Wilson v. Pearce: The gloves are off

Republicans Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce have given up their House seats for a shot at retiring Sen. Pete Domenici's upper chamber desk. Many see the contest as an ideological struggle for the soul of the New Mexico GOP. (Illustration by Keith Lewis)

LOS ALAMOS -- The Heather Wilson-Steve Pearce slugfest reminds political junkies why their pulse quickens every campaign season.

There's the adrenaline of contest; of exciting campaign events; of drama as someone wins and someone loses.

And then there's all that other stuff. Attack TV ads. Name calling. Hyperbolic rhetoric.

As the two approach the June 3 primary hoping to win the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate and run against Democrat Tom Udall in November for the right to replace the retiring Republican Pete Domenici, the candidates are throwing everything they can -- with more expected to come -- at each other.

And through the miasma, a theme has emerged: Pearce has grabbed the mantle of the more ideologically pure conservative while Wilson, in a pragmatic appeal to voters, has cast herself as more electable in purple New Mexico, where history shows that Republicans must rely on Democrats to cross party lines in order for them to win statewide elections.

In short, Pearce is appealing to political convictions of those who typically turn out for GOP primaries, while Wilson is hoping to leverage their competitive instincts.

And that leaves many GOP voters searching their souls.

In the words of State Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, the question they are asking is "Am I actually going to vote for the candidate of choice or am I going to vote for the candidate that I think can win in November?"

"Half the voters are probably voting based on does Heather or does Steve reflect their values more and the other half is probably voting on ... who has the greatest potential in winning in the general against Udall," Rawson said.

The fight for New Mexico's Republican identity -- between the far right and more moderate wings of the party, and between going with conviction or pragmatism -- is part of a national trend, according to UNM political science professor Lonna Atkeson.

Look no further than the likely Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, for a case study, she said. The maverick Republican, known throughout his career for bucking the party line, is now trying harder to tow it, in hopes of winning over support from skeptical conservatives. (Think Wilson)

The Arizona Republican got to this position by besting others in the GOP presidential primaries earlier this year who had more conservative credentials and who often lambasted him as ideologically impure. (Think Pearce)

"I think that the party represents both of those groups (moderates and conservatives)," Atkeson said. "It sort of locally struggles with the same questions the party struggles with nationally... what is (the party) willing to give up to win?"

The identity crisis isn't limited to the Republican Party, Atkeson added. The Democrats running for their party's presidential nomination are still mired in a fierce battle between disparate party factions -- young versus old, urban liberals versus the rural working class. "There's the same tension," she said.

Here in New Mexico, though, Democrats have rallied around Udall, who is running unopposed in the primary. So that leaves the Republican race to enthrall political observers with the same verve as a titanic boxing match. Only, in this case, two experienced politicians from two very different regions of the state are trying to knock each other out by appealing to as many constituencies as possible to win the nomination.

Who's the true Republican?

There's been negative television advertisements and a continuous war of words over each candidate's legislative voting history and spending habits.

"There's only one conservative running for Senate -- Republican Steve Pearce," one Pearce ad declares. A Wilson ad counters that Pearce is running a negative campaign because "he's wrong" on important issues: "Steve Pearce voted against adding 3,000 border guards to secure our border," laments a somber announcer over ominous-sounding music.

Pearce recently even resorted to the L-word -- liberal -- to describe Wilson, who represents the Albuquerque-dominated 1st Congressional District.

Wilson, for her part, hasn't been shy about reminding voters that she has fended off strong Democratic challengers over the years and is more electable statewide than Pearce, who represents the 2nd District, a large-geographical area that includes the southeastern "oil patch" part of the state and the "Bible belt side, or the very conservative side, supposedly," as one Republican put it.

But even if Wilson has dispatched Democrats over the past decade, including, most recently, former state Attorney General Patricia Madrid in a squeaker of a race in 2006 that defied the national tsunami that propelled Democrats into the control of Congress, this battle is different because the electorate is different.

The irony of Heather Wilson's position now is that her greatest strength -- her ability to win broad support in Albuquerque over the past decade -- is now her greatest weakness in the GOP primary, said Brian Sanderoff of Albuquerque-based Research & Polling Inc.

"It was her moving to the center and calling herself an independent-minded person that helped her retain that seat all those years," Sanderoff said. "She's gone from independent-minded person ... to common-sense conservative (compared) to a pure conservative, if you will."

Traditionally, more conservative voters turn out for GOP primaries. The inverse is true of Democratic primaries, which attract more liberal voters.

So in a typical election year that could work to Pearce's advantage. But electability has emerged as a burning issue for many voters, says Jennifer Duffy of the Washington-based Cook Political Report, a respected, nonpartisan political newsletter.

