Foley loses; Adair leading but not declaring victory

House Minority Whip Dan Foley of Roswell has lost his re-election bid and conceded the race to his Republican primary challenger, Dennis Kintigh.

With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Foley had 46 percent of the vote to Kintigh’s 54 percent.

“I lost. I already called Kintigh and congratulated him,” Foley said in an interview. “I wish Dennis well. I’m ready now to do all I can to make sure we retain the seat, and we’ll work to help Republicans with whoever wants my help.”

Meanwhile, in the other hot legislative primary in Roswell, state Sen. Rod Adair has a strong lead but isn’t declaring victory. With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Adair is leading Rory McMinn 55 percent to 45 percent.

Kintigh could not be immediately reached for comment. Foley said he plans to resign his legislative seat in about a week and ask the county commissions in the counties he represents to appoint Kintigh to fill his term so he can start his work.

The Roswell legislative primaries have been bitter battles about which I’ve already written. The campaigns of Kintigh and McMinn were bankrolled largely by Roswell oilman Mark Murphy. Foley said he hopes “the person who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defeating me will do the same to defeat Democrats in November.”

McMinn said in an interview that he isn’t ready to concede defeat. He said the math is against him, but it’s too early to give up.

Adair said he had only one comment, and referred to Psalm 140:11, which says, “May a slanderer not be established in the earth; May evil hunt the violent man speedily.” Asked for clarification, he said he was referring to his race.

Foley, who has served in the Legislature for 10 years, has been a force who helped unite House Republicans and worked with a group of independent Democrats to create a loose coalition that could and often did override the will of the speaker and his Democratic allies. Foley’s defeat will have a huge impact in Santa Fe.

“It has been an honor and I appreciate that honor that my constituents bestowed on me, and I want to thank them for that,” Foley said.

Asked what he’s going to do next, Foley said, “Spend time with my family. Work with my supporters to make sure they’re going to support Dennis and try to go finally make some of that big money I’ve been accused of making in this campaign.”

Kintigh will face a Democratic opponent, Mary Frances Barron, in November.

Meanwhile, a number of veteran lawmakers in Albuquerque were defeated tonight, but the two lawmakers from Doña Ana County who faced primary challenges appear to be winning easily. I’ll have more on that later.