As polls and national pundits have been predicting for weeks, Democrat Tom Udall cruised to an easy victory over Republican Steve Pearce in the race to replace Republican Pete Domenici in the U.S. Senate.

National television networks and The Associated Press called the race only minutes after polls closed in New Mexico — so fast even some Udall staffers joked about being nervous about the early numbers.

And so fast that Pearce wasn't ready to concede right away. At about 8:30 p.m., Pearce spokesman Brian Phillips said, "We think The Associated Press jumped the gun. The numbers are still jumping around."

The call for Udall was based on an analysis of voter interviews, conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

Udall, who gave up his U.S. House seat to run for the Senate, had only positive words for Pearce. "I appreciated him focusing on the issues rather than making personal attacks," Udall said, "We both love New Mexico."

Domenici, who first won his Senate seat in 1972, said in a live interview on KOAT-TV that even though he'd endorsed Pearce and appeared in television commercials supporting the Southern New Mexico congressman, "We've all known for a long time that Pearce was a long shot. His opponent ran a smart campaign," Domenici said. "The truth of the matter is this is a big sweep. Republicans are losing all over."

Domenici said he'd spoken with Udall, who said he would call on Domenici for advice.

Udall, who has represented the Northern New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District since 1998, is a former state attorney general. He's the son of former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall. Tom Udall's cousin Mark Udall ran for Senate as a Democrat in Colorado, and was leading his Republican opponent at press time.

Pearce, who has represented the southern 2nd District in Congress since 2003, is a former state legislator from Hobbs who for years owned an oil services company.

Although the race never turned "personal," it was heated. Pearce portrayed Udall as an environmental extremist, while Udall said Pearce was obedient to big oil interests.

Tom Udall's win was considered crucial by national Democrats determined to build a filibuster-proof Senate, which along with a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and a Democrat in the White House would mean more power than Democrats have seen in Washington in decades.

National Democrats, notably New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, actively recruited Udall to run and discouraged possible primary opponents such as Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez. At first Udall was reluctant. Just months before, he'd been appointed to the influential House Appropriations Committee.

Chávez had already started attacking Udall on a vote to cut the budget of national laboratories — a theme Pearce later would pick up. But the mayor's withdrawal, just a few weeks after announcing his candidacy, ensured Udall would not have to endure a bruising primary like Pearce's heated GOP contest with fellow Congress member Heather Wilson. In several debates, Wilson warned Pearce was too far right to attract independents and moderate Democrats.

Udall led by double digits for the past year. Shortly after the primary, one poll had Udall up by 28 percentage points. In early September, the same polling organization showed his lead had shrunk to 7 percentage points. Soon, however, the tide seemed to turn against Pearce. This was in mid-September, about the time the stock market began to seriously tank.

By early October, Udall's lead was back up to double digits.

One apparent strategy for Udall was starting his general election television advertising campaign almost immediately after the primary.

At the time, Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff told The New Mexican, "Early Udall TV media will inflate Udall's polling numbers, thereby increasing the possibility that the Republicans in Washington would make this a 'B List' priority rather than a top priority. That would not be good news for Pearce."

Indeed, by early September the National Republican Senatorial Committee decided to pull the plug on buying $2.3 million in television commercials for Pearce. The Republican consistently has trailed Udall in fundraising. In the most recent campaign finance reports, Pearce had raised about $4.2 million for the campaign compared to the $6.5 million Udall had raised.

By the end of September, Udall had just under $2 million in unused campaign funds, almost quadrupling Pearce's total cash on hand.

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