Domenici makes endorsement of Wilson official

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U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici just formalized his endorsement of Heather Wilson in the U.S. Senate race. Here’s his statement: “Heretofore I have been reserved in commenting on the Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate. However, I have become increasingly concerned that, even after I asked that the Club for Growth not be allowed to try to influence this election, they put at least $200,000 in television advertising in this race to try to do just that. I continue to believe that such outside influences should not be used to try to influence the voters of New Mexico,” Domenici said. “As I said today in Socorro when asked about tonight’s debate, Heather Wilson is the brightest member of Congress I know and I hope she wins. Continue Reading

McCamley, Teague continue sparring

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidates Bill McCamley and Harry Teague continued sparring today, and both released their newest television commercials on the Internet. Here’s the McCamley ad that started the sparring – the ad I’ve already written about that compares Teague to President Bush: Teague’s newest ad isn’t available in a format that can be embedded on other Web sites, but you can view it by clicking here. It’s the ad on the page titled “Solutions.” “Bill McCamley is running a dishonest, negative campaign attacking Harry Teague. That’s wrong. Only Teague has spelled out the change we want,” the ad’s narrator states. Continue Reading

Domenici apparently endorses Wilson in Senate race

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Only days before the conclusion of a bloody GOP primary battle, retiring U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici has apparently endorsed Heather Wilson in the race to replace him. The impact of the endorsement, announced at the last minute and without any fanfare, isn’t immediately clear. Domenici told KRQE-TV in Albuquerque today that he hoped Wilson would win tonight’s debate against primary opponent Steve Pearce. Domenici Chief of Staff Steve Bell later told the Associated Press the comment should be interpreted as an endorsement. “I think it was. Continue Reading

Sowards tries a different method of reaching voters

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I’ve been meaning for awhile to write about the Web site shortbaldhonest.com. It’s the Web site of 2nd Congressional District Republican candidate Greg Sowards. While other candidates have spent tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on expensive television and radio ads to win voters, Sowards has instead spent his money to try to draw people to his unusual Web site. I write about it, when I haven’t written about other candidates’ Web sites, because of that. It’s noteworthy in the same way other candidates’ TV ads are noteworthy, and I’ve published most of their TV ads on this site. Continue Reading

Huge contributions fuel effort to oust Foley and Adair

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Roswell oilman Mark Murphy and an Albuquerque oil and gas company with ties to Murphy’s family have pitched in more than $335,000 to try to defeat Roswell legislative incumbents Dan Foley and Rod Adair in next week’s Republican primary. Murphy and his companies and political action committee have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to try to elect Foley’s challenger, Dennis Kintigh, and Adair’s challenger, Rory McMinn, on Tuesday. In addition, a company whose registered agent is Murphy’s brother-in-law has contributed a whopping $250,000 toward that effort — $125,000 to each challenger. Because of those contributions, McMinn and Kintigh have significantly outraised the incumbents. Their campaigns have flooded the airwaves with TV ads, run newspaper ads and sent out several mailers. Continue Reading

Right-wing border-security group endorses Dunn

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The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps Political Action Committee has announced its support of Aubrey Dunn in the 2nd Congressional District Republican primary. “We generally get involved only with campaigns where there is a clear-cut difference on the issues and a real opportunity to win,” said Carmen Mercer, honorary chair of the PAC, in a recent e-mail to Minuteman supporters. “The question is: Will the GOP nominate a pro-amnesty candidate in the primary, or will they support a pro-American sovereignty, pro-national security, anti-amnesty conservative like Aubrey Dunn?”“New Mexicans simply can’t afford to lose this congressional seat to a candidate who takes his marching orders from Washington special interests and militant pro-amnesty groups,” Mercer said, according to a news release from the Dunn campaign. “Aubrey Dunn can defeat the pro-amnesty crowd’s hand-picked candidate in the Republican Primary.” The “pro-amnesty” candidate Mercer is referring to is Republican Ed Tinsley, a former president of the National Restaurant Association, which backed a controversial immigration reform bill last year that moderates supported but the Minutemen and other groups condemned as providing amnesty. Their lobbying efforts killed the proposal. Continue Reading

