Senator Pete V. Domenici

Pietro Vichi “Pete” Domenici (May 7, 1932 – September 13, 2017) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from January 3, 1973, to January 3, 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served six consecutive terms in the Senate, making him the longest-tenured U.S. Senator in New Mexico’s history and, to date, the last Republican elected to the Senate from the state. Over 36 years in office, Domenici became a central figure in federal budget policy, energy legislation, and water-resource issues, and he chaired several key committees, including the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He was succeeded in the Senate by Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Udall.

Domenici was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Alda (née Vichi) and Cherubino Domenici, both immigrants from Modena, Italy. Raised in a working-class family, he grew up working after school in his father’s grocery business in Albuquerque. He graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Albuquerque in 1950. Domenici then attended the College of St. Joseph on the Rio Grande (later the University of Albuquerque) for two years before transferring to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he earned a degree in education in 1954. While at the University of New Mexico, he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, reflecting his early engagement in campus and community life.

After completing his undergraduate studies, Domenici briefly pursued a career in professional sports, pitching one season for the Albuquerque Dukes, then a Class C minor league baseball team. He subsequently taught mathematics at Garfield Junior High School in Albuquerque, combining his interest in education with public service at the local level. Seeking a legal career, he enrolled at the University of Denver College of Law, where he earned his law degree in 1958. Upon graduation, he returned to Albuquerque to practice law, establishing himself in the local legal community and laying the groundwork for his entry into elective office.

Domenici’s formal political career began in municipal government. In 1966, he successfully ran for a position on the Albuquerque City Commission. Two years later, in 1968, he was elected Commission Chairman, a post equivalent to that of mayor, giving him executive responsibility for the city’s affairs during a period of growth and modernization. Building on his local prominence, he became the Republican nominee for governor of New Mexico in 1970. In that race he was defeated by Democrat and former state House Speaker Bruce King, who won with 148,835 votes (51 percent) to Domenici’s 134,640 (46 percent). Despite the loss, the campaign elevated Domenici’s statewide profile and positioned him for a successful bid for federal office.

In 1972, Domenici ran for the United States Senate and won, becoming the first New Mexico Republican in 38 years to be elected to that body. Benefiting in part from President Richard Nixon’s landslide victory over Democratic Senator George McGovern at the top of the ticket, Domenici received 204,253 votes (54 percent) to 173,815 (46 percent) for Democratic state Representative Jack Daniels, a realtor from Hobbs. He took office on January 3, 1973, and was subsequently re-elected in 1978, 1984, 1990, 1996, and 2002. His 1978 re-election campaign, in which he defeated Democratic nominee Toney Anaya, a former New Mexico Attorney General who later became governor, by a margin of 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent, proved to be the closest contest of his Senate career. Over time, Domenici became a senior figure within the Republican Conference and a key representative of New Mexico’s interests in Washington.

During his Senate tenure, Domenici developed a reputation as a skilled legislator and a leading voice on fiscal and energy policy. One of the first major issues he championed was the imposition of waterway usage fees on commercial barge traffic, despite New Mexico’s lack of commercially navigable waterways but its significant railroad industry. He argued that the Army Corps of Engineers built and maintained expensive dams and waterway infrastructure that the barge industry used without direct charge. Beginning in 1977, he led a two-year effort to enact a waterway usage fee. After intense lobbying on both sides, Congress passed the fee along with authorization for the rebuilding of Lock and Dam 26 at Alton, Illinois, and the legislation was signed into law in 1978. Reporters and colleagues attributed the measure’s passage in no small part to Domenici’s legislative skill. The issue resonated in his home state, where railroads—competitors of barge traffic—had long sought to end what they viewed as a “free ride” for the barge industry; railroads contributed significantly to his campaign, while the barge industry supported his opponent.

Domenici rose to prominent leadership roles on several Senate committees. He served as chairman and later ranking minority member of the Senate Budget Committee, where he played a central role in shaping federal budget resolutions and long-term fiscal policy. He also chaired the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and, at the time of his retirement, was the ranking member of both that committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. In addition, he served on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, including the Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Defense; Energy and Water Development (as ranking member); Homeland Security; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies. He was a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, serving on its Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery, Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security. He also served on the Committee on Indian Affairs. Throughout his service, he advocated for nuclear power and related causes, becoming one of the Senate’s most vocal proponents of nuclear energy.

