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By Jim Scarantino This is a follow-up to Scarantino’s July 3 column. Drop the rhetoric. Forget the generalities. Lose the political slogans. What does U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce’s bill for Doña Ana County, H.R. 6300, actually propose? Continue Reading
Many Republicans are already beginning to think past 2008 — a year that could be dismal for them — to 2010 and a chance to regain power in Washington by winning greater influence in the next decade’s redistricting process. In New Mexico, there’s another reason Republicans should be thinking about 2010 and redistricting. If they don’t win the gubernatorial race or greater influence in the state House, Democrats will likely grab even greater control of state government through redistricting. According to the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein, focusing on 2010 and redistricting is the GOP’s contingency plan for what many expect will be a further loss of influence in Congress this year. Many believe the party’s best chance at retaking Congress may come by first winning back a majority of governorships in 2010, because redistricting takes place at the state level. Continue Reading
I’m still on the road and still trying to overcome the shock of Jim Kadlecek’s death, so I haven’t yet been able to process it all and write about him, but I promise to share my thoughts later this week. In the meantime, you can get the details on his tragic passing from the Las Cruces Sun-News by clicking here. You can read his most recent column for this site by clicking here and find his column’s archives here.- Heath Haussamen Continue Reading
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall is out with a new television ad telling New Mexicans what he thinks can be done about high gas prices. Here’s the 30-second spot: In the ad, Udall says the first thing that must be done to lower gas prices is to “stop hedge-fund speculators from driving up the price of oil.” Then, he says, the United States must “get oil companies to build new, clean refineries in the U.S. to increase supply, or take away their tax breaks.” “I’m running for the U.S. Senate and I approve this message because record profits for big oil companies, while we pay record prices for gas, is wrong,” Udall says at the end of the ad. “Rising gas prices, and the additional associated costs, are crushing New Mexico citizens,” Udall campaign manager Amanda Cooper said in a news release. “Tom Udall is proposing effective solutions that could help stabilize prices and bring relief to New Mexicans right now.” Udall’s opponent, Republican Steve Pearce, responded to the ad in a news release by saying that Udall “continues to ignore the calls coming from New Mexicans for more energy supply.” “Instead, he pushes policies that will drive the price of gas even higher, damage our economy and cost New Mexico jobs,” Pearce said. “Not surprisingly, this is exactly the agenda of the far-left environmental extremists who oppose any increase in domestic production.” Pearce advocates for increased drilling and increased use of nuclear energy. Continue Reading
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce raised just over $1.2 million during the second quarter of 2008, his campaign announced today in a news release. That’s respectable but far less than the $2.1 million raised by Tom Udall, his Democratic opponent, from April 1 to June 30. Candidates have to file finance reports by midnight, but Udall released his fundraising total a week ago. The Pearce campaign made no comment on its fundraising in the news release, but said it spent just over $1.5 million and had $531,624.17 on-hand on July 1. The Udall campaign has not released information about how much it spent during the quarter or had on hand at its end. Continue Reading
Here are some additional photos I took on Tuesday of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Here he is arriving in Albuquerque: Shaking hands with greeters: Talking with reporters on the bus headed to his fundraiser: Keep in mind that these images, and all on this site, are copyrighted by Haussamen Publications Inc. If you want to purchase them, click here for details. Continue Reading
Though he wasn’t speaking specifically about the wilderness battle that is raging in Doña Ana County, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said in an interview today that it can take years of bipartisan work to get any wilderness proposal through Congress. McCain said he “philosophically, strongly” supports “permanent preservation of pristine areas.” In Arizona he worked with former U.S. Rep. Morris “Mo” Udall, a liberal Democrat, to preserve millions of acres of land. “We had to get consensus. You can’t do it without getting everybody on board. And we had to make compromise,” McCain said, adding that it took years to get environmental organizations, the business community and ranching groups to compromise. Continue Reading
There are two things happening about which I wanted to give you an update. I’m in Albuquerque and am one of five New Mexico reporters who get to interview Republican presidential candidate John McCain later today. Look for an article on the interview later tonight or early tomorrow. Now the bad news: Jim Kadlecek, one of this site’s columnists, has died. I’ll write more on this later, but I wanted to let you know about the passing of a man who devoted his life to public service and made a difference. Continue Reading