"Who knows if this can be attributed to Internet politics," Duffy said. "Voters have never considered electability but they are beginning to. It's been fairly tested that you could not make the electability issue. It wasn't such a visible factor."

"With people going to the Internet to get their news instead of (traditional outlets), ... if you start looking at blogs where they talk about (electability) a lot," it may rise to a the level of a serious consideration, Duffy said.

State Senate Minority Leader Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, seems to personify that sentiment.

The national scene doesn't look overly hopeful for Republicans in congressional races as respected political analysts give an edge to Democrats. Among its list of competitive and potentially competitive House races, the Cook Political Report shows 26 Republican House seats as leaning or as toss ups, including New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, compared to 14 Democratic seats

As for U.S. Senate races, the only seats Cook Political Report lists as toss ups are all held by Republicans, including Domenici's.

If one looks at the breakdown of who has been in the Senate for New Mexico over the years, Ingle said, "it's been one D and R, one Democrat and one Republican, for so darn long. People on the R side are thinking, 'Gosh, what's going to happen if we lose this seat?'"

For that reason, Ingle has endorsed Wilson.

Differences

One doesn't need to look hard to find how Wilson and Pearce differ on certain issues, and on style.

The Shriver National Center on Poverty Law recently rated members of Congress based on how they voted on what it considers the most “significant poverty-related proposed legislation of 2007.” According to that scorecard, Wilson gave an anti-poverty vote on nine of the fifteen bills compared to Steve Pearce, who voted in support of anti-poverty on three of the fifteen opportunities.

Last year's congressional fight over whether to expand a federal program called SCHIP, meanwhile, provides an example of a difference in styles. The program, created in the 1990s, provides health insurance to low-income children who live in low-income households earning just over the federal poverty level.

After President Bush vetoed a bill Congress passed, Wilson worked at a deal with Democrats while Pearce strongly condemned the measure. Congress ultimately passed a bill to extend the current program and Bush signed it into law. Both Wilson and Pearce voted for that measure.

(Representatives of both candidates went out of their way to explain their bosses' reasons for doing what they did. Wilson opposed the original legislation Bush vetoed and only then worked on a deal with Democrats, Wilson spokesman Enrique Carlos Knell said. Pearce always opposed expanding SCHIP and only voted for the final measure that garnered the President's signature because it extended, rather than expanded, the current program, a representative of his Washington D.C. office said.)

Some Republicans, while acknowledging the differences between Pearce and Wilson, say they are overemphasized.

"They're both solid Republicans," Rawson said. "It's not like you're getting a 60 percent Republican and a 95 percent Republican."

Added State House Minority Whip Dan Foley, R-Roswell: "Your question is valid if one was pro-life and one was pro-choice or one was for pro-gay marriage and one against gay marriage."

Fight for Control

The battle for the GOP nomination is so fierce because the stakes are so high, say local Republicans.

"What you got here is the loss of a senator of 36 years that's been the party head for ... 18 to 20 years," Ingle said of Domenici. "We're losing our titular head."

If a Republican wins the U.S. Senate seat this November, that person not only gains entry into one of the most exclusive clubs on Earth -- the U.S. Senate -- but instantly steps into a leadership role of the state GOP as well.

And while how the two have voted on key issues is important, so are party politics, say some New Mexico Republicans.

State Rep. Jeannette Wallace, R-Los Alamos, sees as an added prize the control of the state organization.

"It's unfortunate that it has deteriorated to this point," Wallace said. "When I look at the entire state, I believe the more moderate person has a better chance of winning. Are we going to throw away an election based on who in the hierarchy decides to control instead of allowing the voters to make that decision? I'm talking about the party."

Not everyone agrees with this analysis, of course.

Foley doesn't see a breakdown of the party into factions. The party isn't monolithic and it's a big tent.

"We've got oil and gas people. We got car dealers who blame oil and gas for people not buying cars. We have ranchers who hate oil and gas people," Foley said. "You're not going to see a change in the party."

"I don't think Steve Pearce has a group of people who he wants to lead the party who hate Heather Wilson" and vice versa, Foley said. "I don't think any subgroup of the GOP will be disenfranchised if either one wins."

The bitter primary fight, of course, will only make the general election tougher for the eventual winner, and state party officials know it. The departure of Sen. Domenici, a longtime unifying force for the party, "has created some challenges" -- including a significant funding disadvantage, state party spokesman Scott Darnell told the New Mexico Independent. But they aren't insurmountable challenges, and the party will come together for the general election, he insisted.

"At the end of the day, I don't think there's going to be any chasm built in the party because of this primary," he said. "We are very committed to keeping this seat."

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