New Mexico Democratic Sen. Tom Udall announced that he will not seek reelection in 2020, forgoing the chance for a third term.
"The worst thing anyone in public office can do is believe the office belongs to them, rather than to the people they represent," the 70-year-old Udall said in a statement on Monday. "That's why I'm announcing today that I won't be seeking re-election next year."
Udall's announcement makes him the first Democratic senator to retire this cycle — and the first since 2016, when three Democratic senators did not seek reelection. Two Republican senators, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Pat Roberts of Kansas, have already announced they won't seek reelection next year.
Udall — a member of the pioneering Democratic family in western politics that included his father, Stewart Udall, who was a congressman and long-time interior secretary — was first elected in 2008. In his statement, Udall called his final two years in the Senate an "incredible opportunity."
"Without the distraction of another campaign, I can get so much more done to help reverse the damage done to our planet, end the scourge of war, and to stop this president's assault on our democracy and our communities," Udall said.
Democrats will likely be favored to retain control of Udall's seat in November. Republicans last won a Senate seat in New Mexico in 2002, when then-Sen. Pete Domenici won his sixth and final term. Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the state by 8 percentage points in 2016. Last year, Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich won reelection in a landslide and Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham won the gubernatorial race by double digits.
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