By Sen. Dede Feldman Ask any office holder or candidate about some of the most heartbreaking concerns he or she hears about from voters, relatives and constituents and one topic will rise to the top: New Mexico’s alarming rate of mental illness and drug abuse. It seems like almost every family is affected. According to a gap analysis that detailed the lack of services for people with mental and substance-abuse problems six years ago, one in five New Mexicans has a diagnosable mental illness or substance-abuse disorder. The National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that the national rate is one in four. According to military data, there was a 46-percent increase in the number of post traumatic stress disorder cases from 2006 to 2007. Continue Reading
The fundraising arm of Democrats in the U.S. House has reserved nearly $35 million in advertising for 31 congressional races across the nation, including $2.5 million for two House races in New Mexico. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reserved $1.3 million in television advertising time in September and October for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District race, according to information obtained by Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics. It has reserved $1.2 million in advertising time for the 2nd Congressional District race. The DCCC has included 1st District Democratic candidate Martin Heinrich and 2nd District Democratic candidate Harry Teague in its Red to Blue Program, which provides financial and other support for those candidates at the top of the DCCC’s priority list.That signifies that, at least in the eyes of Democrats, these are among the hottest congressional races in the nation. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson expanded today the agenda for a long-anticipated special session of the Legislature and said it will be held just after Democratic and Republican national presidential nominating conventions wrap up in early September. In addition to health-care reform, Richardson told The Associated Press that the agenda for the special session will include “a package of initiatives to help working families with the rising costs for food, gasoline and other household expenses.” That may include tax relief, he told the news service, but specific proposals are still being developed. Richardson had previously said he would call a special session for health-care reform in August or September. He told the news service today that he settled on early September because he didn’t want to interfere with the Democrats’ convention being held Aug. 25-28 in Denver and the Republicans’ convention being held Sept. Continue Reading
Officials from Doña Ana and Sierra counties are asserting their authority to control a board that oversees tax money from their counties set aside for the construction of Spaceport America. Under the proposal, each county will appoint two members to the board that oversees the funneling of gross-receipts-tax money to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News. Both counties have approved a 1/4 percent increase in the gross-receipts tax to help fund the spaceport. The proposal has been approved by Sierra County commissioners and will be voted on by commissioners in Doña Ana County on July 22. The agreement needs only the approval of Doña Ana County to become official. Continue Reading
Republican presidential candidate John McCain is continuing his attempt to gain Hispanic support with a new ad beginning to air today in New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada. Here’s the 60-second spot, which is currently running in English: The ad shows McCain talking about Hispanics in the military during a debate in New Hampshire in June 2007. “When you go to Iraq or Afghanistan today, you’re going to see a whole lot of people who are of Hispanic background. You’re even going to meet some of the few thousand that are still green-card holders who are not even citizens of this country, who love this country so much that they’re willing to risk their lives in its service in order to accelerate their path to citizenship and enjoy the bountiful, blessed nation,” McCain says in the ad. “So let’s from time to time remember that these are God’s children. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson’s Tuesday trip to Las Cruces will include five-minute meetings with members of the public and a fundraiser for 2nd Congressional District Democratic candidate Harry Teague. Richardson’s schedule begins at 2:30 p.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new teen center for the Boys & Girls Club, 330 West Las Cruces Avenue. He will appear on local radio stations before holding office hours from 5-6 p.m. at his Las Cruces office, located at 505 South Main Street, Suite 145. Richardson will grant five-minute meetings on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to a news release from his office. Those seeking time with the governor must have a valid New Mexico driver’s license. Continue Reading
The Census Bureau says the population of Las Cruces reached nearly 90,000 in 2007, but city officials say they crossed that threshold already. The population is actually between 90,000 and 103,000, city officials told the Las Cruces Sun-News. Regardless, the state’s second-largest city grew 4.1 percent from 2006 to 2007, the Census says in a newly released estimate. Doña Ana County reached a population of 198,791 in 2007. Las Cruces wasn’t the fastest growing New Mexico city from 2006 to 2007. Continue Reading