Udall has reportedly decided to run in New Mexico

Heath Haussamen reports today that Rep. Tom Udall has decided to jump in the New Mexico Senate race and has started to call Democratic officials in the state to inform them of his decision. If confirmed, this would be a major coup for both the DSCC that relentlessly pressured Udall to run even after he ruled it out at the beginning of October, and for the netroots that organized a very successful Draft Udall movement. Previous reports had already indicated that Udall was moving to hire staff and putting the pieces of a run together -- so this latest report sounds very believable.

Udall appears to be the strongest candidate for the seat, as two polls taken over the past few weeks show him running well ahead of his Republican opponents by double-digits, while Mayor Chavez, the other Democrat in the race, at best ties them. Udall would first have to defeat Chavez in the primary, and Chavez has already threatened to run a nasty campaign against Udall, making the case last week that Udall runs "too far to the left." Democrats are now expected to pressure Chavez to drop out of the race, and perhaps get in the House seat left vacant by Heather Wilson.

Another important story is that Udall's entry in the race would mean that all three of the state's House representatives are leaving their seats open and trying to get to the Senate. Of the three big names of NM politics, only one will have a job in January 2009.

Meanwhile, we still do not know what is going on with Senator Cochran in Mississippi. He had quashed retirement rumors early in the year, but they suddenly reemerged two weeks ago. He then promised to announce a final decision after last week's election, but the local media is now reporting that Cochran has still not taken a decision and will only do so "in a few weeks." What Cochran's postponing means is unclear. Either he has actually not made up his mind, or he is trying to delay his retirement to allow the GOP to prepare for it and to allow him to warn a heir (Pickering?), but Democrats have strong candidates waiting if Cochran gets out and are Mississippi would immediately become one of the hottest races in 2008.