Heather Wilson and Pete Domenici moved quickly Wednesday to endorse Steve Pearce in the U.S. Senate race following his victory in Tuesday’s primary. Special-interest groups on the left and right. meanwhile, offered a preview of what to expect in the months to come as they attacked Pearce and the Democratic nominee Tom Udall.

Pearce’s victory sets the stage for an epic battle with Udall that will likely involve a mix of over-the-top rhetoric, big money and a lot of national media scrutiny in what analysts are calling one of the hottest Senate races in the nation.

 

And where a Wilson vs. Udall matchup might have been a more nuanced affair - say the parry-and-thrust of fencing — the Udall vs. Pearce battle will be a straight-ahead street brawl.

 

"I think it is a very clear campaign," said University of New Mexico political scientist Lonna Atkeson, adding that Udall and Pearce will try to paint the other as an extremist.

 

Wilson could push back against those kind of tactics and say "I am independent," Atkeson said. "I do the right things for New Mexico. l support (State Children’s Health Insurance Plan). (Pearce) voted to uphold the veto on Schip and on embryonic stem cell research."

 

Pearce is much more ideological than Wilson and Udall is "equally as liberal as the other person is conservative," Atkeson said. "The message is not going to be muddled."

 

For Udall, the obvious strategy will be to link Pearce to President Bush and "it’s easier to do that with Pearce than Wilson," she said.

 

As if on cue, Udall began drawing those distinctions Wednesday in an interview with the Independent when he said that the poor economic situation in America will help him win in November.

 

“It appears to me that this is going to be a choice — do you want a continuation of the policies that got us into the situation that we’re in or do you want a new direction? I’m for a new direction, and it looks to me like my opponent is for the status quo,” Udall said.

 

Pearce, meantime, will try to tie Udall to every liberal cause to present him as an idealogue, a move that could help peel away some independent voters, Atkeson said.

 

Pearce did not respond to a request from the Independent for an interview Wednesday. But on Tuesday night he told KANW radio "Tom will be a formidable candidate. But we have to let people up north know about our values."

 

Pearce added during the radio interview that his general election campaign will be similar to that of his primary one—he’ll focus on lower taxes, on cutting wasteful spending and to continue his support for the war on terror.

 

A lot of outside money

 

Because the two campaigns will try to define the other, expect them to start hurling haymakers relatively soon. And expect some deep-pocketed, out-of-state allies to make sure the punches land where they do some damage.

 

A preview of what to expect came Wednesday when special-interest groups were quick to strike at both nominees. The liberal Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which has been running TV and radio ads attacking Wilson and Pearce for months, will now focus on Pearce’s environmental record.

 

“Pearce is absolutely irredeemable. He never votes to protect the environment if big oil and other special interests want something else. He is an anti-environmental extremist in the true sense of the phrase,” Rodger Schlickeisen, president of the group, said in a news release. The Defenders of Wildlife’s helped take out U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., in 2006 and its political arm plans to spend about $1 million in New Mexico to elect Udall this year.

 

Meanwhile, the conservative Club for Growth, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to run TV ads attacking Wilson in the primary, sent out a news release praising Pearce and attacking Udall as “an inveterate liberal who has voted for tax increases and government spending.”

 

“Club for Growth members are proud to have supported an economic conservative like Steve Pearce in his primary win,” President Pat Toomey said. “… The general election will be competitive, but we are confident that New Mexicans will rally to Steve Pearce when they hear about his record of fighting for the prosperity, jobs and opportunity that come from free enterprise.”

 

How the numbers break down

 

Both Pearce and Udall are popular in their respective congressional districts.

 

Udall won re-election to his northern New Mexico-based district in 2006 by nearly a three-to-one margin, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Pearce, meanwhile, won in southern New Mexico in less dramatic fashion but still dispatched his opponent easily.

 

"They both have strengths in key areas of the state," Atkeson said.

 

Noting that there are more registered Democrats in Pearce’s district than Republicans, Atkeson wondered "if they come home" this year to vote for Udall." But that’s unlikely, she said, because these Democrats are more conservative than their counterparts in, say Albuquerque or Santa Fe, and have voted for Pearce in the past.

 

So that leaves the Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District as a major battleground, which means a constant stream of political ads in the heat of political season, Atkeson said.

 

"Campbell’s Soup is going to have a hard time getting" on the television, Atkeson said.

 

The 1st Congressional District has generally been considered a swing district in recent election cycles — for good reason. In 2006 Wilson pulled out a squeaker against then-state Attorney General Patricia Madrid, winning by fewer than 900 votes, a razor-thin margin when compared to Udall’s and Pearce’s victories.

 

The district appears destined for a similar designation this election cycle. The Cook Political Report is once again rating the 1st Congressional District among the most competitive races in the country.

The U.S. Senate race, meanwhile, is rated as a toss up, one of five across the country.

 

The parties fall into line

 

At stake is more than who wins in New Mexico. Democrats hope to add to their margin in the U.S. Senate, while the GOP wants to keep the seat. Add a presidential race that features New Mexico as a battleground state, and how each party’s nominee performs in November could influence who gets to the White House.

 

For that reason, elected officials from both parties began acting Wednesday as if they already were in the midst of the general election.

 

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who will help lead the charge to elect Udall in November, said in an interview that “There are very clear distinctions between the two on policy.”

 

“I think the odds are in favor of Tom Udall because he is more in sync with the needs of New Mexicans," she said. "Steve Pearce not only was a Tom Delay lackey, but he was also in lockstep with George Bush, and the American people are going to soundly reject the policies of George Bush.”

 

Meanwhile, Republicans were quick Wednesday to rally around Pearce and set their sights on Udall despite the negative campaigns Wilson and Pearce ran against each other. Domenici, who endorsed Wilson in the primary, put out a news release today pledging his support for Pearce.

 

“I look forward to doing all I can to support Congressman Pearce’s candidacy in the general election and help him become our state’s next U.S. senator,” said Domenici, who is retiring after 36 years in the Senate. “I believe his tenacity during the primary season proves he has what it takes to wage a battle to win in November.”

 

Wilson was also quick, in a statement conceding the race, to back Pearce.

 

“Republicans have made their choice, and I gladly accept it,” she said. “I congratulate and commend Congressman Pearce and wish him all the best. He has my support and my endorsement as he campaigns for the United States Senate.”

 

“As Republicans, we fight hard for the things we believe in,” Wilson said. “We also close ranks quickly when the people have spoken. As members of this great party, we have no time for disappointment or for bitterness. We have work to do and a charge to keep.”

 

Pearce, meanwhile, praised his erstwhile foe.

 

“ I want to thank Heather Wilson for running a spirited race,” Pearce said in a statement released today by his campaign. “As we said in the debates, we will now move forward with the help of Heather Wilson, Pete Domenici and a unified New Mexico Republican Party to win the U.S. Senate seat for people of New Mexico.”