However, while Wilson and Pearce are spending cash fighting for the Republican nomination, Udall can relax a bit and save his dough for the general election.

Meanwhile, Martin Heinrich, Harry Teague and Don Wiviott are leading in fundraising for the first, second, and third congressional districts, respectfully.

The widgets will remain there on the right throughout the 2008 election cycle, so you can always check to see how much money the candidates have raised.

As regular readers know, this year is a rare situation: four of New Mexico’s five Congressional seats are open, while the fifth is held by Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman. The seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici is a likely pick-up opportunity with Rep. Tom Udall leading the charge, and Martin Heinrich and Bill McCamley have excellent chances in the 1st and 2nd Congressional districts, respectively. In addition, a good crop of candidates is in the field for the probably Democratic-safe 3rd Congressional District.

Some cohorts in the netroots, NewMexico FBIHOP and Democracy for New Mexico, have organized an ActBlue page to help counter the GOP fundraising efforts. Today is the kickoff for True Blue New Mexico. You can help by giving some cash to some great progressive candidates. Early money is more important than cash that comes late in the campaign, and every dollar you give now will help blunt the thousands of dollars that Rove and Cheney hope to raise today.

Iglesias’s case is in the crosshairs of all three investigations. Testifying before Congress, he alleged last year that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) pressured him to accelerate an investigation of a Democratic politician in New Mexico ahead of Wilson’s tight reelection bid. Iglesias said he did not plan to bring charges before the November elections, and was fired in December 2006. The administration says it was not satisfied with his pursuit of voter-fraud cases.

Public records show that the Senate ethics committee spent nearly $5,000 to send three staff members to Albuquerque in March and July last year.

I’m sure Rep. Steve Pearce welcomes the news.

My early morning reasoning thinks it would have been easier for Dems to grab Wilson’s seat with her still in it: she’s had to fight more and more to appear independent of Bush, but the Iraq War is still one heckuva monkey on her back.

However, I welcome the idea of an open seat in Pearce’s southern district. I think Dem chances are good throughout the country this year, but it would have taken some mean mojo to upset Pearce in the district. This is a great opportunity for the Democratic party now, especially if the DCCC puts some focus on the area.

Of course, Pearce’s strength in his district is also one in a primary battle with Wilson, and conservative voters in New Mexico will find him a much easier sell. Whether he can take a strong Democrat in a statewide race remains to be seen. New Mexico has been pretty purple during the past two presidential elections, and Pete’s recent polling (remember that 41% approval rating?) indicates that New Mexicans may be tired of politics as usual in Washington. And if the Iraq War is a monkey on Wilson’s back, then George Bush is the one clinging to Pearce. So, the die-hard Republicans might come out of the primary with the candidate they want, only to find out next November that the rest of the state isn’t ready to play along.

Looking forward, I think that Pearce’s camp is going to have to do a much better job of defending the Congressman from allegations of ethics violations than it did last month (you can read more about that at Heath’s place). Wilson, too, was called out by CREW, and it looks like the only thing keeping New Mexico’s Republican House delegation from being investigated is the House Ethics Committee’s truce.

That’s all for now, I’m off to fight a traffic ticket (apparently, turning left during the morning commute is frowned upon in certain areas of the D.C. Metropolitan area).

I think Democrats have a good chance to pick up some seats everywhere, not just in New Mexico.

I think that sums up the situation pretty well.

There’s no way Heather Wilson wins, regardless of who the Dems choose. She had a rough battle against Madrid last year (barely scraping out a win), and the war in Iraq is an even bigger stone around her neck. If she has to compete against Tom Udall (or, in her worst nightmares, Bill Richardson) there’s no way she can distance herself enough from Bush.

Steve Pearce has an even bigger problem: he’s never tried to distance himself from Bush or the Iraq War, and he’s toed the right-wing line in every House vote (see S-CHIP). That might play well for voters in his district, but he’ll be a hard sell in a statewide race.

To be perfectly honest, I’d love nothing more than to see Pearce and Wilson duke it out in a primary battle. But my ideal scenario would see the DCCC shifting the resources they’ve dedicated to defeating Wilson toward supplanting Pearce. It seems unimaginable that the Dems can’t find somebody (and by somebody, I mean there are already some great names being thrown around) to run for Wilson’s seat, and the same is true for Udall’s seat should he enter the race (Democracy for New Mexico says that’s not going to happen). Wilson is more vulnerable now than she has ever been, and Udall’s seat is a secure one for the Democrats.

Those of us living in the south have long felt that Pearce could be vulnerable. The unfortunate media situation (Heath is always talking about this) that feeds Las Cruces residents and others in the southeast news from west Texas rather than New Mexico has always been an obstacle, but it’s one that could be overcome.

Of course, Domenici’s departure from the Senate will have some tangible impacts on New Mexicans. We’ll lose his seniority on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he and Jeff Bingaman have traded the chairmanship for years (depending on which party controlled the Senate, of course).

A new radio ad that has just been launched by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that is set to run in the districts of 12 vulnerable Republicans. “This August we’re going district by district to urge Republicans to stop obstructing progress and work with us to end the war in Iraq,” says DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen.

You can hear the ad (and see the other Republicans being targeted) by clicking through to the Election Central site. The ad should be aired in Wilson’s district throughout August.

