Judge lets Vigil-Giron stay in CD1 race

Martin Heinrich must be smiling right now.

A judge in Santa Fe on Monday rejected a petition to kick Rebecca Vigil-Giron out of the First Congressional District Democratic primary race. The lawsuit alleged she hadn’t collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Apparently, she did collect enough signatures. Should we really have expected anything less from the former secretary of state?

That leaves Heinrich, the frontrunner, facing two female candidates – Vigil-Giron and Michelle Lujan-Grisham – and a fourth Democratic candidate, Robert Pidcock. It was supporters of Lujan-Grisham who challenged Vigil-Giron’s signatures. They knew she needed to be the only woman in the race. That’s why they went after the other woman.

The road ahead is now very difficult for any of the other candidates trying to challenge Heinrich’s frontrunner status in this race. He’s been in the race longer and raised more money than the other candidates. He has more endorsements. He has run a credible, active campaign with energy.

It’s difficult to know the exact status of the race because no polling has been released by any candidate or independent group. You would think Heinrich would have polling that reveals his frontrunner status, and the only kink in the conventional wisdom that he is the frontrunner is the fact that he hasn’t released any polling to prove it. Perhaps that’s coming soon.

Perhaps not. But if polling doesn’t show him with a strong lead, you would think another candidate would release those numbers to tear him down.

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