First it was Martin Heinrich who stood accused of ducking a debate earlier this week. On Wednesday, the Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate tried to turn the tables by saying his opponent, Republican Darren White, skipped a forum after confirming his attendance.
Heinrich’s attack is the latest in what is becoming an increasingly nasty battle between the two candidates, who are sparring over allegations each has made against the other at the expense of tackling policy stances or major issues of the day — like the economic doldrums affecting the country.
In addition to the back and forth over who is attending what, the question of whether Heinrich worked as a lobbyist has dominated the debate over the past week. White has raised the issue that Heinrich was paid to push for creation of the Ojito Wilderness several years ago but didn’t register as a state or federal lobbyist. Heinrich says he didn’t have to register, but the GOP alleges that he was required to do so.
The latest back and forth started when Heinrich declined an invitation to a planned event sponsored by KRQE-TV and AARP. White attacked him for ducking a debate, even though the Heinrich campaign said it had agreed to other debates. Heinrich then seized the offensive by accusing White of skipping the Every Child Matters forum at the New Mexico State Fair. Heinrich showed up Tuesday to find that White was not attending.
Heinrich put out a news release stating that White had confirmed his attendance and accusing him of “ducking a debate to avoid discussing the overdue debt to New Mexicans.” But the event’s organizers say White never promised to be there.
Laurel Wyckoff, co-director of Every Child Matters in
That matches with what White’s spokesman, Stephen Schatz, said in an interview. He said the White campaign “told the organizers that we had a conflict, so they were well aware, and we told them that we might stop by.”
The “debt” referred to in the Heinrich release is $5,000 the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department spent to provide security for President Bush when he attended a fundraiser for White’s campaign earlier this year. White is the
It’s common for local governments to help provide security when presidents visit for government or political business, but perhaps less common in White’s situation is that the president’s visit was to raise money for White, who runs the department helping to provide security.
Heinrich hits; White accuses him of politicizing kids
Regardless of the reality that he never promised to be there, the fact remains that White skipped Tuesday’s forum on children’s issues. Heinrich seized on that in his news release.
“It’s a shame Darren White refuses to represent the children of
In response to the Heinrich news release, Schatz was quick to point out that White “opposed the president” in the recent battle over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), choosing to instead support an expansion of the program.
“Darren White actually supports expanding health care for children, seniors and all New Mexicans, and Darren believes it should be affordable and accessible to every American,” Schatz said.
Schatz accused Heinrich of getting his facts wrong — on White’s position on SCHIP and whether he had confirmed attendance at the forum — in an attempt “to politicize children” with a “cheap political stunt.” He also said Heinrich is attempting to “divert attention from his own illegal lobbying effort and his failure to debate Darren White at the KRQE candidate debate.”
Asked why the Heinrich campaign believed that White had confirmed his attendance at Tuesday’s forum, spokeswoman Angela Barranco said she saw two tickets waiting for him at the entrance to the fair and said that, at the start of the forum, the organizers asked publicly if White was in attendance.
“From all appearances, he was expected there,” she said.