By Leah Carliner, CQ Staff

Freshman House members, even those who are part of the Democratic majority, lack the kind of seniority that is typically needed to have big-league clout.

Yet those who represent partisan swing districts — and Democrat Martin Heinrich of New Mexico’s Albuquerque-based 1st is one of those — are likely to face strong challenges in their re-election campaigns. So they have to have something to show their constituents for their first-term efforts.

With Heinrich, it’s his decision to focus on defense-related issues. The district’s includes Kirtland Air Force Base and defense-related research takes place at the federal government’s Sandia National Laboratories as well as local institutions of higher education.

The 37-year-old congressman received an assignment to the House Armed Services Committee. His GOP predecesor, Heather A. Wilson (June 1998-2009), served on the same panel.

Wilson didn’t wait long to criticize him as poorly suited for the job. “I think he’s not a good fit for this district,” she said, when she left the seat open for a failed Senate bid.

Republicans contend that Heinrich just happened to be in the right place in the right election year, and the Democrats dominated the usually competitive politics of New Mexico in 2008.

Rep. Steve Pearce, who edged out Wilson in the primary for the Senate seat held by retiring Republican Sen. Pete V. Domenici, lost to Democrat Tom Udall , then the state’s other House member. The wins by Heinrich for Wilson’s seat and Harry Teague for Pearce’s 2nd District seat gave the Democrats a monopoly on New Mexico’s five-member congressional delegation. The state, which in 2004 went narrowly for George W. Bush , gave Barack Obama 57 percent in the 2008 presidential election. The 1st District, which favored Democrat John Kerry in 2004 by a modest 3 percentage-point margin, went for Obama (60 percent) over Republican John McCain (39 percent).

Heinrich’s winning numbers make it hard for the GOP to write him off as a fluke: he won in 2008, 56 percent to 44 percent, over Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White.

Heinrich also impressed his new congressional colleagues who chose him to serve as president of the large House Class of 2008 for the first six months of the 111th Congress.

He moved quickly to put his stamp on issues affecting the district, and scored early on when he criticized a proposal to transfer control of Sandia and other national labs from the Energy Department to the Defense Department, contending that such a move would cut jobs in the 1st. He secured $5.8 million for Kirtland in the House-passed Military Construction-VA appropriations bill (HR 3082).

The Republican Party appears headed toward nominating a fresh face for the 2010 campaign, as Jon Barela — the former first vice chairman of the state Republican Party and former president of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce — has emerged as the leading contender.

White, the 2008 Republican opponent to Heinrich, is not seeking a rematch and that he is confident in backing Barela, whom he described as having “excellent credentials.”

Alan Woodruff will be running on the Libertarian ticket. Woodruff, a lawyer, recently made local news when he filed a lawsuit to challenge New Mexico regulations that make it difficult for minority party candidates to get on the ballot.