Domenici Retiring

Huge news!!! Pete Domenici will be announcing his retirement tomorrow. This represents an excellent chance for a Democratic pickup. Kos correctly picks the 4 most likely candidates to win the Democratic nomination, assuming Bill Richardson doesn't drop out of the presidential race.

In order I prefer:
1. Tom Udall
2. Diane Denish
3. Patricia Madrid
4. Martin Chavez

Udall should be a very solid Democrat in the Senate. He's pretty liberal but I doubt too liberal to win, particularly with the sorry state of the Republican Party. Diane Denish I've always found rather nondescript, but she'd be fine. Madrid ran a terrible campaign against Heather Wilson. Martin Chavez is the super-DINO. I'm sure him and Joe Lieberman would have plenty to talk about. He's the worst kind of Democrat. He's also incredibly ambitious so I suspect he will run.

Heather Wilson is the most likely candidate for the Republicans. She's very tough and a masterful campaigner. She is very unlikable on a personal level but always manages to squeeze out another close victory. She's also Domenici's protege. But they were both caught up the federal attorney scandal and she's now quite tainted. Steve Pearce is the other likely Republican candidate. He's from southern New Mexico and I know less about him but he's a pretty typical wingnut from what I can tell and is the kind of candidate likely to lose a state election in this climate.

This is all quite exciting.