Senator Tom Udall

Senator Tom Udall is the senior Senator from New Mexico. He received his B.A. at Prescott College, his Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Cambridge, and his J.D. from the University of New Mexico. He first served as the Attorney General of New Mexico from 1991-1999 and subsequently served as a Representative of New Mexico's 3rd congressional district from 1999-2009. He was elected to the Senate in 2008. Born into a political family, his father, Steward Udall, served in the House from 1955-1961 and later served as secretary of the interior in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. His brother, Morris Udall, served as a longtime representative of Arizona and was a leading Democratic presidential candidate in the 1976 election.

Udall is widely considered to be a liberal to moderate Democrat who generally votes with the Democratic party. For the purposes of our simulation, Udall will serve on the Foreign Relations Committee Udall currently serves on the Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Commerce, Indian Affairs, and Rules and Administration Committees. As a Senator, he has championed legislation on the environment, conservation and on Native American affairs -- a particularly resonant issue in New Mexico. In 2018, Udall received the Sierra Club's Edgar Wayburn Award for top public official. He was also instrumental in the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Recently, he introduced legislation with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) disapproving Trump's national emergency declaration for border security, and has repeatedly condemned the Trump administration's positions on immigration policy and border security. Udall has favorable rankings from several liberal advocacy groups and earns poor marks from conservative groups such as the NRA.