Rep. Tom Udall (D) Elected 1998, 4th term
Born:	May 18, 1948, Tucson, AZ
Home:	Santa Fe
Education:	Prescott Col., B.A. 1970; Cambridge U., B.L. 1975; U. of NM, J.D. 1977
Religion:	Mormon
Marital Status:	married (Jill Cooper)
Elected  Office:	NM Atty. Gen., 1990-98.
Professional Career:	Law clerk, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1977; Asst. U.S. Atty, 1978-81; Practicing atty., 1981-83, 1985-90; Chief Cnsl., NM Health & Environment Dept., 1983-84.
DC Office	1414 LHOB20515, 202-225-6190; Fax: 202-226-1331; Web site: www.tomudall.house.gov
State Offices	Clovis, 505-763-7616; Farmington, 505-324-1005; Gallup, 505-863-0582; Las Vegas, 505-454-4080; Rio Rancho, 505-994-0499; Santa Fe, 505-984-8950.
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"The dancing ground of the sun," the Pueblo Indians called the land of northern New Mexico, where the long vistas, dotted with low-lying scrub, are painted in pastel hues in the cold light and clear air. For 100 years, artists have been coming here, attracted by the scenery and by a unique civilization that is part Indian, part Anglo, part Spanish, and only a little Mexican (northern New Mexico was under Mexican control only from 1821-46). The region's long-surviving traditions, however, hide the instabilities of this blended civilization. The adobe pueblos, including some of the world's earliest apartment buildings, were built in spurts; the Spanish conquistadors and priests brought the Catholic religion, the baroque architectural accents and the Spanish language in a rush. Successive waves of American settlement have changed New Mexico in multiple ways. The Indian crafts that thrive today nearly died out in the 1880s, while the Palace of the Governors, built in Santa Fe in 1610, had its Victorian balustrade torn off in 1913 to restore its original appearance. Yet up the back roads in Rio Arriba or Taos Counties, one can find a religion that mixes Catholicism with adaptations of Indian festivals, buildings not that much different from the old pueblos and a standard of living reminiscent of the Indian past, sometimes punctuated by high rates of drug abuse--quite a contrast to the chi-chi ski lodges in the Taos Valley, the high security research facilities of Los Alamos or the affluent, bohemian activity in modern-day Santa Fe.

The 3d Congressional District of New Mexico contains most of the state's historic Spanish-speaking and Indian parts. The district's largest and dominant city is Santa Fe, where Georgia O'Keeffe was a major cultural force and local spas have encouraged the tourism boom. But the 3d also runs from the High Plains along the Texas border, past the haunting Sangre de Cristo Mountains, through the vast ridges and isolated buttes in the center, to the windy and dusty desert-like plains. Its Hispanic population is 36%, the lowest of the state's three districts, but in the central part of the district it ranges from almost half in Santa Fe County to more than 80% in Mora County. Another 19% of the district population is Indian, mostly in and around the Navajo Reservation in the west, which is hard hit by poverty and poor health. The politics of northern New Mexico is unique. For years, debate was conducted and votes bartered in Spanish, not by separatists, but by Republican and Democratic politicos, often cynically, sometimes corruptly; loyalties ran to families and communities more than to principles or parties. In the backcountry, you can still find more than just vestiges of the old communities and old politics--though no one is going to let you in on them, even if you speak good Spanish. Although the Little Texas counties, the Albuquerque suburb of Rio Rancho, the mining and ranching country around Farmington, and the nuclear scientists of Los Alamos tend to vote Republican, this is on the whole a Democratic district; both Hispanics and Indians are very Democratic, and in Santa Fe and Taos, the affluent and hippie migrants have produced such a strong leftist tilt that in 2003, Santa Fe's city council approved a minimum wage $3.35 over the federal level. Politically, this is a sharply divided district. Santa Fe, Taos and San Miguel Counties voted more than 70% for John Kerry in 2004. But Bush won 65% to 77% in the counties on the Texas border and 66% in Farmington's San Juan County. Overall the district, after voting 52%-43% for Al Gore in 2000, voted 54%-45% for Kerry in 2004. Bush's percentages were slightly down in Santa Fe, Taos and Los Alamos Counties and sharply up in the other counties.

