Pearce to face Tom Udall in NM; McClintock tops Ose

Rep. Steve Pearce has defeated Rep. Heather Wilson in the New Mexico Republican Senate primary.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Pearce led Wilson, 51 percent to 49 percent, in a close and hard-fought contest.

{mosads}Pearce will now face the third member of the state’s House delegation, Rep. Tom Udall, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Pearce led much of the polling heading up to Election Day, but Wilson grabbed outgoing Sen. Pete Domenici’s (R) endorsement with less than a week to go. In the end, though, the more conservative Pearce prevailed.

Udall has polled a wide lead over either Republican – as high as 25 points this week – and Pearce has some ground to make up after a hard-fought primary.

In each race to replace those three members, contested primaries were held on both sides.

In Wilson’s district, Albuquerque City Councilman Martin Heinrich (D) topped a crowded field that included former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and will face Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, who easily won a two-way GOP primary.

In Pearce’s district, restaurateur Ed Tinsley beat several other Republicans and will take on businessman Harry Teague, who defeated Dona Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley in a tight Democratic primary.
 
In Udall’s district, Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Lujan beat businessman Don Wiviott and is the favorite to be Udall’s successor. Utility contractor Daniel East defeated attorney Marco Gonzales in a two-way race on the GOP side.
 
In other Western races, state Sen. Tom McClintock beat former Rep. Doug Ose (R-Calif.) in the GOP primary for retiring Rep. John Doolittle’s (R-Calif.) seat. Despite millions of Ose’s personal funds and him running in a district next to the one he represented as late as 2004, McClintock cruised, 54 percent to 39 percent.

McClintock will face retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charlie Brown (D), who nearly defeated Doolitttle in 2006.

In retiring Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R-Calif.) district, the incumbent’s son looks set to succeed his father. Iraq veteran Duncan D. Hunter won with 73 percent of the vote.