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Democratic Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico ranked as the U.S. Senate’s fifth-most liberal member, based on 2011 congressional voting records compiled by the National Journal.
Meanwhile, Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., ranked 36th-most conservative in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the publication’s annual roundup.
To compile the political rankings, the magazine reviewed 97 Senate votes and 105 House votes cast last year and created a scale to differentiate between the liberal and conservative extremes in areas related to the economy, foreign policy and social issues.
Udall, elected to the Senate in 2008, shared the No. 5 “most liberal” position with five other Democratic senators, including Barbara Boxer of California. Pearce’s ranking was a four-way tie.
The other members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, all Democrats, ranked closer to the middle of the Democratic pack for liberal voting records in the House and Senate.
Sen. Jeff Bingman, who has announced plans to retire this year, ranked 25th-most liberal of the Senate’s 51 Democrats.
No Senate Republican ranked more liberal than any Democrat this year, according to the National Journal.
In the House, Rep. Ben Ray Luján ranked as the chamber’s 108th-most liberal, and Rep. Martin Heinrich ranked 146th-most liberal.
Averaging the three New Mexico representatives’ 2011 voting records, National Journal listed the state’s House delegation as “centrist,” with 16 other states reporting a more liberal delegation voting record.
4 announce bids: Albuquerque state Rep. Conrad James, a Republican, announced Wednesday he will seek re-election to the state House in the Northeast Heights District 23.
James, an engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, has served in the House since 2011.
♦ Former state Rep. Ben Rodefer, a Democrat, will challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. John Sapien in the party’s nomination for the Corrales area state Senate District 9 race.
Rodefer served one term in the state House before losing re-election to the seat in 2010 to Republican Rep. David Doyle. Sapien has served in the Corrales Senate district since 2009.
♦ Albuquerque real estate broker Monica Youngblood, a Republican, will seek election to the newly created House District 68 in Albuquerque’s West Side.
The new district has no incumbent, and no other candidate has publicly announced plans to join the race.
♦ Clovis businessman Mark Myers, a Republican, is hoping to replace outgoing Republican Sen. Clinton Harden as the community’s representative in Senate District 7.
Harden, who has served in the Senate since 2002, announced he would not seek re-election after the 2012 legislative session.
— This article appeared on page C2 of the Albuquerque Journal
