In 1982, Udall ran for Congress in the newly created 3rd district, based in the state capital, Santa Fe, and including most of the north of the state. He lost the Democratic primary to Bill Richardson. In 1988, he ran for Congress again, this time in an election for the Albuquerque-based 1st district seat left open by retiring twenty-year incumbent Manuel Lujan Jr., but narrowly lost to Bernalillo County District Attorney Steven Schiff. From 1991 to 1999 he served as Attorney General of New Mexico.[5]
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 Udall defeated Redmond with 53 percent of the vote.[6] He was reelected four more times with no substantive opposition, including an unopposed run in 2002.[citation needed]
In November 2007, Udall announced his run for the Senate seat held by retiring six-term incumbent RepublicanPete Domenici.[9] Potential Democratic rival Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez dropped out, handing Udall the nomination. New Mexico's other two members of the House, 1st and 2nd 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 ran for Senate in New Mexico, his younger first cousin, Congressman Mark Udall, ran for the Senate in Colorado. Their double second cousin, incumbent Gordon Smith of Oregon, also ran for reelection. Both Udalls won but Smith lost.
Udall was one of the first members of Congress to publicly express concern about the possibility of NSA overreach, a year before Edward Snowden's 2013 disclosure of the PRISM program.[12]
On March 25, 2019, Udall announced that he would not run for reelection in 2020.[13]
In December 2014, Udall introduced a resolution condemning the Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66 and calling for the declassification of documents on United States involvement in the genocide.[19][20]
In March 2015, Udall sponsored S. 697, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, a bill to amend and reauthorize the Toxic Substances Control Act.[21] The legislation, as amended, was signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 22, 2016.[22] It updated the nation's safety system for thousands of chemicals in products like cleaners, paints, carpets and furniture.[23][24] The bill initially faced criticism over the balance between federal and state authority to regulate chemicals, but after changes to the legislation, it earned broader support, including from liberal members of the Senate and the President.[25][26] It passed by a vote of 403-12 in the House and voice vote in the Senate.[27]
In 2013, Udall voted for state-by-state reciprocity of concealed carry and for the names of gun owners to be protected and released only in select situations.[32] In 2016, within weeks of the Orlando nightclub shooting, he participated in a sit-in at the House to demand votes on gun control legislation, saying, "We owe it to the LGBT community & all families harmed by gun violence to keep terror suspects fr[om] obtaining guns."[33] In 2017, Udall had a "C−" rating from the National Rifle Association and a "F" rating from the Gun Owners of America for his support of gun control.[34]
Environmental issues
Udall has a lifetime score of 96% from the League of Conservation Voters.[35] In 2018 he received the Sierra Club's top award for public officials, the Edgar Wayburn Award.[36]
In September 2019, Udall was one of eight senators to sign a bipartisan letter to congressional leadership requesting full and lasting funding of the Land and Water Conservation Act to aid national parks and public lands, benefit the $887 billion American outdoor recreation economy, and "ensure much-needed investment in our public lands and continuity for the state, tribal, and non-federal partners who depend on them."[37]
In late 2019, Udall co-sponsored the Green New Deal, a policy introduced in the U.S. Senate that would establish net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.[38]
On July 16, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Udall to serve as United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.[1] On September 22, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[39] On October 19, his nomination was reported favorably out of committee.[40] The Senate confirmed Udall by voice vote on October 26.[41]
^"Thomas Stewart Udall". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
^"Tom Udall". The Hill. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
^"Ten things to know about Senate hopeful Rep. Tom Udall". Albuquerque Tribune. November 29, 2007. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
^"Udall wins Redmond's New Mexico House seat". Associated Press. November 4, 1998. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
^Rep. Tom Udall on resource depletion and climate change (transcript) Archived October 21, 2013, at the Wayback MachineGlobal Public Media, December 9, 2005, Post Carbon Institute
^"Roscoe G. Bartlett". Archived from the original on September 25, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
^Baker, Deborah (November 10, 2007). "New Mexico Rep. Tom Udall to seek Democratic nomination for Senate". Associated Press (SignOnSanDiego.com). Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
^"Key Votes by Tom Udall – page 2". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
^"Key Votes by Tom Udall – page 3". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
^Sargent, Greg (June 6, 2013). "We need more transparency and debate around NSA phone records program". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
