A ‘true blue’ New Mexico? It’s a real possibility

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When Sen. Pete Domenici announced his retirement a year ago and triggered a domino effect that has made New Mexico one of the most hotly contested states in the 2008 election, who would have thought that Democrats might win the state’s five electoral votes in the presidential race, Domenici’s Senate seat and all three open seats in the U.S. House? Not me. I said as much on my blog and during radio and newspaper interviews. Republicans appeared poised to compete vigorously in all federal races in New Mexico, and I and many others assumed they’d be able to win at least some of the races. After all, New Mexico’s congressional delegation currently has a 3-2 Republican majority. Continue Reading

Teague/Tinsley forum to be televised nationally

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Welcome to the big time, Harry Teague and Ed Tinsley. Seizing on the fact that New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District race is hot, C-SPAN plans to televise Thursday’s forum between the candidates nationwide and live. The announcement, made today by forum host New Mexico First, comes several days after national pundits began realizing that the 2nd District race is a close one. The hour-long forum begins at 7 p.m. and will be held in the KRWG-TV studio on the New Mexico State University campus in Las Cruces. In addition to being aired on C-SPAN, the forum will be broadcast by KRWG and public television stations in Albuquerque and Roswell. Continue Reading

YouTube’s Pearce/Udall forum is now online

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YouTube’s version of a candidate forum between U.S. Senate hopefuls Steve Pearce and Tom Udall is online and ready for you to watch. YouTube has been highlighting some of the hottest Senate races in the nation with online candidate forums. Each candidate was asked to submit video responses to five questions that were submitted from YouTube users. You can watch the Udall/Pearce forum by clicking here. It was posted by YouTube this morning. The most interesting tidbits I found came in listening to each candidate answer a question about his opponent’s best traits. Continue Reading

Pearce unveils TV ad explaining opposition to bailout

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce is out with a new television ad touting his vote last week against the financial bailout bill. Here’s the 30-second spot: “Big banks gave out bad loans and made millions. Wall Street billionaires played fast and loose with your money, took huge salaries and even bigger bonuses. Giant corporations sold mortgages to unsuspecting people who could not afford them and did not need them,” Pearce says in the ad. “Like you, I believe in free markets and free enterprise. Continue Reading

CD2 candidates tout NRA ratings, endorsements

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After a couple of weeks of back-and-forth about who’s better on the issue of guns, the 2nd Congressional District candidates have both been given “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association and are both touting gun-related endorsements. The Second Amendment recently became a focus of the race when Republican candidate Ed Tinsley began airing a television ad attacking Democratic opponent Harry Teague for controversial remarks a newspaper quoted him as making eight years ago. Teague was quoted by the Albuquerque Journal in 2000 as saying he is “not a gun fan” though he owns seven or eight and it would be “fine with me to turn my guns in and don’t have them.” Teague now says the remarks were facetious — which was not indicated in the article — and that portions of the quotes were left out, including the portion of the statement about it being fine with him to give up his guns as long as “they give me a key to the armory.” Since Tinsley’s ad began airing, the candidates have been sparring about who is better on the Second Amendment. This week, the NRA weighed in on that question when it gave both candidates its highest ranking, then endorsed Tinsley. In a news release announcing the NRA endorsement, the Tinsley campaign provided no statement from the candidate about the group’s backing, but the release did state that Tinsley “has been a consistent supporter of the Second Amendment since before seeking public office, hunting on his Capitan ranch which has been in his family for 50 years.” The release states that Tinsley is one of two federal candidates in New Mexico the NRA endorsed. Continue Reading

Polls show Heinrich leading (barely), Udall way ahead

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This article has been updated. Democrat Martin Heinrich leads Republican Darren White by 2 percentage points in a new poll of the 1st Congressional District race, while another new poll adds to the evidence of a potential blowout in the U.S. Senate race. The Albuquerque Journal poll released today has Heinrich leading 43 percent to 41 percent with 16 percent undecided. The poll, conducted by Research and Polling, Inc. for the Journal, was conducted Sept. 29 to Oct. Continue Reading