The congressman from the 3d District is Tom Udall, a Democrat first elected in 1998, the son of Arizona Congressman (1955-61) and Interior Secretary (1961-69) Stewart Udall, nephew of Arizona Congressman (1961-91) Morris Udall, first cousin of Colorado Congressman Mark Udall, and distant cousin of Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, the only Republican in the bunch. Tom Udall grew up in Tucson and in McLean, Virginia, went to college in Arizona, got a degree at Cambridge University in England, and went to law school in New Mexico. He worked as a law clerk to a federal judge, then as a lawyer in New Mexico state government and went into private law practice. Politics was obviously on his mind. He ran for Congress in 1982 when the 3d District was newly created, and finished last among four candidates, with 13% of the vote; the winner was Bill Richardson, now governor. In 1988 he ran in the open Albuquerque-based 1st District, won the Democratic nomination but lost the general to Steven Schiff 51%-47%. In 1990 he was elected state attorney general.

In 1997, when Richardson resigned and the 3d District seat opened up, Udall did not run. Republican Bill Redmond, an independent Christian minister from Los Alamos, won in a shocking upset, assisted by a Green Party candidate nominee who won 17%. In 1998, Udall ran for the seat. He worked to consolidate the Democratic and leftist vote; drawing on lawyers, the arts community and friends of the Udall family, he raised daunting sums. The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters criticized Redmond and ran waves of ads against him. As for the third party threat, Udall said, "I intend to make peace with the Greens." He was utterly successful. Udall won 53% of the vote, Redmond got the same 43% he had won 18 months before, while Green Party nominee Carole Miller saw her 17% evaporate to 4%.

In the House, Udall has a mostly liberal voting record. He has a seat on the Resources Committee, on which his father served and which his uncle chaired. He helped to enact a bill to explore establishment of a national historical park at Los Alamos. The House defeated his amendments for the Energy Department to enter cooperative agreements with domestic uranium miners, and to prohibit changes to the National Forest Management Act. As chairman of the Democrats' campaign finance task force, he was a vocal advocate of the Shays-Meehan campaign finance bill; he called for opening presidential debates to third party candidates--an odd stance for a Democrat in a seat Republicans won because of a Green candidacy. He voted against creation of the Homeland Security Department and he opposed the use of force in Iraq. He proposed revisions in the Patriot Act, to limit authority to obtain search warrants and restore protections for libraries and bookstores; with Christopher Shays and Carolyn Maloney, he called for an independent agency to monitor civil liberties abuses in the war on terrorism. In May 2005, Udall and the rest of the New Mexico delegation protested the Pentagon's recommendation to close Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis; the proposed closure would mean the loss of 4,800 direct and indirect jobs generated by the base, roughly 20 percent of the local work force.

Udall has not been seriously challenged for reelection. In 2004 he was reelected 69%-31%, running far ahead of Kerry.

Committees

• Resources (14th of 22 D): Forests & Forest Health (RMM); National Parks.
• Small Business (3d of 15 D): Rural Enterprises, Agriculture & Technology; Workforce, Empowerment & Government Programs.
• Veterans' Affairs (12th of 12 D): Disability Assistance & Memorial Affairs.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	100	90	100	100	40	13	29	8	6	15	--
2003	100	--	100	95	--	24	23	8	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	87%	--	9%		82%	--	17%
Social	88%	--	11%		70%	--	29%
Foreign	94%	--	0%		79%	--	20%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning N		7. Restrict Gun Liability N  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion N  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Fund Iraq War N 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Tom Udall (D)	175,269	69%	$452,489
	Gregory Tucker (R)	79,935	31%	$56,051
2004 primary	Tom Udall (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Tom Udall (D)	unopposed
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (67%); 1998 (53%)

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 139,336 (54%) Bush (R) 118,350 (45%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 102,809 (52%) Bush (R) 86,004 (43%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Third District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 6
• District Size: 47,271 square miles
• Population in 2000: 606,240; 62.8% urban; 37.2% rural
• Median Household Income: $35,058; 19.0% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 21.7% blue collar; 60.3% white collar; 18.0% gray collar; 13.4% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 41.4% White, 1.1% Black, 0.7% Asian, 18.9% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 1.4% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 36.3% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 7.4% German, 6.0% English, 5.6% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.