This is not the first time Wilson has been singled out by the DCCC — in April, the organization blasted the Albuquerque Republican over her role in the U.S. Attorney scandal.

She is – or at least, until the U.S. attorney controversy broke, was – the heir apparent for the GOP nomination to succeed Pete Domenici as U.S. senator. Her visits to Udall’s district had many wondering whether she knew something about Domenici’s 2008 plans that others did not.

Of course, Domenici has long insisted he’s going to run again, leaving many to question why Wilson is trotting all over the state. With Republicans up in arms every time Bill Richardson leaves the state (whether he’s campaigning or negotiating with North Korea or whatever), I’m expecting we’ll soon hear crickets their outrage over Wilson’s trips outside her district.

Regardless, I’m also wondering why she’s outside her district, especially in light of this recent Cook Report (PDF), listing her seat as one of those in play in the 2008 election (thanks to Election Central for the link). After the close call she experienced in the 2006 election, one would think she might want to focus on things a little more close to home.

At some point after the election last Nov. 6, Domenici called Bush’s senior political adviser, Karl Rove, and told him he wanted Iglesias out and asked Rove to take his request directly to the president.

Domenici and Bush subsequently had a telephone conversation about the issue.

The conversation between Bush and Domenici occurred sometime after the election but before the firings of Iglesias and six other U.S. attorneys were announced on Dec. 7.

Iglesias’ name first showed up on a Nov. 15 list of federal prosecutors who would be asked to resign. It was not on a similar list prepared in October.

Talking Points Memo some analysis:

Out of all the issues raised in today’s Albuquerque Journal story on the Iglesias firing and any potential sourcing questions, the central fact asserted is that after Sen. Domenici’s pressure call to Iglesias and before Iglesias’s name appeared on the firing list, Sen. Domenici had a conversation about firing Iglesias with President Bush himself.

That places the president at the center of the story and marks him as the likely ‘decider’, shall we say, in Iglesias’s ouster.

There’s also more from McClatchy:

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the president did not tell Gonzales to fire Iglesias. He also said that Gonzales did not recall discussing with Domenici whether or not to replace Iglesias.

A White House spokesman, Trey Bohn, pointed to comments made by President Bush and his adviser Dan Bartlett last month when asked about the conversation with Domenici.

Bush said that in speaking to Gonzales about U.S. attorneys, “I never brought up a specific case nor gave him specific instructions.” Bartlett said that “there was no directive given, as far as telling him to fire anybody or anything like that.”

Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos said Domenici would have no comment.

Looks like New Mexico FBIHOP had this first, and there’s definitely some good reading over there:

Mad at Iglesias for not helping out Wilson before the election, and angry at Gonzales for not agreeing to fire Iglesias, Domenici went straight to the top. Iglesias was added to the list of US Attorneys to be fired (or “asked to resign”, technically) after the phone call. It would be interesting to hear what Bush said to Domenici on the phone.

The article says Domenici “tried at various times to get more white-collar crime help for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.” This is code for the public corruption cases which Domenici wanted to be dropped before the November elections. They were not, and Domenici retaliated.

UPDATE — 1/16/07 7:20 am: LP makes the case in comments that the Journal article may not be accurate (be sure to check his latest post for more on that argument). I’m still reserving judgement. We know that a lot of the back-and-forth leading up to the USAs being fired took place through deputies and others like Karl Rove. The White House denial (see McClatchy piece above) that Bush never spoke to Gonzales about any specific cases does not cover whether or not Bush spoke to Domenici about a specific case. Nor does it mean that Bush had no role in getting Iglesias canned.

In addition, Domenici’s refusal to comment is eerily familiar to his behavior when Igelsias broke the news that Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson had called him. Until we hear Domenici’s office, or the White House, straight up denying that a call took place, I’m inclined to think it did.

UPDATE — 1/16/07 8:45 am: I’ve been thinking of this all morning, but NewMexiKen puts it nicely:

Here’s the rub. As far as I can determine the sole indication of how Gallagher and The Journal determined what happened is this line:

“The Journal confirmed the sequence of events through a variety of sources familiar with the firing of Iglesias, including sources close to Domenici.”

“A variety of sources . . . including sources close to Domenici.” No one is identified, even in the most general terms.

Five years ago, or with any other administration, I might be willing to dismiss the Journal story out of hand. But Bush & Co. have never been upfront or straight forward with the American people, so I’m not ready to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

The DCCC is going up on the air with a second radio ad targeting New Mexico GOP Rep. Heather Wilson for her role in the Attorney Purge. You can listen to it here.

Transcript:

In Washington Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General of the United States, is testifying under oath about his role in the firing of U.S. Attorneys.

But here in New Mexico, no one is getting the truth about Heather Wilson’s involvement in the scandal.

Wilson said a constituent’s complaint led her to call Republican U.S. Attorney David Iglesias about an ongoing federal corruption investigation.

But Heather Wilson won’t identify the constituent … she still refuses to release her phone records … and many important questions remain unanswered.

In Washington Attorney General Gonzales is being asked to tell the truth …

Isn’t it time we asked Heather Wilson to tell the truth in New Mexico?

Check the facts at www dot Heather Wilson watch dot com.

Follow the link for some additional analysis on the ad.