WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Seventy notable Nevadans, including a former chief of staff to incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, urged New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to seek the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, according to a statement released Thursday.

Reynaldo Martinez, Reid's former top aide and co-chair of the "Draft Richardson Committee," called the former Energy Secretary and U.N. ambassador "the best choice to lead our party.

"Bill Richardson is the favorite-son of the West, and the West beginning with Nevada can lead the Democrats to the White House in 2008," Martinez said. "We call on Governor Richardson to run for President. Nevada and America are ready for his leadership."

The committee cited Nevada's more prominent role in the upcoming election cycle, calling the state "a lynch-pin in the Democratic Presidential nomination process." Nevada will hold its nominating caucus January 19, 2008 -- five days after Iowa's caucus and three days before New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary.