Tom Udall

Tom Udall
Official portrait, 2021
United States Ambassador to Samoa
Assumed office
February 17, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byScott Brown
United States Ambassador to New Zealand
Assumed office
December 2, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byScott Brown
United States Senator
from New Mexico
In office
January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2021
Preceded byPete Domenici
Succeeded byBen Ray Luján
Vice Chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
In office
January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2021
Preceded byJon Tester
Succeeded byLisa Murkowski
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New Mexico's 3rd district
In office
January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2009
Preceded byBill Redmond
Succeeded byBen Ray Luján
28th Attorney General of New Mexico
In office
January 1, 1991 – January 1, 1999
GovernorBruce King
Gary Johnson
Preceded byHal Stratton
Succeeded byPatricia A. Madrid
Personal details
Born
Thomas Stewart Udall

(1948-05-18) May 18, 1948 (age 76)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJill Cooper
Children1
RelativesSee Udall family
EducationPrescott College (BA)
Downing College, Cambridge (LLB)
University of New Mexico (JD)
Signature

Thomas Stewart Udall (/ˈjdɔːl/ YOO-dawl; born May 18, 1948) is an American diplomat, lawyer, and politician serving as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from New Mexico from 2009 to 2021. Udall also served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 3rd congressional district from 1999 to 2009 and New Mexico Attorney General from 1991 to 1999. Born in Tucson, Arizona to the Udall family, he is the son of former U.S. Representative and Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and the nephew of former U.S. Representative Mo Udall. His cousin is Mark Udall, who concurrently served alongside him in the Senate representing the neighboring state of Colorado.

Udall was first elected in the 2008 Senate race and was re-elected in 2014, and became dean of New Mexico's congressional delegation as its longest serving member. He did not seek a third term in 2020, making him the only Democratic senator to retire that cycle. On July 16, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Udall to serve as United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.[1]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference WHBio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).