Republican Senate candidate Heather Wilson accused primary opponent Steve Pearce today of attempting to rewrite history while defending his vote to OK the mothballing of Cannon Air Force Base.
Wilson has often pointed out Pearce’s vote to support placing Cannon in “enclave” status. He was the only member of the New Mexico delegation to support the base realignment and closure plan that originally would have done that. But Pearce said today in an interview with 770-KKOB AM radio in Albuquerque that, shortly after Cannon appeared on the closure list, “all five of us, including Heather, signed a letter saying, ‘please let us mothball it.’”
“And then she’s saying Steve voted to mothball. That’s misrepresenting your position. If you didn’t want to mothball it, why did you sign the letter?” Pearce asked, according to the Wilson campaign.
You can listen to Pearce’s comments by clicking here.
The Wilson campaign said Pearce’s claim “attempts to rewrite history,” and said the delegation never asked the Pentagon to “please let us mothball” Cannon.
The Wilson campaign provided me with a copy of an Aug. 29, 2005 letter from New Mexico’s five members of Congress and the governor to then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The letter, which the Wilson campaign said is the one about which Pearce was referring, does not ask that Cannon be mothballed. It instead states that, in light of the decision by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission to mothball Cannon, the delegation was anxious to work with the Defense Department to find a new mission for Cannon.
“Steve Pearce has a tendency to say odd things, but this one takes the cake,” Whitney Cheshire, communications director for Wilson’s campaign, said in the release. “The idea that Pete Domenici, Jeff Bingaman and Heather Wilson asked the Pentagon to mothball Cannon just doesn’t hold water.”
In October 2005, Reps. Wilson and Tom Udall voted to reject the BRAC recommendations that included closing Cannon, while Pearce voted to accept them. Senators, including Domenici and Bingaman, never got to vote, but both released statements after the House vote that indicated they would have voted with Wilson and Udall.
Differing explanations
The Wilson news release states that today’s is the fourth different response Pearce has given when discussing his vote to mothball Cannon. The release states that in Clovis on Feb. 5, Pearce explained his vote by saying the United States needed to “save billions of dollars because we had duplicative efforts.” He said in Alamogordo on Feb. 10 that his vote came because “this community asked me to vote for” the base closure plan because Holloman Air Force Base had escaped closure.
In Albuquerque on Feb. 23, the Wilson campaign said, Pearce explained his vote by saying he wanted to “modernize the military” and because White Sands Missile Range and Kirtland Air Force base had survived the base closure process.
I can verify that the explanation the Wilson campaign says Pearce gave in Alamogordo is accurate, because I was there and heard it. I can’t attest to the others.
Wilson said in the news release that Pearce’s vote in support of closing Cannon is an example of why New Mexico needs her leadership.
“I couldn’t have disagreed with him more,” she said. “New Mexicans deserve a senator who will fight for New Mexico’s contribution to our national defense. That’s the kind of commonsense leadership I will provide.”
I’ve requested a response from the Pearce campaign. If I get one, you’ll see it here.
Republican Senate candidate Heather Wilson accused primary opponent Steve Pearce today of attempting to rewrite history while defending his vote to OK the mothballing of Cannon Air Force Base. 
You can listen to Pearce’s comments by clicking here.