Two Republicans confirmed this week they are considering a 2010 campaign for New Mexico governor. Former chair of the state GOP, Allen Weh, announced Tuesday that he was forming an exploratory committee to raise money for the race. State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, meanwhile, told local blogger Heath Haussamen on Wednesday that she was considering a run.

Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson will step down in 2010 due to term limits, but his lieutenant governor, Diane Denish, is already gearing up to succeed him. The Republican side is more fluid.

Weh told reporters Tuesday he would focus his prospective campaign on rooting out corruption, something that has plagued Richardson’s second term as well as the Democratic majority in the state legislature. A former U.S. Marine Corps colonel and staunch conservative, he gained national attention for his role in the Bush administration’s firing of New Mexico’s U.S. attorney. Wed complained at the time that that attorney was not properly pursuing voter fraud investigations.