Janice Arnold-Jones (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Days after she failed to secure the votes of 20 percent of delegates at the GOP’s preprimary nominating convention, Republican gubernatorial candidate Janice Arnold-Jones is trying to show that she has momentum by announcing the endorsements of two of her colleagues in the state House.
The endorsements come from Rep. Kathy McCoy, R-Cedar Crest, and Rep. Anna Crook, R-Clovis and the House GOP caucus chair.
“If ever New Mexican Republicans had an opportunity to win the governor’s seat, it’s this year. We have outstanding candidates, all of whom bring specific talents to the table,” McCoy said in a news release from the Arnold-Jones campaign. “But only one has the unique ability to hit the ground running without having to learn the job. That candidate is Janice Arnold-Jones.”
“Considering Representative Arnold-Jones was prohibited from fundraising and had serious limits on her ability to campaign throughout the regular and special sessions of the Legislature, her campaign is in reality only four weeks old,” Crook said. “Her campaign’s progress is remarkable and the momentum is with her.”
Arnold-Jones, herself a state representative from Albuquerque, was prohibited from fundraising during much of the last two months because she’s a lawmaker and the Legislature was in session. The other candidates did not face a similar prohibition.
Arnold-Jones said she was “honored” by the endorsement from Crook and “humbled” by the endorsement from McCoy.
Crook and McCoy are the first Republican state legislators to endorse any GOP gubernatorial candidate other than Susana Martinez, who has thus far picked up the endorsements of 11 state representatives and senators.
‘In it to win it’
At Saturday’s convention, only two GOP gubernatorial candidates won the support of at least 20 percent of delegates. Martinez had 46.65 percent, while Allen Weh had the support of 26.32 percent.
Arnold-Jones finished third with 13.16 percent.
That’s significant because, by law, those who fail to get 20 percent at the convention have to collect twice as many signatures as those who do get 20 percent if they want to appear on the ballot. And no candidate who has failed the organizational test of getting 20 percent at the convention has ever gone on to win the primary.
In announcing following Saturday’s convention that she already had the necessary signatures and was staying in the race, Arnold-Jones said her third-place finish was “a more solid third than I expected” and that she was “delighted.”
“Every place I turn, we’re making progress. People are listening to the message. They just may not have been the delegates,” she said.
In announcing her endorsement of Arnold-Jones, Crook said the gubernatorial candidate “has assured me she is in it to win it, and I am proud to stand with her.”
“As an entrepreneur, former business owner and a legislator, Rep. Arnold-Jones knows how to get the job done,” Crook said. “She is clearly the only candidate in this race that can defeat Diane Denish.”