Back in November, GOP Rep. Steve Pearce expressed interest in running to succeed termed-out New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, but he’s said little since then. However, Pearce recently confirmed that he is still thinking about it, and his chief of staff told The Daily Times that he expects the congressman will be “using the next couple of months to decide and let people know what he has done.”
Pearce gave up his southern House seat in 2008 to run statewide, and the experience did not go well for him. Pearce narrowly won the Senate primary, but lost the general election to Tom Udall by a brutal 61-39. Pearce won back his old seat two years later but if anything, the already very conservative representative has gotten worse since he returned to D.C. In 2014, Pearce released a memoir that featured a passage where the congressman, citing the Bible, wrote that, “The wife is to voluntarily submit, just as the husband is to lovingly lead and sacrifice,” though he insisted that submission didn’t mean inferiority. Pearce’s 2nd District backed Trump 50-40 and he can get away with a lot, but voters in the rest of New Mexico probably won’t be so accommodating.
It also doesn’t help Pearce that Martinez’s once strong numbers have taken a huge hit in recent months. In fact, the New Mexico GOP reportedly is having a tough time finding a viable candidate willing to enter what is shaping up to be a challenging race.