Pete Domenici's daughter declares herself a candidate for U.S. Senate

Jan. 16—Nella Louise Domenici, the daughter of longtime former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, has declared herself a candidate for the Senate seat currently held by Martin Heinrich.

Nella Domenici filed a statement of candidacy Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission declaring she'll run as a Republican and use personal funds to support her campaign. Her entrance adds to a GOP primary race that includes Ben Luna and former Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales.

According to a bio on the LANL Foundation website, Domenici has spent much of her career in the business world on the East Coast while also serving on nonprofit boards for organizations that focus on education, health care and arts. She has undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University.

Pete Domenici represented New Mexico in the U.S. Senate from 1973 through 2009 and was a major player in the Republican Party at both the state and national levels for decades. He died in 2017.

This is a developing story and will be updated.