Former New Mexico Senators Print Share
| New Mexico has a history of dedicated representation in the United States Senate. This page is an overview of the Senators who have served the state. Dates in parenthesis indicate the Senator's dates of service. |
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1912 Thomas B. Catron Born in Lexington, Lafayette County, Missouri, October 6, 1840. After graduating from the University of Missouri, he served four years in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He moved to New Mexico in 1866, studied law, and after being admitted to the bar in 1867, set up a practice in Las Cruces. When New Mexico became a state in 1912, Catron was elected one of the state's first two Senators. He served until 1917, then retired to Santa Fe, where he died on May 15, 1921. Catron County in southwestern New Mexico is named for him. More... |
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1912 Albert B. Fall Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, November 26, 1861, Albert Fall was admitted to the bar in 1891 and started a practice in Las Cruces. Between 1891 and 1912, he alternately served in the Territorial House of Representatives, was appointed judge of the third judicial district, was territorial Attorney General, and later served as Captain of Company H in the First Territorial Infantry during the Spanish-American War. When New Mexico became a state in 1912, he was one of the first two Senators. He served until 1921 and was later appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Warren Harding. He died in El Paso on November 30, 1944. More... |
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1917 Andrieus A. Jones Andrieus Jones was born near Union City, Tennessee, May 16, 1862. After teaching school in Tennessee, he moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he was principal of the public schools from 1885-1887. He studied law while teaching school and was admitted to the bar in 1888. He served as mayor of Las Vegas from 1893 to 1894. In 1916, he was elected to the Senate and served from 1917 until his death on December 20, 1927. More... |
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1921 Holm O. Bursum Holm Bursum was born at Fort Dodge, Iowa, on February 10, 1867. He moved to New Mexico in 1881 and was elected to the Senate in 1921 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Albert Fall. He served until March 3, 1925 and worked in the newspaper business in Washington, D.C. for a time after. Later, he returned to Socorro to continue his business interests. He died on August 7, 1953. More... |
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1925 Sam G. Bratton Sam Bratton was born in Kosse, Texas, on August 19, 1888. He was admitted to the bar in 1909 and moved to Clovis in 1915, where he continued the practice of law. He was elected to the Senate in 1924 and served from March 4, 1925 until his resignation, effective June 24, 1933. He died in Albuquerque on September 22, 1963. More... |
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1927 Bronson M. Cutting Bronson Cutting was born June 23, 1888, in Oakdale, Long Island, New York. He graduated from Harvard in 1910 and moved to Santa Fe to restore his health. He became a newspaper publisher and published the Santa Fe New Mexican and El Nuevo Mexicano. During the First World War, he was commissioned Captain. After the death of Senator Andrieus Jones, he was appointed to fill the vacancy and served until December 6, 1928. He was not a candidate for election to the vacancy. More... |
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1928 Octaviano A. Larrazolo Octaviano Larrazolo was born in Allende, state of Chihuahua, Mexico, December 7, 1859. He moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1870 as a protege of the bishop of Arizona. He attended St. Michael's College in Santa Fe in 1875 and 1876. He was admitted to the bar in 1888 and moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1895 to continue his practice. He was elected governor of New Mexico in 1918 and after serving in the New Mexico House of Representatives in 1927 and 1928, he was elected to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Andrius A. Jones. He served until March 3, 1929, and died in Albuquerque on April 7, 1930. More... |
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1929 Bronson M. Cutting Bronson Cutting returned to the Senate in 1929. He was reelected in 1934 and served until his death in an airplane crash near Atlanta, MO, on May 6, 1935. More... |
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1933 Carl A. Hatch Carl Hatch was born in Kirwin, Kansas, on November 27, 1889. He was admitted to the bar in 1912 and moved his practice from Oklahoma to Clovis in 1916. He was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 6, 1934 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sam Bratton. He served until 1949. Carl Hatch is best known as the author of the "Hatch Act" of 1939 and 1940, preventing federal employees from engaging in political activity. He died in Albuquerque on September 15, 1963. More... |
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1935 Dennis Chavez Dennis Chavez was born in Los Chavez on April 8, 1888. He traveled to Washington in 1917 with Senator Andrius Jones and served as Clerk in the Office of the Secretary of the Senate from 1917 to 1920. He graduated from Georgetown University, was admitted to the bar in 1920, and set up practice in Albuquerque. He was elected to the Senate to fill the vacancy left by the death of Bronson Cutting. He served until his death in Washington, D.C., November 18, 1962. More... |
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1935 Edwin L. Mechem Edwin Mechem was born in Alamogordo on July 2, 1912. After graduating from NMSU, he was admitted to the bar in 1939 and practiced in Las Cruces and Albuquerque. He was an agent for the FBI and later governor of New Mexico. He was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dennis Chavez and served until November 3, 1964. More... |
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1949 Clinton P. Anderson Clinton P. Anderson was born in Centerville, South Dakota, on October 23, 1895. He moved to Albuquerque in 1917 and became a reporter and editor from 1918-1922. He later served as State Treasurer. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948 and served until January 3, 1973. He died in Albuquerque on November 11, 1975. More... |
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1964 Joseph M. Montoya Joseph Montoya was born in Pena Blanca and later graduated from Georgetown Law School in 1938. He was admitted to the bar the next year and practiced law in Santa Fe. He was elected to the United States Senate to complete the term of Dennis Chavez. He served until January 3, 1977. He died in Washington, D.C. on June 5, 1978. More... |
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1973 Pete V. Domenici Pete Domenici was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Italian immigrants. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1954, graduated Denver University Law School in 1958, and was admitted to the New Mexico bar in the same year, where he practiced in Albuquerque. Served in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009, and was chair of both the Committee on the Budget and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee during his Senate tenure. |
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1977 Harrison H. Schmitt Harrison Schmitt was born in Santa Rita on July 3, 1935. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology and studied under a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Oslo in Norway. He received a doctorate in geology from Harvard in 1964 and worked as a geologist for the Department of Interior. From 1965 to 1975, he worked for NASA as an astronaut and became the first scientist-astronaut to land on the moon. He was elected to the Senate in 1976 and served until January 3, 1983. More... |
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Biographical information provided by the U.S. Senate Historical Office, Washington, D.C. Photos of Senators Bratton, Bursum, Catron, Chavez, Cutting, Fall, Jones, Larrazolo, and Mechem were provided by the New Mexico State Records Center, Santa Fe. Photos of Senators Anderson, Hatch, Montoya, and Schmitt were provided by the U.S. Senate Historical Office, Washington, D.C. |
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