Pearce may run for state GOP chairman

Posted 11/19/2008 05:12:00 PM

Former U.S. Senate candidate also considering running for governor or another seat in 2010

Fresh off his loss in the U.S. Senate race, Rep. Steve Pearce is seriously considering running in January for the position of chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico.

Though a Pearce spokesman would not confirm it, a number of Republican sources said Pearce talked with several county Republican Party chairs about the possibility during a conference call earlier this week. Word of the call has spread quickly, and the possibility of Pearce attempting to lead the GOP back to prominence is being widely discussed in Republican circles today.

“There are several folks who are thinking about running for state chairman. The possibility of Steve Pearce taking up that mantle would be a very exciting one,” said Mark Van Dyke, chairman of the Republican Party of Doña Ana County.

Because of his history of working with Pearce and because the congressman built a statewide organization for his Senate campaign, Van Dyke said he believes the Hobbs oilman can effectively raise money, “bring the counties together under leadership that they would have a considerable amount of faith in” and “and put a professional operation together across the state that we could reasonably expect to turn into a campaign mechanism for the 2010 election.”

The last is critical for the GOP. Further losses in the state Legislature this year mean that, if Republicans can’t win the governor’s seat in 2010, they are going to have no say in the state’s redistricting process.

Pearce has represented southern New Mexico’s seat in the U.S. House since 2002 but leaves office at the end of the year. He chose not to seek re-election this year so he could run for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. Though Pearce defeated U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson in the Senate primary by 2 percentage points by running a campaign in which he emphasized his conservative credentials while she touted more moderate views, he lost to Democrat Tom Udall earlier this month by 23 points.

Another politico being widely discussed publicly as a potential state GOP chairman is Allen McCulloch, a Farmington doctor who was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2006 but was easily defeated by Democrat Jeff Bingaman.

The new chairman or chairwoman, who will be elected in January, will replace Allen Weh, who has built a reputation as a strong fundraiser. However, during his tenure the GOP has lost a lot of ground in state government and the congressional delegation.

Pearce has already said he will consider running for governor in 2010, and the sources said during this week’s conference call that he mentioned running for governor or another seat in two years. That would mean Pearce, if elected state party chairman, would have to step down halfway through his tenure.

During the call, the sources said, Pearce spoke at length about the need to unify the party so it can rebuild and regain some ground in 2010. Many Republicans have said Pearce’s battle with Wilson and other issues from this year were divisive. Even before that, however, the party has been split since at least 2007, when C. Earl Greer of Truth or Consequences challenged Weh for the state party leadership position.

Greer lost, but he was part of a group of county party officials who were upset at the state party’s lack of communication with them and the GOP’s failure to capitalize during the 2006 election on Democratic scandals that rocked state government.

William Cavin, chairman of the Chaves County GOP, said it’s too early to comment on potential candidates for the state chairmanship. He said the field of candidates will become clear in two or three weeks when people start campaigning for the job.

“This speculation right now -- unfortunately, that’s what it is, speculation, and we’ll know soon enough who the horses are going to be in this race,” Cavin said. “That’s when we’ll go ahead and make some decisions.”