Dems seeking federal seats tout endorsements

In the midst of other candidates entering or considering entering the federal races, Democrats Martin Chávez, Bill McCamley and Martin Heinrich are announcing new endorsements and reminding people about previously announced backers of their campaigns.

Chávez, facing a likely U.S. Senate primary against Democratic Rep. Tom Udall, announced on Wednesday the endorsements of state Treasurer James Lewis and former Govs. Jerry Apodaca and Toney Anaya.

McCamley, a Second Congressional District candidate who has been running since April but has seen three high-profile Democrats enter the race in the last month, announced today the endorsements of Doña Ana County Commissioner Dolores Saldaña-Caviness, Eddy County Commissioner Tony Hernandez and Carlsbad City Councilmen Manny Anaya and Jeff Diamond.

Heinrich, a First Congressional District candidate who is facing three other Democrats in a primary, announced today the endorsement of the Pueblo of Zia, the first pueblo to endorse any candidate in the race.

Heinrich and McCamley, who were both in the race months before U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici announced his retirement and started the free-for-all that has led to so many candidates seeking federal offices, have both been trying to shore up support. Heinrich recounted some of previous endorsements in today’s news release, including three Albuquerque city councilors and seven state legislators. And McCamley recounted his previous endorsements from three state legislators, one member of the Public Regulation Commission and a union council that represents more than 7,000 New Mexico workers.

Zia Pueblo Gov. Rudy Shije said Heinrich “has proven he is an effective advocate on tribal issues. … We know he’ll be a congressman who understands the unique concerns of the pueblo.”

About McCamley, Caviness said she has “seen how hard” her fellow commissioner works for his constituents, and said he “cares about getting results that matter to help improve the lives of everyone in Doña Ana County.” Hernandez said he believes McCamley will be a “great representative,” and Diamond said McCamley has “exactly the kind of energy and drive that we need to bring real change to Washington.”

Lewis said Chávez is “the right candidate to get America out of the Iraq war, and he won’t be afraid to reverse the damaging Bush policies that continue to hurt our country.” Apodaca said Chávez “has demonstrated his strong leadership and administrative skills as mayor of Albuquerque. … I am confident Chávez will translate these same leadership qualities to the U.S. Senate.” And Anaya called him “a native son who understands the issues that are unique to our state.”

New poll used to promote Udall candidacy

Meanwhile, a new poll commissioned by the progressive national Democratic Web site Daily Kos confirms an earlier poll that found Udall stronger than Chávez against potential Republican opponents Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson.

The poll found Wilson beating Chávez by three points and Pearce beating him by one point. Meanwhile, it found Udall beating both Pearce and Wilson by 17 points.

The poll of 600 likely voters was conducted by Research 2000 between Nov. 5 and 7 and has a margin of error of 4 percent.

A poll conducted in October by SurveyUSA found Chávez losing to Pearce by 21 points and to Wilson by 4 points. It had Udall beating both by 18 points. A second SurveyUSA poll released this week had Chávez beating Pearce by five points and beating Wilson by four points. It didn’t consider the probable Udall candidacy, because it was conducted before Udall announced he was reconsidering running for Senate.

Though Chávez’s poll numbers aren’t consistent in any of the three surveys, the Daily Kos poll is the second to indicate that Udall is, at this point, stronger than Chávez against the two GOP candidates. And both polls had Udall in essentially the same position – up 17 or 18 points on both.

“Run, Udall, run!” wrote Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, who runs Daily Kos.

McCamley gets some attention

McCamley is gaining some attention by utilizing YouTube for his campaign. This week he posted video of his Saturday speech at the Democratic Party’s state central committee meeting and his first video diary from the campaign trail.

McCamley was well-received at the party meeting. He sought to set himself apart from the other candidates in the race by saying, “I’m not just running for Congress. I’ve been running for Congress since April 7 of this year.”

He also took a shot at Pearce.

“Steve Pearce decided he was scared of me, he decided he was going to run for Senate, thought it would be an easier race,” McCamley said.

McCamley’s speech and the videos impressed two Albuquerque bloggers whose sites are well-read by New Mexico Democrats. Barbara Wold, who runs Democracy for New Mexico, wrote that McCamley’s “rousing speech” was “one of the highlights” of the Saturday meeting.

“It was clear that McCamley’s message – and all the high energy he’s putting into this race – come from the heart, from real concern about what’s going on in our nation, from a dedication to making genuine change happen by putting it all on the line up close and personal,” she wrote. “… Many candidates like to talk about ‘grassroot campaigning’ but this guy really walks the walk (and drives the drive).”

She was referring to McCamley’s statement that he has driven more than 30,000 miles and visited every county in the Second Congressional District since entering the race.

And the blogger behind New Mexico FBIHOP wrote that McCamley, on Saturday, “was funny, personable and stood up for his convictions.”

“I have to say… these two videos have really opened my eyes,” the blogger wrote. “McCamley is a great public speaker and works the crowd well.”

Here is the video of his speech: