New Mexico Rep. Tom Udall is projected to provide the Democrats their latest pick-up in the U.S. Senate in a drive toward a possible filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats.

Udall, who belongs to a famous political family and has served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, beat Republican Rep. Steve Pearce.

Both men battled to succeed Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, who is retiring after serving New Mexico for more than three decades in the Senate.

Over the course of the Senate candidates’ three debates, Udall opened up a commanding 17.6-percentage point lead on his opponent, up from only a 7-point advantage in early September, according to polling averages from RealClearPolitics.

Udall still wears cowboy boots under his business suits, a habit that reflects his upbringing in a ranching family that once drove cattle across territorial New Mexico.

“Conservation is the legacy of the Udall family,” he said when he entered the race with his father watching from across the podium, the Associated Press reported.

The Udalls have been called the Kennedys of the West. Udall is the son of Stewart Udall, who headed the Interior Department under Presidents Johnson and Kennedy, and the nephew of Arizona Rep. Mo Udall, who served in the House for three decades.
And he’s the cousin of Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat who is battling Repubican Bob Schaffer for a Senate seat there.
New Mexico will be represented by two Democratic senators for the first time since 1973.

Born in Tucson, Udall grew up in Arizona and in the Washington, D.C., area. Now 60, he has lived in New Mexico since 1975.

He spent a decade in Congress representing the northern part of the state, and he served as New Mexico’s attorney general from 1991 to 1998.

Throughout the Senate campaign, Pearce tried to link Udall to extreme environmentalists and liberal big spenders, according to the AP.

Udall gained traction toward the end of the campaign by voting twice against a federal bailout package designed to save the troubled economy.

He also proposed an ambitious energy plan that included domestic drilling, nuclear power, alternative energy and conservation to make America energy independent.

Udall also argued that Pearce voted with the Bush administration 91 percent of the time and supported for tax credits for big oil companies.