1st District
Incumbent: Heather Wilson (R)
4th term (54 percent)
Outlook: Tossup
After months of begging, Democrats just recently succeeded in convincing their top recruit, state Attorney General Patricia Madrid, to enter the race. Madrid, a former judge, is a tough, steely campaigner with two statewide victories under her belt. And a woman has never run against Wilson, whose victories confound Democrats year after year. That could mean extra money for the Democrats from key fundraising groups such as EMILY’s List. Still, this is no guarantee of victory for the Democrats. Though she’s hardly warm and fuzzy, Wilson, the first female military academy graduate to serve in Congress, seems to connect with her Albuquerque-based district in many ways, even if she is to the right of most of her voters. She is also an incomparable fundraiser: She spent $3.4 million on her re-election last year and was sitting on $979,000 as of Dec. 31, compared to Madrid’s $431,000. Things could finally go the Democrats’ way in this district, which moderate Republicans have held since 1968 — particularly if 2006 turns out to be a Democratic year nationally. But the Democrats and Madrid have plenty of work to do.