Weh to Challenge Udall

Former state Republican Party Chairman Allen Weh has hired a campaign manager and will announce Thursday he will seek the GOP nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Tom Udall for his U.S. Senate seat.

Weh will make his announcement via live video stream tomorrow morning, campaign spokeswoman Chelsea Stallings told me.

Las Cruces lawyer David Clements, a libertarian Republican and political newcomer, also is running in the GOP Senate primary.

Weh, a retired military colonel who served two tours in Vietnam and with the British Royal Marines in Malaysia, ran for governor in 2010.

In that five person race, Weh came in second behind Susana Martinez in what turned into a heated race with both candidates running negative ads against each other. Weh's campaign that year largely was self funded.

Weh is founder of  CSI Aviation, an Albuquerque aircraft company.

More in tomorrow's New Mexican.

CORRECTION 11:35 a.m.: The otiginal version of this post identified Stallings as campaign manager. Actually she is the campaign's communications manager. Weh's campaign manager is Diego Espinoza.