The Republican National Committee is confident that the GOP can successfully defend three seats in Congress from New Mexico this year without incumbents and that John McCain can win the state’s five electoral votes in the presidential race.
That was the message delivered today by Mike Duncan, the RNC chairman, in an exclusive interview.
“I think we’re very well lined up this fall,” Duncan said, speaking by phone from the 2008 state chairmen’s meeting being held this week in Northern New Mexico. “We have to work for it. Obviously, New Mexico is competitive, but we’ve got the candidates and we’ve got the issues.”
This is the first time Republican state party chairs from around the nation have come to New Mexico for the annual meeting. Duncan said that is “no accident.”
“New Mexico is extremely important for us. We’ve got good candidates up and down the ballot,” he said.
Republicans currently hold two of three of New Mexico’s seats in the U.S. House and one of two seats in the Senate, but U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s coming retirement has led to the GOP having to defend all of those seats this year without incumbents. Duncan said that, on top of New Mexico’s status as a swing state in the presidential election, makes the state a top target for the GOP.
Duncan said McCain’s strengths – which he listed as a commitment to lower taxes, less government and increased personal responsibility and a knowledge of land- and water-use issues – will play well in Western states including New Mexico.
“It’s no accident that Sen. McCain ran his first ad here,” Duncan said, referring to the television ad McCain began airing statewide on Friday.
It was the first general-election ad McCain has run in any state.
Praise for Pearce, Wilson, White
Duncan had nothing but praise for Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson, New Mexico’s two Republican U.S. representatives who are both seeking Domenici’s Senate seat.
“Obviously we have an embarrassment of riches here. We have two wonderful candidates,” he said. “… Either of them will be able to beat Tom Udall this fall.”
Referring to some of the more heated exchanges that have characterized the Senate primary, Duncan said it’s been a “spirited campaign.”
And he said the RNC is pleased to support Darren White in his bid to replace Wilson in the House. Though Joe Carraro is also running in the Republican primary, RNC rules allow the party to back a candidate when all three RNC members from the state endorse him – as all three have done in this instance for White.
That makes the road ahead very difficult for Carraro. Duncan noted that White received 85 percent of the vote at the March 15 preprimary nominating convention. He said White has a “compelling story” as a law-enforcement officer that will play well with voters in the First Congressional District.
“We’re extremely pleased that Darren White is doing extremely well,” he said.
Duncan said he didn’t want to comment specifically on the other congressional races because the RNC is not officially involved in those primaries like it is in CD1. But he did say that, in general, he’s optimistic about Republicans’ chances in House races in New Mexico despite the fact that they have to defend two of them without incumbents.
“Up and down the ballot we think we’re going to do extremely well,” he said. “I don’t think the Democrats should get overjoyed about this because not only do we have good candidates, but the issues are with us.”
Duncan was elected chairman of the RNC in January 2007. He has worked in Republican politics for 30 years at the local, state and national level and has served on the campaigns of five presidents.
The Republican National Committee is confident that the GOP can successfully defend three seats in Congress from