The political plot thickened Saturday for New Mexico's 2008 elections as U.S. Rep. Tom Udall's staff said he has decided to run for the U.S. Senate.

After repeated reports that Northern New Mexico's congressman was leaning toward seeking the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Pete Domenici, a top aide told The New Mexican that Udall is definitely in the race.

"He made the determination after hearing from so many New Mexicans over the past couple of weeks," Tom Nagle, Udall's chief of staff, said in an interview. "It was too important for him not to make this run."

The decision means all three members of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico — including Republicans Heather Wilson of Albuquerque and Steve Pearce of Hobbs — will give up their seats to run for the Senate.

And the scramble to replace Udall in representing the Third Congressional District is already taking shape.

Santa Fe developer Don Wiviott said Saturday that he will drop his bid for the Democratic nomination to the Senate and instead campaign for the House seat.

"If my friend and congressman, Tom Udall, announces, then my intention would be to step aside to avoid fracturing the Democratic efforts in New Mexico," said Wiviott, who launched his Senate campaign before Domenici announced last month that he will retire in January 2009 because of an incurable brain disease.

Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya also said Saturday that he'll run for the House seat. "I'll definitely be campaigning for Congress," the two-term commissioner from northern Santa Fe County said. Montoya, who also has served on the Pojoaque Valley school board, can't seek a third consecutive term on the commission.

Meanwhile, former state Rep. Patsy Trujillo of Santa Fe, who was in Iowa with Gov. Bill Richardson's presidential campaign, said Saturday that she's putting together an exploratory committee for a congressional race. "It's time for a female candidate," the Democrat said.

Trujillo and Española Mayor Joe Maestas both said they will announce their plans within the next two weeks.

Two other Democrats, Sheriff Greg Solano and Santa Fe lawyer Geno Zamora, said they still are seriously considering jumping in the race. Zamora said he needs "a couple of days" to make a final decision, while Solano — who already had announced plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2010 — said he will make a decision in about a week.

Others who have said they would consider running if Udall got into the Senate race couldn't be reached for comment Saturday night, including former County Commissioner Javier Gonzales and state Public Regulation Commission Chairman Ben Ray Luján.

State Auditor Hector Balderas said Saturday that he has decided to stay out of the fray. "I've decided to finish my term as auditor and not seek the congressional seat," he said. "The primary reason is that my family is just too young for me to go to Washington, D.C."

Balderas, a 34-year-old former state legislator, has children ages 7, 9 and 11.

Udall press spokeswoman Marissa Padilla released an internal polling memo that said the former New Mexico attorney general, now in his fifth term in the House, had a significant lead over potential opponents in both the primary and general elections.

Results of the polling, conducted for Udall by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates in late October, showed Udall with a strong lead over Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez, with Wiviott trailing them both.

Chávez told the Associated Press on Saturday that he isn't backing away from the race because of Udall's decision to run.

"I'm running for the reasons I stated when I announced, and if anybody wants to get in, this is a democracy," Chávez said, adding that he believes he "absolutely" can beat Udall.

"At the end of this, it's really about the failure of Washington to change, and I'm the only candidate with a record of strong leadership" in creating change, he said.

Udall's campaign polling also showed him leading among likely voters in matchups with either Wilson or Pearce. That tracks with results of a statewide poll commissioned by the national liberal blog The Daily Kos.

Nagle discounted criticism that Udall is "too liberal" to represent New Mexico in the U.S. Senate.

"Obviously, some of the rhetoric coming out of the other camps doesn't match the polling data and also doesn't match his record," said Nagle, who noted that Udall's polling data showed him leading among self-described moderates.

"We're pretty confident that when he runs statewide, that will be the situation," Nagle said. "He's a proud progressive but also is well-received statewide among moderates."

But, the Udall aide added, "It's going to be a tough campaign. We don't discount that."

One advantage that the current House members enjoy is that they can use money raised for their re-election campaigns to campaign for the Senate. Nagle confirmed Udall has more than $800,000 in cash on hand. Wilson has reported she has about $756,00, while Pearce had just over $582,000.

Other Democrats who have said they will run for the Senate nomination include Jim Hannan, finance director of the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust, and Leland Lehrman, who edits an alternative newspaper in Santa Fe.

While Hannan has said he would drop out if Udall entered the race, Lehrman said Saturday that he will continue to seek the nomination.

Udall, who is scheduled to appear at Veterans Day events today in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, plans to make a formal announcement of his Senate candidacy while in New Mexico during Congress' Thanksgiving recess, Nagle said.

Udall initially had said he would remain in the House seat he has held since 1998. In discussing the reasons for the change of heart, Nagle said Udall had received a "groundswell" of encouragement to run for the Senate.

Nagle also said, "So many of the good things that we are getting done in the House are going over and dying in the Senate."

Regardless of who emerges victorious in next year's elections, New Mexico faces the prospect of losing some clout in Congress.

Domenici, whose unprecedented six terms representing New Mexico in the Senate have made him fifth in seniority, is former chairman of and currently ranking Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Along with U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., he has used his influence to help get federal support for Los Alamos National Laboratory, military bases and other interests in the state.

With all three New Mexico members of the House giving up their seats next year, the state's delegation on that side of Congress will be made up entirely of freshman representatives.

Nagle said Udall, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, recognizes the turnover will have some impact but feels he would be the most effective replacement for Domenici in the Senate.

"Tom obviously thinks it should be a Democrat and that he'll be able to get things done as part of the majority party," Nagle said.



City editor Howard Houghton, reporter Steve Terrell and the Associated Press contributed to this report.