McCain to hold town-hall meeting in ABQ next week

By |

Republican presidential candidate John McCain will be in Albuquerque on July 15 for a town-hall meeting, according to his campaign Web site. McCain will apparently spend the night of July 14 in New Mexico, because he’s also holding a private fundraiser a week from today at the Albuquerque home of car dealer Ken Zangara. The town-hall meeting will be held at Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town, according to McCain’s Web site. The site doesn’t state whether the event will be open to the public or by invitation only. It also doesn’t state what time the event will begin, but says doors will open at 8:45 a.m. The McCain campaign has released no additional details about the event. Continue Reading

Pro-war group to run TV ads in New Mexico

By |

A political action committee that is supporting Republican congressional candidates will begin airing a television ad in New Mexico and other states next week promoting the “truth” about “progress” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here’s the ad from Vets for Freedom: The ad, according to the a news release from the group, is intended “to inform the American public and key lawmakers about the phenomenal success that our troops have achieved as a result of the surge and the importance of ensuring victory in Iraq, Afghanistan and the overall global war on terrorism.” The Washington Post is reporting that the ad will run this month and next, and is the first of several ads the group will run during in the coming months. The initial ad buy is $1.5 million. The overall campaign by the group will continue through Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11. Continue Reading

NY Times: N.M.’s ban hasn’t stopped cockfighting

By |

Thus far, New Mexico’s ban on cockfighting hasn’t stopped the bloody sport, which “continues unabated in hidden venues,” according to a weekend article in The New York Times. A December raid in Chaparral, The Times reported, didn’t yield the results officials expected: 150 law-enforcement officers from four counties descended upon a fight expecting to find 300 cockfighters. Instead, they found fewer than a dozen people, seized 12 roosters and issued four misdemeanor citations. Officials say, according to The Times, that the cockfighters had been tipped off. “It seems they’re always one step ahead of us,” Robyn Gojkovich, the state’s first full-time animal control investigator, told the newspaper. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll say Rawson will win re-election

By |

The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, will hold off a general-election challenge from Democrat Steve Fischmann. Of 482 voters, 314, or 65 percent, said Rawson will win re-election, while 168, or 35 percent, said Fischmann will defeat him. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Setting the record straight: wilderness truths

By |

By Nathan P. Small Jim Scarantino’s recent column — “Pearce’s conservation bill: What’s not to like?” — is the latest in a series of one-sided portrayals of the historic effort to protect the nationally recognized, treasured public lands in Doña Ana County. Given Mr. Scarantino’s prolific previous writings from Albuquerque mocking the wolf recovery program, undermining the efforts to protect the Otero Mesa and continuing assertions that local wilderness advocates are eco-terrorists by proxy, his latest article attempting to hurt local conservation efforts is not surprising, but it does deserve a swift repudiation and the truth. Scarantino is quick to give himself a pat on the back for being the genesis of the anti-public lands legislation, H.R. 6300, while in the same breath bragging about his former support of wilderness. In this bizarre swing, he is once again attempting to gloss over the truth and confuse the facts regarding wilderness designation in Doña Ana County. We believe it is our obligation to set the record straight. Continue Reading

Ruling might threaten campaign-finance reform

By |

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down a law designed to level the playing field for non-wealthy political candidates could have a dramatic impact on other campaign-finance laws, the Washington Post believes. In striking down the Millionaire’s Amendment, the court could threaten state public-financing systems and restrictions on corporate and union spending, the Post stated in a June 29 editorial. New Mexico is one of five states with no campaign contribution limits for corporations, unions or anyone else, but there’s been a strong push in recent years by Common Cause and other groups to change that. If the Post is right, the high court’s ruling could further hinder their so-far unsuccessful efforts. New Mexico has also created a public financing system in recent years for the Public Regulation Commission, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. Continue Reading

Heinrich is a top fundraiser through ActBlue

By |

Martin Heinrich was one of the top 10 fundraisers through the liberal Web site ActBlue during the second quarter of the year that ended Monday. The Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate raised $147,564.20 from April 1 to June 30 through the Web site, according to an ActBlue blog posting. That ranked him eighth among fundraisers through the site, behind four Democratic U.S. Senate candidates and three Democratic House candidates, but ahead of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who raised $131,367.23 through ActBlue during the quarter. Heinrich and other federal candidates are expected to announce fundraising totals for the second quarter in the coming days. Reports are due to the Federal Election Commission by June 15. Continue Reading

McCain unveils Spanish radio ad in N.M., Nevada

By |

Republican presidential candidate John McCain launched a new Spanish-language radio ad in New Mexico and Nevada today as he tries to cut into Democratic candidate Barack Obama’s support among Hispanics. The ad features McCain’s roommate at the Naval academy, a Hispanic who says McCain “shares our same conservative values and faith in God.” “My roommate at the U.S. Naval Academy is running for president of the United States, and he wants what is best for the Hispanic community, too,” Frank Gamboa says in Spanish in the ad. “His name is John McCain and he has stood for our community even in the most difficult of times.” Gamboa goes on to say that McCain “knows that family is the focal part of our lives and that we value hard work” and “has earned the trust of Latinos and has a history of supporting us.” “This election, it seems to me that the other candidate has just discovered the importance of the Hispanic vote,” Gamboa says. “So when it comes to our values and understanding Latinos this election, I know for John it’s not political; it comes from the heart.” You can listen to the ad — in Spanish — by clicking here. It comes as a new poll shows Obama leading McCain by 30 points among Hispanics — a gap that has remained fairly consistent since March. Continue Reading

