December 07, 2007 10:36 PM UTC

Udall Clan: Political Dynasty?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Democrat Mark Udall was part of a feature story in USA Today about his political family.

The baby-boomer generation of the West’s quietly influential Udall family has reached a milestone: Three relatives are running for the U.S. Senate.

When Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., 59, entered the race on Nov. 29, he joined two cousins as candidates. His second cousin, Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., is seeking his third Senate term. Udall’s first cousin, hiking companion and boyhood pal, Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., 57, is seeking his first.

Tom’s and Mark’s fathers, Stewart and Morris “Mo” Udall, were renowned in the rise of the modern conservation movement and key Democratic players in the Kennedy-Johnson years and beyond…

…From the Adamses, Clays and Claibornes to the Kennedys, Gores and Bushes, family political dynasties have existed since the nation’s earliest days.

If the cousins all win next November, though, “It certainly would be an unusual circumstance,” says assistant Senate historian Donald Ritchie, who has tracked congressional family trees.

Polls show both of the Udalls as early favorites for the open, swing-state seats of retiring Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Wayne Allard, R-Colo. Smith, 55, a GOP moderate who broke ranks with the White House on Iraq a year ago, faces a strong Democratic challenge in Oregon, another swing state.