Congressman Pearce in Taos
Pearce tours Enchanted Circle
File photo Congressman Steve Pearce was in Taos Tuesday (July 1) to drum up support for his bid to secure a U.S. Senate seat.
By Patricia Chambers
Thursday, July 3, 2008 6:26 AM MDT
Congressman Steve Pearce was joined by other Republican candidates for a three-day “North East New Mexico Enchanted Circle Tour” that began July 1 in Angel Fire and ends Thursday (July 3) in Las Vegas.
Pearce is hitting the stump in “Udall Country” in his campaign for the U.S. Senate against the popular Democrat Tom Udall, who currently represents the Third Congressional District in the House of Representatives.
Unlike the other two Congressional Districts, the diverse District 3 is dominated by a majority of Democrats, so it’s hard going for Republicans vying for the attention of voters here.
The winner of the statewide U.S. Senate race will replace Sen. Pete Domenici, who has represented New Mexico in Washington, D.C. since 1972. The Republican majority in the Senate could narrow considerably if Udall wins.
Pearce defeated U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson in the June 2 Republican Primary Election to earn the chance to compete against Udall in November. Wilson, who like Pearce and Udall chose not to run for reelection to the House of Representatives, will not return to Congress in January.
The decision of the state’s three members of the House of Representatives also means New Mexico will send three freshmen Congressman to Washington, D.C. next year.
Dan East, the Republican nominee for the District 3 Congressional seat, also joined Pearce’s campaign tour in Northern New Mexico.
Gas prices top priority for voters
As the campaign year began, no one would have predicted that the price of gas would top voters concerns, but five months before the general election, the cost of energy is the number one issue for voters, Pearce said.
“I hear about the price of gasoline at every stop we make,” he said.
Although Pearce’s connection with the oil industry has raised some suspicion with voters, his approach to legislation in Congress has followed the Republican party line. He has consistently support small government and the free market, and those positions seem to have helped him beat Wilson in the primary.
The District 2 Congressman owned Lea Fishing Tools, Inc., an oil field services company in Hobbs, N.M., until the fall of 2003. He sold his company’s assets for more than 500,000 shares of common stock in the Texas-based Key Energy.
Pearce says the current oil crisis is the result of lawsuits by environmentalists during the past two decades that limited the building of oil refineries, restricted commercial drilling and objections to the construction of nuclear power plants.
He will be telling voters that there are no immediate solutions to rising fuel prices, but opening drilling sites would balance prices and give the United States control over energy supplies.
New drilling leases, wind, geothermal and nuclear plants will stop speculators and limit the influence of Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries, Pearce said.
“It all works together,” he said.
The three-day campaign tour through northern and eastern New Mexico made stops in Angel Fire, Taos, Eagle Nest, Questa, Red River, Ratón, Clayton, Springer, Wagon Mound and Las Vegas.
He will speak at the Brown Motel in Springer at 9 a.m. Thursday (July 3) and will appear before the Wagon Mound Village Council at 1 p.m.
The Congressman’s last appearance will be an interview at KLVF-Radio in Las Vegas at 3:30 p.m.