A significant part of Domenici’s legislative legacy involved mental health policy and civil rights. He was a leading advocate for the mentally ill and was instrumental in advancing the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which sought to require more equitable insurance coverage for mental health treatment. On broader social issues, he voted in favor of the legislation establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday and supported the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, including voting to override President Ronald Reagan’s veto of that measure. In judicial matters, he backed the nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court. In 1998, during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, Domenici voted to convict on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Explaining his vote, he asked what standard of conduct should be insisted upon for the President and warned of the “corrupting and cynical signal” he believed would be sent if the Senate failed to enforce high standards for the nation’s chief executive.

Domenici’s long career was not without controversy. He received sustained criticism from environmental organizations for his voting record and policy positions. The League of Conservation Voters assigned him consistently low ratings and in 2003 stated that during the preceding decade his record had become “even more strikingly anti-environmental,” citing, among other votes, his 1995 support for allowing mining companies to patent and purchase public lands at low cost without stringent environmental standards. In 2006, the organization Republicans for Environmental Protection named him “Worst in the Senate” on environmental issues, assigning him a score of zero and issuing “environmental harm demerits” for his efforts to include speculative revenues from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in federal budget legislation and for sponsoring and securing passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (S. 3711), which critics argued would perpetuate U.S. oil dependence, set a precedent for drilling in sensitive marine waters, and direct a disproportionate share of federal royalty revenues to four coastal states. At the same time, Domenici was an avid proponent of nuclear power, authoring “A Brighter Tomorrow: Fulfilling the Promise of Nuclear Energy” (2004) and editing “Advanced Nuclear Technologies — Hearing Before the Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate” (1999), reflecting his belief that nuclear energy was essential to the nation’s long-term energy strategy.

Domenici also faced ethical and personal scrutiny. Prior to the 2006 midterm elections, he telephoned David Iglesias, then United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, to inquire about the status of a federal corruption investigation involving at least one former Democratic state senator. When Iglesias indicated that no indictment would be issued before at least December, Domenici responded, “I’m very sorry to hear that,” and ended the call. Iglesias was dismissed a little over a month later by the Bush Administration. In March 2007, Domenici acknowledged making the call but denied attempting to influence the investigation and retained attorney K. Lee Blalack II to represent him. According to the Department of Justice, Domenici had contacted the Department and demanded Iglesias’s replacement on four occasions. Internal emails reported by The Washington Post indicated that on the day of Iglesias’s firing, a deputy to White House Counsel Harriet Miers noted that Domenici’s chief of staff was “happy as a clam” about the dismissal, and a subsequent Justice Department email stated that “Domenici is going to send over names tomorrow (not even waiting for Iglesias’s body to cool).” On April 24, 2008, the Senate Ethics Committee admonished Domenici for “inappropriately” contacting Iglesias in advance of an election, finding that the call created an appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate, though it found “no substantial evidence” that he had attempted to influence the investigation. In July 2010, after a two-year inquiry, Department of Justice prosecutors closed their investigation without filing charges, concluding that no prosecutable criminal offense had been committed in connection with Iglesias’s removal; Domenici stated that this confirmed his belief that he had not interfered with any government investigation.

In his personal life, Domenici’s reputation was further complicated by revelations of an extramarital affair. At age 55, he engaged in a relationship with 24-year-old Michelle Laxalt, the daughter of his Senate colleague, Nevada Senator Paul Laxalt. The affair resulted in the birth of a son and remained undisclosed to the public for decades. When it became known, critics contrasted his personal conduct with his stern public stance during the Clinton impeachment proceedings. Nonetheless, Domenici continued to be recognized for his legislative accomplishments and his long service to New Mexico, even as these personal and ethical issues became part of the broader assessment of his career.

On October 4, 2007, citing health concerns—specifically frontotemporal lobar degeneration—Domenici announced that he would not seek re-election in 2008. His retirement ended a 36-year Senate career, and his seat was won by Democrat Tom Udall. After leaving the Senate in January 2009, Domenici remained active in public policy. He became a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where he co-chaired, with former Office of Management and Budget and Congressional Budget Office director Alice Rivlin, a Debt Reduction Task Force. Announced at a joint press conference on January 26, 2010, the task force began work in February 2010 and released a report on November 17, 2010, outlining proposals to address and reduce the national debt and federal budget deficits. In New Mexico, his legacy was further institutionalized through the establishment of the Domenici Institute, created to continue his “legacy of service to the state of New Mexico” by fostering public policy research and civic engagement. Pete V. Domenici died on September 13, 2017, leaving behind a complex record as a powerful budget and energy policymaker, a long-serving representative of New Mexico, and a figure whose career encompassed both significant legislative achievements and notable controversies.