The boys at RealClearPolitics.com who earlier this month called Rep. Heather Wilson's vacated 1st Congressional District seat the 19th most competitive congressional race in the country (and 19th most likely to change party hands) are at it again.

Reid Wilson and Kyle Trygstad, in their "Top House Races, Continued," have come up with part two of the 50 most competitive races for the U.S. House, and they've put the race to fill Rep. Steve Pearce's 2nd Congressional District seat at No. 34 on the list.

Here's what they had to say:

34. New Mexico 02 -- OPEN -- Pearce (R) running for Senate -- Two candidates who have largely self-funded make this race for the most Republican seat in New Mexico suddenly competitive. McCain is likely to win the district, but restauranteur Ed Tinsley (R) is already being hammered by Democrats and could have to start spending on television ads early. The race will be regional, too: Former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague (D) has a base in Hobbs, on the Texas border, while Tinsley is from Las Cruces, in the middle of the district.

Just yesterday, we had Real Clear Politics declare the 1st Congressional District race among the 25 most important races for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Now comes Politico.com, which calls the race for New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District among the top 10 in the nation -- including both the House and the Senate -- for determining the shape of the next U.S. Congress.

Republican Ed Tinsley is facing Democrat Harry Teague for Rep. Steve Pearce's seat, which is now open as he challenges Rep. Tom Udall for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Pete Domenici.

In a supporting story, Politico writes that Teague, "a conservative oilman who supports offshore drilling is giving Democrats their best shot in years" at winning a congressional seat long held by Republicans.

Read the whole thing.

9:25am 9/8/08 -- 1st C.D. Race Among Nation's Most Competitive: Online political journal RealClearPolitics.com lists 25 congressional races to watch.

This year, just as in 2006, the Republican brand in the U.S. House of Representatives is in "near-critical shape," write Reid Wilson and Kyle Trygstad in the reasonably even-handed political Web site RealClearPolitics.com.

"Democrats are likely to gain seats, but thanks to Congress' miniscule approval rating -- and the remarkable number of incumbents who have net-negative ratings of their own -- that gain may not be as large as previously suspected," Wilson and Trygstad write.

They list the 25 most competitive congressional races in the country, ranked in order of likeliness to change party hands, and No. 19 on the list is the battle for Rep. Heather Wilson's vacated 1st Congressional District seat.

Here's how they handicap the race between Republican Darren White and Democrat Martin Heinrich:

19. New Mexico 01 -- OPEN -- Wilson (R) retiring: Rep. Heather Wilson lost her primary for Senate to fellow Rep. Steve Pearce in the GOP primary, leaving behind a marginal district that both John Kerry and Al Gore won. Her exit offers Albuquerque councilor Martin Heinrich (D) a great chance at picking up the seat, though he'll have a challenging race against Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White (R), who Republicans see as one of their best recruits.