Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley, running for the Democratic nomination in the open, Republican-leaning 2nd district, hit the airwaves late last week with his first television ad of the campaign.

In a 30-second spot crafted by Rep.-elect Travis Childers’ (D-Miss.) media consulting firm Fletcher Rowley Chao and Riddle, McCamley blasted oil and drug companies and the Members of Congress who support them on Capitol Hill. The ad is running on Albuquerque broadcast television, which covers the entire state, and is scheduled today to begin airing on cable television.

“There is a special interest gravy train in Washington, D.C.,” McCamley says in the ad. “Money from big oil and drug companies comes in one door, and taxpayer giveaways go right out the other.”

In a related development, the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club last week offered McCamley its endorsement and said it would dispatch volunteers into the field on his behalf.

“We look forward to a victory party for the environment on election night and to many more years of Bill McCamley fighting for the environment as a U.S. Representative,” said David Farrell, political committee chairman for the club’s Southern New Mexico Group.

McCamley is facing deep-pocketed former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague in the June 3 Democratic primary. The southern New Mexico 2nd district is currently held by Rep. Steve Pearce (R), who is running for Senate. The race to replace Pearce is expected to be competitive in the fall.

Fathers and Sons: Elder Udall Is Backing Luján

Former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall (D) has endorsed state Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Luján in the 3rd district Democratic primary.

Udall, a former Congressman from Arizona who served at Interior under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, is the father of current 3rd district Rep. Tom Udall (D), who is running for Senate. The elder Udall lives in Santa Fe.

“Ben Ray Luján is in touch with the people and in touch with the land, and I am convinced he is the right person to carry on the work of my son,” Udall said in a statement released by the Lujan campaign.

Lujan is the son of state Speaker Ben Lujan (D). He is running in a crowded primary in the Democratic-leaning, northern New Mexico 3rd district, although his main competition appears to be wealthy developer Don Wiviott.

— David M. Drucker