Newman cites son’s service in explaining war stance

This is the seventh in an occasional series of articles based on conversations with the Second Congressional District candidates. Articles on each candidate who agrees to an interview will run before the parties’ preprimary nominating conventions on March 15.

Monty Newman believes that America needs to stay in Iraq. So do many other Republican candidates for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce, but Newman’s view is perhaps unique because his son Ryan is an Iraq war veteran.

“He felt strongly that you need enough boots on the ground in order to secure the country,” Newman said of his son’s experience.

Newman said the United States didn’t have enough troops in Iraq when it took control of Baghdad in 2003. Last year’s surge helped remedy that situation, he believes.

“I think that the surge is a way of proving our determination to be successful there,” he said. “I don’t believe we should remove ourselves from Iraq until we are sure that the country is reasonably stable and secure.”

Newman, the Hobbs mayor, acknowledged the controversy surrounding the war, saying it is “difficult for the American people and I understand that,” but he said some fights take time.

“I do think Democracy is a painful and difficult process,” he said.

Newman said he won’t “get into the debate as to whether we should have gone in there in the first place. We’re there.”

The other Republicans in the race are rancher and retired banker Aubrey L. Dunn Jr., former Sierra County GOP chair C. Earl Greer, former state Rep. Terry Marquardt, Las Cruces daycare-center owner Greg Sowards and rancher and restaurant-chain owner Ed Tinsley.

Newman is focusing on several other issues in his campaign, including the economy; energy policy; national defense, security and sovereignty; and the American family.

The economy

Newman said he wants to limit the size of government and cut unnecessary spending. He wants to reform the tax structure by making the Bush tax cuts permanent, eliminating the estate tax opponents often call a “death tax,” reducing corporate taxes to spur economic growth, accelerating depreciation schedules for capital gains for small businesses and eliminating the tax on investments.

“At the end of the day, we are a country built upon free markets and capitalism, and we have to guard that as almost our sacred grail,” Newman said.

Energy

Newman said decreasing the United States’ dependence on foreign oil begins with opening more land to drilling, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and Otero Mesa in Southern New Mexico.

“With the technology we have today, I think it can be environmentally friendly,” Newman said.

He also favors development of alternative fuels including sugarcane and algae. He said solar and wind energy will have a place, but won’t dominate the American power system in the future.

Newman wants to streamline regulations for bringing new power plants and refineries online, and called the current regulations too “burdensome.” He’s also a fan of expanding the use of nuclear power. Newman was involved with the recent efforts to bring a national uranium enrichment facility to Lea County. Local officials are working to secure a second facility.

“I think it’s efficient. I think it’s clean. I think we can deal with the waste,” Newman said of nuclear power.

National defense, security and sovereignty

Newman believes immigration reform begins with securing the nation’s land borders with Mexico and Canada and its ports.

“We’re not going to find sound immigration policy until we find a way to manage and secure our borders. That’s just a fact,” he said.

The next step will be strengthening intelligence and security through appropriating more resources and increasing the number of Border Patrol agents.

Newman said the system for dealing with illegal immigrants must be streamlined based on advice from the Border Patrol agents. He said they know best how to deal with such situations. He opposes amnesty.

Newman also said the nation’s military must be funded and supported at a level that ensures it’s the best in the world.

The American family

Newman said he is pro-life and believes families are “the cornerstone of our civilization” and “the backbone of small businesses.” He said small-business owners “go to work every day looking for a job” so they can support families.

Newman also said families support small businesses. The “collective genius and ingenuity” of small-business owners, when allowed to flourish, means that “nothing can stop this country,” he said.

Controversies

Newman has faced some controversy during his tenure has Hobbs mayor. The city, under his leadership, agreed in 2006 to pay $70,000 to former Police Chief Kenneth Bohn after the American Civil Liberties Union sued on his behalf, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated because he raised concerns about pay inequities in the department and insisted on an investigation of missing items and other problems with the police evidence room.

Newman declined to comment on the lawsuit, except to point to the settlement.

Newman is also criticized by some conservatives because Hobbs has raised taxes twice under his leadership.

Newman said the first – a 1/16 percent increase in the gross-receipts tax – is providing $35 million for a new wastewater treatment plan that’s also being funded by a loan users will repay. Newman said paying for the plant through the tax and by passing the rest of the cost on to users was necessary to avoid taking money away from other city operations.

“I don’t believe in subsidizing the rates with our general-fund money,” Newman said.

The other increase – a 1/8 hike in the gross-receipts tax – is providing $2.75 million to reconstruct Broadway Street in Hobbs and beautify it. Newman said he is “hoping to spur economic development and vitality to the downtown district.”

Both projects, Newman said, are “capital intensive.”

“I’m a strong proponent of infrastructure investment,” he said.

Asked how he will balance keeping taxes low and taking care of the nation’s aging infrastructure if he is elected, Newman said he will make decisions based on “what’s critically important to the country.”

“If our infrastructure falls apart, then I think you’re going to have a huge burden on the economy,” he said.

About the candidate

Newman has a lot of experience in areas related to the economy. He has owned a real-estate business for 31 years. He has served on the Hobbs and Lea County planning boards and spent nine years as an elected board member at New Mexico Junior College. He was elected to the Hobbs City Commission in 2002, and became mayor in 2004.

His term ends in March and he’s not seeking re-election. Newman and his wife Vicki, a second-grade teacher, have been married 33 years. In addition to Ryan, they have another adult son, Reagan. Ryan is a West Point graduate, and Reagan is a graduate of New Mexico State University.

Like other candidates, Newman is working to secure 20 percent of delegates at the March 15 preprimary nominating convention. Though he believes he has more than 20 percent, he said he’s gathering signatures “as a parallel method” to get on the ballot. Assuming the governor signs a bill he has said he will sign, the alternate path will be an option.

“I think that’s good business,” Newman said of his decision to work both methods. “We intend to be on the ballot in the primary. The people that support me know I don’t quit.”

Prior interviews with Second Congressional District candidates:

Bill McCamley, published Feb. 20, 2008

Ed Tinsley, published Feb. 18, 2008

C. Earl Greer, published Feb. 14, 2008

Al Kissling, published Jan. 28, 2008

Aubrey L. Dunn Jr., published Jan. 14, 2008

Harry Teague, published Dec. 20, 2007

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