Two prominent Republican legislators from
Nothing has been off limits as House Minority Whip Dan Foley’s challenger has hit him for a number of public controversies including his 2007 arrest at a basketball game and Sen. Rod Adair’s challenger has labeled him a liberal.
But Cavin’s attempts failed, and the races have degraded into bitter battles.
“If some candidates want BLOOD and MUD so be it. With only 17 days until the primary I can only hope that the stains can be washed out on June 4th,” Cavin wrote on May 17 in an e-mail to
Kintigh has been running this TV ad attacking Foley:
In the ad, he accuses Foley of using his public office to benefit insurance clients by voting to expand gambling at racetrack casinos, and he attacks Foley for the now-infamous military flyover of a
“Rod Adair… Talks Conservative back home, votes Liberal in
McMinn has also run this TV ad attacking Adair on the same issues:
Tough fights
Both incumbents said in interviews that they are hopeful voters will see their true records as conservatives who have served their constituents well and re-elect them. But Foley acknowledged that he’s in a serious fight.
“Clearly it’s a tough race. But it’s always tough when people go negative,” Foley said.
Adair sounded more confident. He said his opponent’s attacks are lies.
“I believe that the folks in Chaves and Lincoln counties, from what I’m hearing from them, see through the deception,” Adair said. “They know me and they know what I stand for.”
Kintigh has not responded to requests for comment. McMinn would say only that he is “optimistic, and the campaign is going as expected.”
Chairman Cavin wrote in his first e-mail to Republicans on May 11 that he was “putting Rory McMinn and Dennis Kintigh on notice that their negative and destructive campaigns WILL NOT BE TOLERATED by the Republican Party of Chaves County. … You do not have the right to destroy what has taken over 50 years to build, namely our Republican Party in this county.”
Foley is trying to use Cavin’s words to his advantage. In a recent mailer to Republican voters in his district, Foley claimed that Kintigh has been “censured by the GOP chairman.” In that mailer, Foley said Kintigh’s “negative tone must come to an end” and pledged “to conduct a clean, civil campaign” and discuss “policies and not personalities.”
Cavin said in an interview that the situation got even worse after his first e-mail, and that’s why he eventually “released” Adair and Foley from their duty to run positive campaigns – a duty he said was established in a meeting with all candidates in March. Adair said he has “had no choice” but to respond to McMinn’s attacks by going negative.
Some have accused Cavin of intervening because he backs Foley and Adair. Cavin said that was not the intent of his letter. Foley said he didn’t take Cavin’s letter as an endorsement. He said the party infighting “is getting progressively worse,” and Cavin was simply “trying to put a stop to that.”
More on Foley
Roswell businessman Michael McKee recently wrote a letter to Republicans in the district urging them to vote for Foley and not “be misled by a candidate who is willing to do ‘whatever it takes’ to bring down his opponent even if it means destroying other people or his own political party.”
Foley said he has focused on the issues and promoting his own credentials while his opponent spends most of his time attacking instead of talking about issues.
“Like me or not, you know where I stand on an issue,” Foley said, adding that his record is one of “cutting taxes, standing up for parental notification, holding government accountable, cutting deficit spending.”
“What is my opponent for? Nobody knows. He has yet to take a stance on anything,” Foley said.
“Dennis has done a good job of really pointing out how Dan will say one thing and vote another way,” Murphy said. “He also has done a good job of pointing out the numerous ethical lapses, conflicts of interest.”
Jim Manatt, another prominent Republican who is supporting Kintigh and McMinn, said Foley “is what you get when you combine impulsive behavior with weak character.
In endorsing Kintigh, the Roswell Daily Record listed the controversies Foley has faced and wrote that “bullies have no place in our state Legislature. It’s time for a change and Kintigh has the intelligence and evenhandedness we need to represent us in
Though he refused in an interview to talk about the endorsement of his opponent, Foley has complained to the Albuquerque Journal that the recent arrest of the Daily Record’s publisher wasn’t given the same prominent treatment in the Roswell newspaper that his arrest was given. He has repeatedly accused the newspaper of having a personal vendetta against him.
More on Adair
In an interview, Adair also cited his record, saying he is a leader in combating domestic violence and tops in securing capital-outlay funding, and defended his conservative credentials. Critics say Adair is a vindictive spinster, and Murphy accused Adair of hypocrisy, saying his voting record doesn’t match his words – an accusation McMinn has leveled in calling Adair a liberal.
But Adair isn’t the only candidate in the race who’s been called a liberal. Fifteen members of the Timberon Water and Sanitation District recently wrote a letter to Republicans in Adair’s Senate district defending the senator and accusing McMinn of working with well-known Roswell Democrat Virgil Beagles to defeat Adair. They wrote that a vote for McMinn would put Beagles – who has a history of getting involved in high-profile legal battles – in control of the Senate seat, along with trial lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union.
The Daily Record endorsed McMinn, calling Adair a man who, after “one wrong word… goes after any and all who dare criticize him.”
“It’s time District 33 was represented by someone who works to benefit the district and state without all the political baggage inherent in relentlessly targeting opponents rather than working to reach common ground,” the newspaper’s editorial states.
Adair said the endorsement was based “on pure vitriol.” He said he recently quit talking with the newspaper and refused to appear for an interview with the editorial board because of the newspaper’s bias against him.
The
Primary races in
“Really, the vast majority of Republicans are very, very dissatisfied with where Foley and Adair have taken this party,” Murphy said. “People vote with their feet, and they’re walking away from it.”
Murphy said discouraged Republicans are excited about the potential for change, and that’s why he believes the challengers will win. Foley said he believes the election results will prove that voters in his district support him.
Cavin said the infighting has made the primary season difficult. He said he’s ready for it to be over and, as a schoolteacher, he would have traded the last day of school – which was last Friday – for the day after the primary “in a heartbeat.”
Update, 11:45 a.m.
Several of the members of the Timberon Water and Sanitation District I reported on earlier later signed a second letter retracting their previous letter that attacked McMinn, saying they were misled into signing it. You can learn more in this McMinn ad that has the details.