An analysis of area PRC races

Here’s my analysis of the two Public Regulation Commission races whose districts include parts of Doña Ana County.

PRC District 5

In this race, Democrat Sandy Jones faces Republican Earl Greer. Jones knocked off incumbent E. Shirley Baca in the primary.

Both candidates are from Sierra County, bucking the conventional wisdom that the commissioner from this 11-county district would most likely be from Las Cruces, the population center.

Both have run active campaigns and raised a lot of money. Greer has the name recognition that comes from a previous, failed run for Congress, and Jones is the chair of the New Mexico State Fair Commission. Jones has the advantage of being a Democrat in a district that encompasses the southwestern portion of the state, but Greer is half Hispanic and fluent in Spanish.

Jones carries a gold star for beating Baca in the primary. The problem is that the vote wasn’t necessarily an endorsement of Jones. It was Baca’s hometown of Las Cruces that gave Jones the victory, and many were likely voting against her.

Greer faced two Las Cruces opponents in the primary, so he’ll have more support, at least from Republicans, than he did in the primary election.

Jones has received a lot of support from Gov. Bill Richardson, but both candidates are competent and active and visible around the district. Expect this race to be close.

PRC District 2

In this race, Democrat Stephanie DuBois is trying to unseat Republican incumbent David King. King carries the name recognition of being THAT King, and DuBois has a big hill to climb in this conservative district, which stretches west of Alamogordo into a bit of Doña Ana County.

DuBois, to her credit, is trying out the state’s new experiment in public financing of campaigns, and that has allowed her to keep up financially with King. The question is whether that will make a difference. Most I’ve spoken with don’t think it will.