Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) will run to succeed retiring Sen. Pete Domenici, according to the Albuquerque Journal, and he will make an e-mail announcement to supporters tomorrow announcing his run.

Pearce joins fellow Rep. Heather Wilson and businessman Spiro Vassilopoulos in the Republican primary. He will likely seek to play his strongly conservative credentials against Wilson, who has a more moderate profile.

GOP leaders were trying to get Pearce to commit to re-election, according to recent reports, wanting to avoid having both of their seats open up in this small state.