^Lesniewski, Niels (March 25, 2019). "Sen. Tom Udall won't seek a third term in 2020". Roll Call. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^"Who Are Contenders for Biden's Cabinet?". The New York Times. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
^"S. 611 – Summary". United States Congress. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
^"Chairwoman Cantwell Holds Hearing on Tribal Resources Legislation". Tulalip News. May 10, 2013. Archived from the original on March 14, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
^"Senate Democrats Begin Efforts to Amend Constitution". Roll Call. June 6, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
^ a bProkop, Andrew (July 10, 2014). "A Senate committee just approved a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United". Vox. Archived from the original on July 11, 2014. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
^"Indonesia/US: Seek Justice for 1965-66 Mass Killings". Human Rights Watch. December 12, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
^Michaels, Samantha (October 1, 2015). "It's Been 50 Years Since the Biggest US-Backed Genocide You've Never Heard Of". Mother Jones. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
^"All Bill Information (Except Text) for S.697 – Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act". Congress.gov. March 10, 2015. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
^"President Obama signs the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2016 – via National Archives.
^"Congress Passes Largest Chemical Safety Legislation In 40 Years". NPR.org. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
^Korte, Gregory. "Obama signs bipartisan chemical safety bill". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
^Eilperin, Juliet; Fears, Darryl (May 19, 2016). "Congress is overhauling an outdated law that affects nearly every product you own". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
^"Congress.gov". Congress.gov. U.S. Congress. June 22, 2016. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
^"Sens. Paul and Udall Introduce Legislation to End War in Afghanistan". paul.senate.gov. March 5, 2019. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^Britschgi, Christian (March 5, 2019). "Sens. Rand Paul, Tom Udall Introduce Bill to End the War in Afghanistan". Reason. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^"About Tom". www.tomudall.senate.gov. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
^"Members". Afterschool Alliance. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
^Weiner, Rachel (April 17, 2013). "How almost all the gun amendments failed". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
^Melton, Tara (June 23, 2016). "New Mexico senators speak out about gun reform". Alamogordo Daily News. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
^Blake, Aaron (December 17, 2012). "Where the Senate stands on guns — in one chart". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
^"Senator Tom Udall". League of Conservation Voters. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^"Sierra Club Announces 2018 Award Winners". sierraclub.org. October 1, 2018. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^"Tester, Daines push for full funding of conservation fund". Havre Daily News. September 19, 2019. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
^"S.Res.59". U.S. Senate. Archived from the original on October 3, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
^"PN918 – Nomination of Tom Udall for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. October 26, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
^Kelly, Laura (October 26, 2021). "Senate confirms four Biden ambassadors after delay". The Hill. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
^Craymer, Lucy (December 2, 2021). "US ambassador Tom Udall excited to be in New Zealand, ready to engage". Stuff. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
^@USAmbNZ (February 17, 2022). "I was honored to present my credentials virtually today to the Samoa Head of State" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^"Credentialing Ceremony - U.S. Ambassador Tom S. Udall". U.S. Embassy in Samoa. February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
^"Canvass of Returns of Primary Election Held on June 3, 2008 – State of New Mexico" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 14, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
^"2008 Election Statistics". Clerk.house.gov. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
^"New Mexico - Election Night Results – June 3rd, 2014". Electionresults.sos.state.nm.us. June 3, 2014. Archived from the original on December 28, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
^"Official Results General Election – November 4, 2014". New Mexico Secretary of State. November 4, 2014. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
^"U.S. Ambassador Thomas Stewart Udall". U.S. Embassy & Consulate in New Zealand, Cook Islands and Niue. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
^Lee Davidson (October 24, 2010). "Senate race: Mike Lee ready to ride Senate roller coaster". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on September 15, 2013.
^Williams, Lindsey (February 16, 2018). "Mitt Romney is running for Senate; here are the Mormons currently serving in Congress". Desert News. Retrieved April 25, 2023.