extremely difficult for someone who is running as a far-right, cut-government, my-way-or-the-highway Republican to win," Wilson said at one debate. "In fact, we have never elected a Republican statewide who is from the far-right extreme of our party."

To such criticism, Pearce replied, "When we as conservatives fly the bold colors of conservatism, we win. When we fly the pale pastels, we lose." He made a similar statement during his recent campaign trip in Las Vegas.

Pearce beat Wilson in the primary. Both Wilson and Domenici have endorsed him. Pearce believes his race will be helped by the fact that Domenici is appearing in television spots strongly endorsing the Pearce campaign.

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

STEVE PEARCE, REPUBLICAN

Family: Wife: Cynthia; daughter: Lori

Hometown: Hobbs

Education: Bachelor's degree in economics, New Mexico State University; master's in business administration, Eastern New Mexico University

Occupation: U.S. representative, 2nd Congressional District

Age: 61

Years in New Mexico: 59

Party loyalty: Voted as a House member with the Republicans' positions 94 percent of the time, according to The Washington Post's Vote Database

Have you ever been arrested for, convicted of, charged with or accused of a felony or misdemeanor? No

Have you or any company you've owned or own ever filed a bankruptcy petition?

Best meal you can cook from scratch: Fajitas

Name the last book you read: The Road by Cormack McCarthy

What alternative energy programs do you use, either in your car, at your home or at your work? Ethanol fuel in our car; we recycle at home.

Name the last charity for which you volunteered: For several years, I have volunteered for the Congressional Baseball Game, which serves several local D.C. charities.

What role, if any, does spirituality play in your life? My faith plays a central role in my life and is one of my core values. (Religion: Baptist)

When was the last election in which you didn't vote? To my knowledge, I have voted in every election since I became eligible.

What kind of car do you drive in New Mexico? Jeep Cherokee

Campaign Web site: www.peopleforpearce.com

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