Long after his Stanford Law School days of going for cheeseburgers and beer at what he called “Zot’s,” Jeff Bingaman became a Democratic senator in New Mexico. Bingaman has been repeatedly re-elected since his first victory in 1982.

He received his Bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and came to Stanford for his law degree.

The senator married a law classmate, Anne Kovacovich, with whom he has one son. He said his greatest accomplishment at Stanford was “probably finding my wife and marrying her.”

Doug Barton, who attended Stanford with Bingaman and currently practices law in San Francisco, recalled how highly Bingaman’s peers thought of him.

“Jeff is an extraordinarily engaging guy,” Barton said. “He’s got a great sense of humor, very dry sense of humor, and he was just a great friend and very widely admired in our class.”

Law classmate and friend Jim Holden, also a lawyer in San Francisco, agreed with Barton’s sentiment.

“He’s always had a self-effacing, thoughtful, calm personality, and being a Senator, he’s still self-effacing, down-to-earth and has a thoughtful personality,” he said. “That’s really wonderful because sometimes, I think power goes to the head of those in Congress and the Senate, but not for him.”

Barton recalled that Bingaman served as a Stern Resident Assistant, at a time when law students could take the job to earn extra money. Bingaman also participated in mock trial activities.

“I was active in the moot court competition at the Law School,” Bingaman said. “We basically practiced appellate arguments on different legal cases that we brought up.”

Barton remembered a classic moment from one mock trial with Bingaman.

“I remember that there was a murder case, and he represented the defense and I represented the prosecution. I remember us arguing before the jury of the Stanford law students. He said ‘surely you jest,’ and that was his characterization of our argument.”

Law school buddies hung out at the Dutch Goose.

“It was a beer establishment,” Barton said. “It was a favorite hangout for Stanford students, and became one for the law students in particular. We could go out and drink beer and shoot some pool. We took some road trips. We’d have long philosophical discussions. It was clear at that time he was quite interested in politics, so we talked about that a lot.”

Holden noted that one such trip went awry.

“I remember driving over to San Gregorio Beach, and the gas fumes almost aborted Sen. Bingaman’s life,” he said. “He was just getting gassed in the back seat. The gas fumes were so bad that Senator Bingaman was turning green in the back seat.”

Holden observed that Bingaman was looking ahead to a political career. “He was interested in politics at that time, and I think he thought he would be a senator. I’m not sure that any of the rest of us thought he would be a senator just because the chances are fairly remote.”

Upon graduation, Bingaman returned to New Mexico to practice law, becoming New Mexico Attorney General in 1978. He said that his choice of career stemmed from a lifelong interest in politics.

“I had always been interested in politics and government,” Bingaman said. “Growing up, I had an uncle who was very involved in politics in New Mexico, not as a candidate, but as an active party member. That sort of piqued my interest as a young person.”

Bingaman currently serves as ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He has worked to devote federal funds to solar energy research and recently introduced several bi-partisan bills to reduce the nation’s dependence on oil and natural gas.

“I’ve tried in the Energy Committee to move us toward more use of clean energy in the country, more development of alternative energy and more emphasis on efficiency in the use of energy,” he said. “Also, I’ve been trying to get the necessary support to begin controlling greenhouse gas emission nationwide.”

Bingaman serves as ranking member of the Subcommittee on International Trade on the Finance Committee. He is also a Senior Member of the Joint Economic Committee, as well as a member of the Subcommittee on Health Care and the Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy, and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

“I’ve also spent a lot of time on healthcare issues through the Finance Committee and through the Health and Education Committee, trying to expand access to healthcare and resist cuts in healthcare funding,” Bingaman said. “And I’ve been quite involved in trying to improve academic standards in our schools.”

Bingaman has been an advocate for funding for Border Patrol agents, surveillance cameras and vehicle barriers. He has worked to devote resources to youth dropout prevention, drug courts and rehabilitation and treatment service. He has condemned secrecy surrounding detained terrorist suspects and supports due process as well as bans on degrading prisoner treatment.

Polls predict Bingaman will easily win re-election again in 2006, but he expressed uncertainty about the success of Democratic candidates in general.

“I don’t think it’s clear if we’ll regain control over the Senate or not,” he said. “I think we’ll pick up seats, but I don’t know if we’ll win a majority.”