This got lost in the flap over the Climate Security Act yesterday, but via Politico, on Tuesday night Rep. Steve Pearce narrowly won the Republican Senate primary in New Mexico. He beat out Rep. Heather Wilson by a margin of 51 to 49 percent in the contest to see who will replace GOP Sen. Pete Domenici, who is retiring for health reasons.
Wilson was seen as the more moderate of the two candidates, though she has an overwhelmingly negative voting record in the House on all things environmental. Pearce’s record is even worse — so bad that the League of Conservation Voters gave him a zero this Congress. Wilson at least registered a 15.
Domenici, the ranking minority member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has a pretty putrid record himself: a 20 this Congress and a 14 percent lifetime score. His seat is a hot one for enviros this election.
Pearce will now face Democrat Tom Udall in November. Udall, who’s in his fifth term in the House, scored a perfect 100 this Congress, and has a 96 lifetime LCV ranking. You can expect a lot of green attention to be directed to this race — many are already hailing Pearce’s win as a gain for Udall, who now has a chance at the more moderate voters whom Wilson might have carried.
