Tom Udall

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. He attended Prescott College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970. In 1975, he graduated from Downing College, 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. Udall then served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Oliver Seth of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. His subsequent legal career included appointments as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the criminal division and Chief Counsel to the New Mexico 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 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, but narrowly lost to Bernalillo County District Attorney Steven Schiff. From 1990 to 1999 he served as Attorney General of New Mexico.

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. 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 both the centrist New Democrat Coalition and the more liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus. He was a member of the United States House Peak oil Caucus, which he co-founded with Representative Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland.

Committee assignments

Udall sat on the United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations in the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies and the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch He was the Co-Vice Chair of the House Native American Caucus and Co-Chair of the International Conservation Caucus.

Elections

In November 2007, Udall announced he would run for the Senate seat held by retiring six-term incumbent Republican Pete Domenici. 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 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 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, 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.

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.

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. Also during the 113th Congress, Udall introduced a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would allow limits on outside spending in support of political candidates. The Amendment won the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 10-8 vote in July 2014.

In March 2015 Udall sponsored Senate bill 697, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, a bill to amend and reauthorize the Toxic Substances Control Act. The legislation, as amended, was signed into law by President Barack Obama on June 22, 2016. It updates the nation's safety system for thousands of chemicals in products like cleaners, paints, carpets and furniture. 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. It passed by a vote of 403-12 in the House and voice vote in the Senate.

Personal life

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