Opinion is mixed on who won GOP Senate debate

Opinion appears to be mixed about who won Tuesday’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate debate between Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson.

A poll on KOAT’s Web site asking who won has 105 votes each for Pearce and Wilson. And an Albuquerque Journal reporter wrote on the paper’s blog that opinion is mixed in the newsroom about who won.

KOAT reaches every county in the state except Doña Ana, and I couldn’t get the station’s video feed on its Web site to work on Tuesday evening, so I wasn’t able to watch the debate and have no opinion on who won. You can watch excerpts from the debate by clicking here.

Wilson and Pearce both claimed victory in news releases.

“Steve Pearce stumbled badly when questioned about previous statements he made in support of taking Social Security away from widows, orphans and other beneficiaries,” the release from Wilson’s campaign stated.

“Steve Pearce must know that his extreme position on Social Security will keep him from winning in November,” Wilson said. “I believe we need to nominate a commonsense conservative who can win in November, and Steve Pearce is not that candidate.”

Pearce, a news release from his campaign claimed, “won a decisive victory” by discussing his “strong, consistent New Mexico values.”

“There is no question where Steve Pearce stands on the issues important to New Mexicans,” said campaign manager John Billingsley in a release. “He is a man of great integrity and is always straightforward when people ask about his position. That really came out tonight.”

You can read more about the debate from the Albuquerque Journal and The Santa Fe New Mexican.