By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Tuesday, April 3, 2007; A07

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) formally announced he is running for president, sharply criticizing the leading Republican candidates for their positions on immigration.

"The political elite in Washington have chosen to ignore this phenomenon," said Tancredo, a leading congressional voice against illegal immigration. "You look and you see no one is going to make this the primary issue of their campaign."

Announcing on conservative talk radio on a day when other GOP candidates said they had raised tens of millions for the campaigns, Tancredo appeared unfazed.

"We have something they don't have -- a group of people out there who are there because of an issue," Tancredo said. His campaign announced that it had raised about $1.3 million in the first three months of the year.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a 2008 Democratic presidential hopeful, announced that he will return up to $35,000 in contributions to his 2002 and 2006 gubernatorial campaigns after the Associated Press disclosed that the funds came from key figures in a public corruption scandal in the state.

"We're totaling it up, and any money from any of these individuals, the governor will donate to charities," Amanda Cooper, Richardson's deputy campaign manager, told the AP.

Four people, including the former New Mexico Senate president, were charged last week with trying to bilk the government out of $4.2 million in a courthouse construction project.

One of the four, engineering subcontractor Raul Parra, donated $5,500 to Richardson in 2002 and 2006, and a company in which Parra is a partner contributed $15,000, the AP reported. Prosecutors indicted Parra on charges of conspiracy, money laundering and mail fraud.

Richardson's campaign also took in $9,500 from Marc Schiff, the project's architect, and $5,000 from the company of subcontractor Manuel Guara, the AP reported. Both men have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud.

In unrelated Richardson news, the governor signed a law yesterday permitting doctors to prescribe marijuana to help gravely ill patients alleviate pain and nausea.

Rep. Martin T. Meehan (D-Mass.) will submit his resignation May 9 and officially leave office July 1, setting up September primaries and an early October election to replace him.

After 14 years in Congress, Meehan is set to become chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

Among those who plan to run to replace Meehan are Niki Tsongas, the widow of former senator Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.); Lowell City Council member Eileen Donoghue (D); Democratic activist David O'Brien; and the Republican mayor of Lawrence, Michael Sullivan. The winner of the Democratic primary will be heavily favored to win the general election.

Meehan told the Associated Press that he would not endorse anyone in the race. "My role as chancellor is such that I don't think I should be endorsing anyone," he said.

A contested congressional race is something of a novelty in Massachusetts, where the all-Democratic delegation rarely faces a challenge or loses a member.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) and 21 other New Jersey elected officials endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) for president.

"She is someone who I know as a leader," said Corzine, who served New Jersey as a senator for six years and previously was the chief executive and chairman of Goldman Sachs. In his statement, Corzine cited Clinton's work on behalf of children and health care as the major reason for his endorsement.

The governor was joined by Democratic Reps. Robert E. Andrews and Frank Pallone Jr., former governors Brendan Byrne and Jim Florio, state Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, and the state Democratic Party chairman, Joe Cryan.

Clinton and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani hold commanding leads among Florida voters in their respective parties, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

Giuliani led the Republican field with 35 percent support, trailed by Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) at 15 percent. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich drew 11 percent and former U.S. senator and actor Fred Thompson had 6 percent, though neither has formally signaled they will run for president.

Clinton captured 36 percent of Democrats' support and was followed by former vice president Al Gore, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and former senator John Edwards (N.C.), all of whom registered in the low to mid-teens.

Florida has not traditionally played a big role in the nominating process, but state lawmakers are considering moving its primaries to Feb. 5 or earlier.

The poll was conducted March 21-27 among 1,061 Florida voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.