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The future and the past of New Mexico come together in its single metropolis, Albuquerque. Its Spanish and Indian past is memorialized in its name (for a 17th Century Spanish grandee) and age (founded in 1706) and its quaint Old Town; its high-tech future is symbolized by Sandia Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base, the government installations that are the city's biggest employers. When rocket scientist Robert Goddard moved here in 1930 and nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer reconnoitered the site in 1940, Albuquerque was still a town of 35,000 sitting at the junction of the Rio Grande and the old U.S. 66 that paralleled the Santa Fe Railroad -- "a dirty red sod-hut tortilla desert highway city," Tom Wolfe wrote. Since then, Albuquerque has grown more than any place in New Mexico and, with a metro population of 600,000, has as many people as all New Mexico did when the scientists first arrived. Albuquerque's prosperous neighborhoods have climbed the gently rising heights to the east; poorer residents have spread north and south along the Rio Grande. To the northwest is the new town of Rio Rancho, with Intel, Olympus, U.S. Cotton and Pepsico installations. Albuquerque is counted as part of the Sun Belt, but its climate is closer to that of the High Plains of west Texas: hot in the summer, sometimes very cold in the winter, with high winds most of the time. Nor is its economy like that of other Sun Belt cities. It has lower income levels; its recent growth has lagged behind Phoenix, Dallas, and even El Paso. Albuquerque has some white-collar job growth and diversification and has become something of a tourist center (it is home of the International Balloon Fiesta), but it still depends primarily on government; that has worked out well, with Sandia and Intel running the world's fastest computer and Kirtland the site of one of four "superlabs."

The 1st Congressional District of New Mexico is, for all practical purposes, the city of Albuquerque and its suburbs; it also includes largely empty Torrance County and communities north and south along the Rio Grande. Albuquerque is one Sun Belt city which is not solidly Republican, and in 1992 it went by a decisive margin for Bill Clinton after voting Republican for president in the 1980s -- not far off the national average. The 1st District in 1990 was 38% Hispanic, with both descendants of longtime New Mexicans and recent immigrants.

The congressman from the 1st District is Steven Schiff, a Republican first elected in 1988. Schiff grew up in Chicago and came to Albuquerque to attend law school. He is an unusual New Mexico figure. He is Jewish in a state made up mostly of Anglo Protestants and Hispanic Catholics; he is aggressive and a stickler for doing things by the book in a state often tolerant of lax practices. He served in the New Mexico Air National Guard, and is now a colonel in the Air Force Reserves: he participated in the Gulf war, briefing Americans on the intricacies of Muslim law, and in Turkey and northern Iraq afterward, working on the rules of engagement; in February 1996, though he opposed sending U.S. troops to Bosnia, he volunteered and served at the mission operation center in Aviano Air Force Base, Italy. After law school, he became a prosecutor and, after a few years of private practice, in 1980, at 33, he was elected district attorney of Albuquerque's Bernalillo County, where he was proud of the death penalty convictions he obtained. In 1988, when Congressman Manuel Lujan retired, Schiff ran for Congress. In the primary, he edged Lujan's brother Edward, 41%-37%; in the general, he beat Tom Udall, son of former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall and nephew of former House Interior Committee Chairman Morris Udall, and now New Mexico Attorney General, by 51%-47%.

Schiff is the sort of man who goes where his sense of right and wrong take him, regardless of politics; his voting record is middle-of-the-House on economic and cultural issues, very conservative on foreign policy. His major legislative achievements include the 1995 Sexual Crimes Against Children Prevention Act, which increased sentences for child pornography and prostitution, and a 1996 amendment to make healthcare fraud a federal crime. He opposed a bill allowing military personnel to sue military physicians for malpractice, because they may already qualify for disability. He opposed a bill to criminalize animal rights terrorism. Schiff is chairman of the Basic Research Subcommittee of the Science Committee, an important post for Albuquerque -- and the nation. He led the fight to stop a national laboratory closure commission. "The national laboratories have to contribute to deficit reduction, they're not immune, but no one in the scientific community believes we should be closing the national labs." He worked to create the Petroglyph National Monument on the west side of Albuquerque and to buy land for the Tres Pistolas animal preserve.

From 1993 Schiff served on the House Ethics Committee, a hot seat given the charges Democrats filed against Newt Gingrich. Schiff was adamant that Gingrich's book deal not be investigated by an independent counsel, and worked with Democrat Ben Cardin to resolve the issue. Schiff also served on the task force, with Cardin, Democrat Nancy Pelosi and Republican Porter Goss, which handled the final charge against Gingrich in late 1996 and early 1997. All four members seem to have tried conscientiously to reach a decision on the merits, and were prevented by secrecy rules from refuting some of the more fabulous tales circulating. But Schiff and Goss did manage to signal Republicans who were queasy about reelecting Gingrich as speaker when on January 7 they issued a statement saying, "We know of no reason now, nor do we foresee any in the normal course of events in the future, why Newt Gingrich would be ineligible to serve as speaker."

