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Wilson-Pearce battle for U.S. Senate exemplifies party's disparity

By Erik Siemers
Saturday, February 23, 2008

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In the race to replace retiring Sen. Pete Domenici, Republican voters will choose between two candidates whose argument over conservative credentials bears a resemblance to the party's national split.

U.S. Reps. Heather Wilson of Albuquerque and Steve Pearce of Hobbs are battling to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Udall of Santa Fe in the November general election.

But the June 3 Republican primary appears to offer voters a philosophical disparity similar to one that has set Sen. John McCain, the presumptive presidential nominee and a political moderate, apart from his more conservative counterparts, experts said.

"Wilson, of course, has fashioned herself most recently as much more of a moderate Republican, somewhat independent of the Bush administration," said Christine Sierra, a University of New Mexico political science professor.

"Pearce," she said, "represents a much more conservative Republican base."

Those differences might become less apparent during the primary race, when Republican candidates tend to campaign toward the right to appeal to the party base - hard-core Republicans who are among the most faithful primary voters, experts said.

"Whether it be local politics or national politics, Republicans tend to move to the right for the primary and come to the center for a general," said Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff.

Wilson, he said, has narrowly won most of her re-election battles, but she did so in a congressional district centered in Albuquerque - a politically moderate area that requires Democratic support to win.

Pearce, meanwhile, has been much more successful in winning re-election to his southern New Mexico district. While Democrats there are also the majority party, they're much more conservative than their counterparts in the rest of the state.

Sanderoff said former Govs. Garrey Carruthers and Gary Johnson, as well as Domenici, were Republicans who succeeded in statewide races by keeping toward the middle.

While Wilson might need to campaign to the right to win the June primary, the perception of her as a moderate could make her a more competitive opponent to Udall in November, Sanderoff said.

"What creates a challenge for Heather Wilson in the primary creates an asset for her in the general," Sanderoff said.

With the primary four months away, however, Wilson is distancing herself from the "moderate" label, instead calling herself a "common-sense conservative" several times during an interview this week.

"I consider myself to be a common-sense conservative, and my responsibility as a public servant has been to fight for New Mexico," Wilson said. "I consider myself to be a common-sense, pragmatic person who is a conservative."

Both candidates say they can win Democratic votes - a necessity in November, Sanderoff said, because only 34 percent of registered state voters are Republican.

Pearce, though, said he has no intention of shifting toward the center during a general election, should he win in June.

"I run just the way I believe and serve," said Pearce, adding that he runs on "conservative values."

"We rarely do focus groups that say we have to chart our course over here."