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Tom Udall

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Tom Udall
United States Senator
from New Mexico
Assumed office
January 3, 2009
Serving with Martin Heinrich
Preceded byPete Domenici
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Mexico's 3rd district
In office
January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2009
Preceded byBill Redmond
Succeeded byBen R. Luján
28th New Mexico Attorney General
In office
1991–1999
Preceded byHarold Stratton
Succeeded byPatricia Madrid
Personal details
Born
Thomas Stewart Udall

(1948-05-18) May 18, 1948 (age 76)
Tucson, Arizona
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJill Cooper
ChildrenAmanda Cooper
ResidenceSanta Fe, New Mexico
Alma materPrescott College (B.A.)
Cambridge University (LL.B.)
University of New Mexico School of Law (J.D.)
ProfessionAttorney
WebsiteSenate website

Thomas Stewart "Tom" Udall (born May 18, 1948) is the senior United States Senator from New Mexico and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 2008, he represented New Mexico's 3rd congressional district as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009, and was the Attorney General of New Mexico from 1991 to 1999.

Early life, education, and law career

Udall was born in Tucson, Arizona, to Ermalee Lenora (née Webb) and Stewart Udall, the Secretary of the Interior from 1961 to 1969. Two of his maternal great-grandparents were Swiss.[1] He attended Prescott College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970. In 1975, he graduated from the University of Cambridge in England with a Bachelor of Law degree. That fall, he enrolled in the University of New Mexico School of Law and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1977.

Following that graduation, Udall was a law clerk to Chief Judge Oliver Seth of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. His legal career then included appointments as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the criminal division and Chief Counsel to the Department of Health and Environment.

Early political career

In 1982, Udall ran for Congress in the newly created 3rd district, based in the state capital, Santa Fe, and most of north of the state. He lost the Democratic primary to Bill Richardson. In 1989, he ran for Congress again in a special election for the Albuquerque-based 1st district seat left open by retiring twenty-year incumbent Manuel Lujan, but narrowly lost to Bernalillo County District Attorney Steven Schiff. From 1991 to 1999 he served as Attorney General of New Mexico.[2]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Udall ran for Congress again in 1998 in the 3rd district against incumbent Bill Redmond, who had been elected in a 1997 special election to replace Richardson. Redmond was a conservative Republican representing a heavily Democratic district, and the 3rd's partisan tilt helped Udall defeat Redmond with 53 percent of the vote.[3] He was reelected four more times with no substantive opposition, including an unopposed run in 2002.

Tenure

As a U.S. Representative, Tom Udall was a member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition and the more liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus. He was also a member of the United States House Peak Oil Caucus, which he co-founded with Representative Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland.[4][5]

Committee assignments

U.S. Senate

Elections

Main article: United States Senate election in New Mexico, 2008

In November 2007, Udall announced he would run for the Senate seat held by retiring incumbent Pete Domenici.[6] Potential Democratic rival Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez dropped out, handing Udall the nomination. New Mexico's other two members of the House, 1st and 3rd district's Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, ran in the Republican primary. Pearce won the Republican nomination, and lost to Udall, who won 61 percent of the vote.

While Udall was running for Senate in New Mexico, his younger first cousin, Congressman Mark Udall, was running for the Senate in Colorado. Their double second cousin, incumbent Gordon Smith of Oregon, was also running for reelection. Both Udalls won and Smith lost.

Tenure

Udall has voted with his party 97 percent of the time since he was first elected to the U.S. Senate. He voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, DREAM Act,[7] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.[8]

Legislation

On March 19, 2013, Udall introduced into the Senate the Sandia Pueblo Settlement Technical Amendment Act (S. 611; 113th Congress), a bill that would transfer some land to the Sandia Pueblo tribe.[9][10]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Udall is married to Jill Cooper Udall. They live in Santa Fe with their daughter, Amanda Cooper. Udall is the nephew of Arizona Congressman Morris Udall, and first cousin of senior Colorado U.S. Senator Mark Udall, double second cousin of former Oregon U.S. Senator Gordon Smith,[11] and second cousin of Utah U.S. Senator Mike Lee.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~battle/senators/udallt.htm
  2. ^ "Ten things to know about Senate hopeful Rep. Tom Udall". Albuquerque Tribune. November 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  3. ^ "Udall wins Redmond's New Mexico House seat". Associated Press. 4 November 1998. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  4. ^ Rep. Tom Udall on resource depletion and climate change (transcript) Global Public Media, December 9, 2005
  5. ^ Peak Oil: Representative Roscoe Bartlett
  6. ^ Baker, Deborah (November 10, 2007). "New Mexico Rep. Tom Udall to seek Democratic nomination for Senate". Associated Press (SignOnSanDiego.com). Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  7. ^ The Washington Post http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/U000039/key-votes/page2/. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ The Washington Post http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/U000039/key-votes/page3/. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ "S. 611 - Summary". United States Congress. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Chairwoman Cantwell Holds Hearing on Tribal Resources Legislation". Tulalip News. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  11. ^ Udall family of Arizona at the Political Graveyard
  12. ^ Lee Davidson (October 24, 2010). "Senate race: Mike Lee ready to ride Senate roller coaster". The Salt Lake Tribune. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tom Udall.
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of New Mexico
1991–1999 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Mexico's 3rd congressional district
1999–2009 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 2) from New Mexico
January 3, 2009 – present
Served alongside: Jeff Bingaman, Martin Heinrich 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States Senators by seniority
56th 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic Party nominee for United States Senator (Class 2) from New Mexico
2008, 2014 		Succeeded by
Current nominee

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