The bluest of blue states

Prior to yesterday's election, New Mexico was just about evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. While Dems controlled the State House and Senate, and a Dem lived in the Governor's mansion, two of the three U.S. Congressional seats were held by Republicans and the state was represented by one Republican and one Democrat in the U.S. Senate.  As well, the presidential contests in the state are often notoriously close.  In 2004, Bush eked out a victory by about 0.7% while Gore pulled out a win in 2000 by about 0.1% of the vote.

That all changed yesterday. Obama trounced McCain, winning 57% of the vote. All three U.S. House seats were up for grabs and Dems carried all of them -- even the 2nd Congressional District in southern New Mexico, in oil country, which was formerly held by Steve Pearce. Harry Teague will be the first Dem to hold this seat in more than 30 years. Steve Pearce abandoned that House seat when he decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat that opened up when Pete Domenici, R, announced his retirement after a gazillion years in office. But Pearce lost the Senate race in a landslide to Democrat Tom Udall.

New Mexico is blue. Dark blue. It's the only state on the CNN map that's all blue in the President, House and Senate views. All three U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats and the Governorship are held by Dems. And the donkeys still control the State House and Senate. This year marks a major change for what was once considered a battleground state year after year.