Energy policy is a hot topic in U.S. Senate race

By |

With gas prices rising to $4 per gallon, it’s perhaps no surprise that energy is the issue currently dominating New Mexico’s U.S. Senate race between Democrat Tom Udall and Republican Steve Pearce. The Albuquerque Journal has an article today about the back-and-forth between the candidates on energy policy. On Wednesday, The Associated Press also had an article about the debate. Here’s some of what’s been happening: • Pearce has challenged Udall to a formal debate on energy issues — but he did it in a news release, not a letter to his opponent. Udall says it’s too early, but there will be debates in the fall. Continue Reading

Pearce’s conservation bill: What’s not to like?

By |

By Jim Scarantino The Doña Ana County Wilderness Coalition deserves congratulations for Rep. Steve Pearce’s proposed legislation to protect more than 300,000 acres of federal land in Doña Ana County. By kick-starting the debate on how to preserve the landscape surrounding a booming Las Cruces, the wilderness coalition succeeded in prompting a conservative Republican congressman to introduce the first major land conservation legislation for southern New Mexico in nearly 30 years. Moreover, his legislation originated among constituencies acting out of stereotype in joining the call to permanently protect the rugged beauty of the area. I am the former chairman of the Coalition for New Mexico Wilderness. I was also a board member and executive director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Continue Reading

American hostages guv sought to free are rescued

By |

Three Americans who Gov. Bill Richardson was working to free were among 15 hostages rescued today by the Colombian government from a leftist rebel group. The operation by Colombian military spies led to the guerrillas giving up Americans Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 11 others without a single injury, the Associated Press reported. After being asked by the families of the three American defense contractors to intervene, Richardson travelled to Colombia in March to meet with President Álvaro Uribe and to Venezuela in April to meet with that country’s president, Hugo Chávez. Chávez has influence with the rebels who held the hostages. Richardson said recently that he saw “some positive movement” and was optimistic about the situation, according to a separate Associated Press article. Continue Reading

N.M. GOP needs to let in the sunshine

By |

Shortly after the 2006 primary election, the Republican Party of New Mexico’s central committee entered a closed-door meeting with J.R. Damron as its gubernatorial candidate and emerged with John Dendahl as its candidate. Damron’s withdrawal from the race, which allowed the party to place Dendahl on the ballot, was a surprise move that didn’t help the party at all: Dendahl was steamrolled by the Bill Richardson re-election train later that year. But the switcheroo did earn the GOP some criticism. What happened in that private meeting? Was Damron pressured to drop out? Continue Reading

State GOP director out; more changes coming

By |

Adam Feldman is out as executive director of the Republican Party of New Mexico after less than a year on the job. Feldman left the job last week but remains “heavily involved in the field with our Republican candidates in New Mexico,” said Scott Darnell, the party’s communications director and now the interim executive director. “He’s an expert at turning out the vote and at running campaigns, so he’ll be an incredibly important part of the statewide Republican effort this year,” Darnell said of Feldman. “His talents are geared toward that work, and as we enter into the crux of this campaign season… the (party’s) staff is simply undergoing some realignment.” Darnell didn’t say whether Feldman quit or was fired. Feldman could not be reached for comment. Continue Reading

ACORN is doing good work in New Mexico

By |

This guest column is in response to recent controversies in Doña Ana County that you can read about by clicking here, here and here. By Dana Gallegos On Monday, ACORN registered its 40,000th voter in New Mexico this year, making this already the largest drive in state history and bringing to 92,000 the total of New Mexicans ACORN has registered since 2000. However, ACORN doesn’t just register new voters. We make sure they get the encouragement and support they need to cast a ballot, many for the first time. In fact, a study of the voters we registered in New Mexico in 2004 showed that 65 percent of the people that ACORN helped get on the voter rolls voted on Election Day. Continue Reading

Senator’s staffer blames wilderness group for gridlock

By |

The chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici hoped the retiring Republican senator could travel to Las Cruces during his last months in office to celebrate a compromise that led to the protection of hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Doña Ana County. That isn’t going to happen, Steve Bell said in an interview, and he blames the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance for that. “I really thought we could have this done by now and have this happy celebration,” Bell said. “That isn’t going to happen.” Bell was responding to comments Las Cruces City Councilor Nathan Small, an employee of the Wilderness Alliance, made at a recent news conference. Small pointed out that Domenici helped secure the creation of a wilderness area in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque more than three decades ago, and he said Las Cruces deserves the same. Continue Reading