Pay attention to the Bernalillo County DA race

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By Dan Foley You may be missing one of the most important races in New Mexico this year just because of the simple fact that it takes so much money to get noticed over the noise of the presidential and congressional campaigns. The race I’m talking about is the one for Bernalillo County district attorney. In the last few days, a lot of important news has come to light that bears directly on this race. The current district attorney, Kari Brandenburg, has taken the unusual step of successfully fighting to have sealed a lawsuit that has been filed against her. If that isn’t enough to raise serious doubts, we’ve also seen articles in the local press about an alarmingly low conviction rate. Continue Reading

Today is the deadline to register to vote

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I can’t imagine there are many people who read this site who aren’t already registered to vote, but I felt that I would be remiss to let pass the deadline to register without mentioning it. So: Today is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 4 general election. If you haven’t already registered, please do so today. Registration applications must be submitted in person before the Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office closes today at 5 p.m. or postmarked by today and received in the office by Friday. Continue Reading

Teague loans his campaign another $500K

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Harry Teague loaned his campaign $500,000 during the third quarter of 2008. Teague’s total self-financing during the quarter matches that of Republican opponent Ed Tinsley, who announced last week that he also contributed $500,000 to his own campaign during the quarter, which was the first of the general-election season. Teague’s announcement came in a news release that included some other details about his third-quarter fundraising. He raised just under $1.1 million from July to September. That included contributions from more than 1,000 new, individual donors who contributed to the $600,000 Teague raised from outside sources. Continue Reading

Pearce explains vote against bailout in radio ad

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce is out with a new radio ad promoting his vote against the financial bailout bill as a stand against forcing “American families to pay for the mistake of greedy bankers on Wall Street.” The Pearce campaign did not release audio of the ad but did provide the transcript in a news release. The ad begins with Pearce saying, “The Washington politicians have done it again.” “They failed to responsibly regulate Wall Street and encouraged irresponsible borrowing. When Wall Street billionaires made bad investments, they came crawling to these same politicians asking for a taxpayer bailout, and that’s wrong,” Pearce says in the ad. “Some of these people made hundreds of millions of dollars a year, yet they are asking hard-working Americans to pay for their mistakes.” “That’s why I said ‘no’ and voted against the bailout. I will not put your money at risk to pay for their mistakes,” Pearce says. Continue Reading

Hear my thoughts on the presidential race

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I spoke with Evan Woodward of KRWG-FM radio in Las Cruces today about the state of the presidential race in New Mexico and the new Albuquerque Journal poll that shows Barack Obama leading John McCain here by 5 percentage points. You can listen to my analysis of the race, as well as that of Journal politics reporter Jeff Jones, by clicking here. Continue Reading

Block has no business being elected to the PRC

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Let me get this straight: Jerome Block Jr., the Democratic candidate for the seat on the Public Regulation Commission being vacated by Ben R. Luján, has been less than honest about his criminal history and education and lied about his abuse of the state’s public financing system and taxpayer dollars, and now he wants voters to believe he’s under attack because the media is out to get him with “not only wrong information, but outright lies?” Outrageous. But, according to The Santa Fe New Mexican, that’s exactly the stunt he’s trying to pull in advertisements designed to combat the negative press he has earned. The facts: Candidate Block said on an Albuquerque Journal questionnaire that he had been charged with but found not guilty of drunken driving when, in fact, the case was never adjudicated and charges were dropped, which is very different. He told The New Mexican that he didn’t recall being charged with disorderly conduct 10 years ago, and that’s why he didn’t disclose it during an interview with the paper in 2007. (He repeated to The New Mexican during that interview the incorrect information about the result of his DWI case.) He also claimed on the Journal questionnaire that he earned an associate’s degree from the “UNM Anderson School of Banking,” which, as fate would have it, doesn’t even exist. Continue Reading

Rawson’s abuse of the pork barrel is a serious issue

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State Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, says there was no conflict of interest or impropriety in his decision in 2003 to use taxpayer money to pave a road that doesn’t serve his constituents but instead improves access to a business he owns. He’s wrong. I’m not sure whether he can’t see that or simply refuses to admit it, but either is concerning. The Albuquerque Journal was the first to report on the fact that the Senate minority whip, who has been in the Legislature since 1987, secured $111,000 in capital outlay funds in 2003 to pave 14th Street, which is located in Las Cruces but outside Rawson’s district. The road provides primary access to a commercial development Rawson’s late father built that Rawson now largely owns. Continue Reading