Schiff, who had been reelected easily in 1992 and 1994, had tougher competition in 1996 from 28-year-old John Wertheim, campaign manager in 1994 for then-Governor Bruce King. Wertheim supported the Brady bill, the Clinton Medicare plan, a balanced budget that maintained education funding, and criticized Schiff for "cuts" in Medicare, student, loans, Head Start and Title I education money. Schiff replied that he didn't "cut" Medicare but funded it by the exact amount recommended by Clinton and that he voted against the assault weapons ban because they "aren't assault weapons and they aren't even banned." Schiff outspent Wertheim 2-1 and won by a solid but reduced 57%-37%.

Update: May 1998
Congressman Schiff died on March 24, 1998, following a bout with skin cancer. He previously had announced he would retire at the end of this term. A special election to fill this seat will be June 23 -- just a few weeks after the June 2 primary for the November general election.

Update: June 1998
Democratic hopes of gaining some momentum going into the November elections were dashed on June 23d when Republican Heather Wilson won the special election to complete the remaining seven months of Steve Schiff's term. Wilson, a Rhodes scholar and former state Cabinet secretary, defeated state Senator Phil Maloof by a margin of 45%-39%. In an all too familiar New Mexico pattern, the Green Party candidate--Robert Anderson--siphoned off many Democratic voters by taking 16%.

The campaign was marked by bitter accusations slung by both Wilson and Maloof at debates and a barrage of negative television advertising that broke spending records for a New Mexico congressional race. Disgust with the campaign also pushed some to vote for Anderson, who managed to stay above the fray. Perhaps the most outrageous ad, one that questioned Wilson's professionalism and integrity, was put out by Maloof's campaign. Using footage from a television station report aired two years earlier, the ad focused on allegations Wilson tampered with a police file on her husband while she was head of the state's children, youth and families department. While the ad did cause her some damage, on election night Wilson ultimately was able to say that she won because Maloof was "unable to assail my ability and experience, and in the end they were also unable to challenge my character."

Maloof, a multi-millionaire from a prominent New Mexico family, poured at least $1.5 million of his own money into the campaign. He also had the support of the party's top guns, and both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Tipper Gore turned out for him in the campaign's waning days. Wilson, meanwhile, struggled throughout the campaign to compete on his financial level. But with the help and guidance of Senator Pete Domenici, who hand picked her for the job, Wilson was able to raise money from House Republicans and had her own set of luminaries such as Jack Kemp, Jennifer Dunn and Dick Armey visiting the district.

Wilson, who was sworn in on June 25, is a relative newcomer to New Mexico. She moved here in the early 1990s, following seven-years as an officer in the Air Force. But she is experienced in the ways of Washington, having served on the staff of the National Security Council during the Bush Administration. She is expected to seek seats on Commerce, Science and Education and the Workforce. Her election marks the first time since 1949 that a woman is part of the New Mexico delegation, and she will also be the first woman veteran in Congress.

Wilson, Maloof and Anderson will all meet again in November. Wilson will be on even stronger ground by that time, and Anderson, buoyed by his showing in the special, will look to increase his percentage in November. Though Maloof has the money edge, it will be another hard battle for him.

More information on the Wilson and Maloof campaigns is available on their official campaign Web sites. Some of the TV ads aired by the Wilson and Maloof campaigns prior to the special election are available on Cloakroom.

The People: Pop. 1990: 505,329; 8% rural; 10% age 65+; 56% White; 2% Black; 1% Asian; 2% Amer. Indian; 38% Hispanic origin. Households: 53% married couple families; 26% married couple fams. w. children; 54% college educ.; median household income: $27,074; per capita income: $13,373; median gross rent: $400; median house value: $83,800.

1996 Presidential Vote Clinton (D) 93,178 (48%) Dole (R) 82,613 (43%) Perot (I) 9,520 (5%) Other 7,212 (4%)

1992 Presidential Vote Clinton (D) 95,754 (45%) Bush (R) 81,038 (38%) Perot (I) 33,034 (16%)

Rep. Heather Wilson (R)

Elected June 23, 1998; b. Dec. 30, 1960, Keene, NH; home, Albuquerque; U.S. Air Force Academy, B.S. 1982, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford U., M. Phil. 1984, Oxford U., D. Phil. 1985; Methodist; married (Jay Hone).

Career: Cadet, Air Force, 1978-82; Officer, Air Force, 1982-89; Director, Defense Policy and Arms Control, National Security Council Staff, White House, 1989-91; President, Keystone International, Inc., 1991-95; Cabinet Secretary, NM Children, Youth and Families Department, 1995-98.

D.C. Office: 2404 RHOB 20515; 202-225-6316; Fax: 202-225-4975.

District Office: Albuquerque, 505-766-2538.

Group Ratings

Newly elected.

National Journal Ratings

Newly elected.

Key Votes of the 104th Congress

Newly elected.

Election Results
1996 gen.	Steven H. Schiff (R)	109,290	(57%)	($603,316)
	John Wertheim (D)	71,635	(37%)	($285,999)
	Others	12,153	(6%)
1996 prim.	Steven H. Schiff (R)	unopposed
1994 gen.	Steven H. Schiff (R)	119,996	(74%)	($458,653)
	Peter Zollinger (D)	42,316	(26%)	($5,944)

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