Firefighters’ unions endorse McCamley

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Firefighters’ unions in Las Cruces and Deming have announced their support of Bill McCamley in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary. The backing of the Las Cruces Professional Fire Fighters Local 2362 and the Deming Fire Fighters Local 4251 was announced in a news release from the McCamley campaign. In that release, the Deming union’s president, Ken McFaul, said “it is the belief of this local union that Bill McCamley will address the needs of southern New Mexico and our country as his first priority and to the best of his abilities. As a Doña Ana County commissioner, he established the county’s first paid firefighting staff. He is aware of the population growth of southern New Mexico and how it impacts essential emergency services and its citizens. Continue Reading

Balderas to conduct audit of land office’s dealings

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The State Auditor’s Office will conduct a special audit to review the policies and procedures the State Land Office follows in the sale, exchange and leasing of trust lands. State Auditor Hector Balderas formally informed Land Commissioner Pat Lyons of the audit in a letter he sent Thursday. In the letter, he thanked Lyons for having his staff provide “a summary of SLO land sales, land exchanges, closed and ongoing land lease transactions, and SLO administrative rules.” Balderas also informed Lyons that his office needs access to additional information. Lyons’ spokeswoman, Kristin Haase, said the land office “is cooperating fully” with the auditor. “We look forward to the auditor’s findings that will undoubtedly show that the leases, exchanges and land sales facilitated by this administration are in the best interest of the trust,” she said. Continue Reading

Roswell’s legislative primaries become bitter battles

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Two prominent Republican legislators from Roswell have been under heavy attack from their primary opponents in a public brawl some say threatens to divide the party and others say reveals a chasm that already exists. Nothing has been off limits as House Minority Whip Dan Foley’s challenger has hit him for a number of public controversies including his 2007 arrest at a basketball game and Sen. Rod Adair’s challenger has labeled him a liberal. Chaves County Republican Party Chairman William E. Cavin tried to intervene earlier this month by demanding that Adair’s challenger, Rory McMinn, and Foley’s challenger, Dennis Kintigh, stop the negative assaults. He expressed concern that the negativity could destroy a county Republican Party that has been dominant in local politics for almost 50 years. But Cavin’s attempts failed, and the races have degraded into bitter battles. Continue Reading

Roswell’s legislative primaries become bitter battles

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Two prominent Republican legislators from Roswell have been under heavy attack from their primary opponents in a public brawl some say threatens to divide the party and others say reveals a chasm that already exists. Nothing has been off limits as House Minority Whip Dan Foley’s challenger has hit him for a number of public controversies including his 2007 arrest at a basketball game and Sen. Rod Adair’s challenger has labeled him a liberal. Chaves County Republican Party Chairman William E. Cavin tried to intervene earlier this month by demanding that Adair’s challenger, Rory McMinn, and Foley’s challenger, Dennis Kintigh, stop the negative assaults. He expressed concern that the negativity could destroy a county Republican Party that has been dominant in local politics for almost 50 years. But Cavin’s attempts failed, and the races have degraded into bitter battles. Continue Reading

Roswell’s legislative primaries become bitter battles

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Two prominent Republican legislators from Roswell have been under heavy attack from their primary opponents in a public brawl some say threatens to divide the party and others say reveals a chasm that already exists. Nothing has been off limits as House Minority Whip Dan Foley’s challenger has hit him for a number of public controversies including his 2007 arrest at a basketball game and Sen. Rod Adair’s challenger has labeled him a liberal. Chaves County Republican Party Chairman William E. Cavin tried to intervene earlier this month by demanding that Adair’s challenger, Rory McMinn, and Foley’s challenger, Dennis Kintigh, stop the negative assaults. He expressed concern that the negativity could destroy a county Republican Party that has been dominant in local politics for almost 50 years. But Cavin’s attempts failed, and the races have degraded into bitter battles. Continue Reading

Newman loans his campaign another $50K

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Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Monty Newman has put another $50,000 into his campaign. Newman, according to Federal Election Commission records, filed notice on Tuesday of the new loan. He has now loaned a total of $150,000 to his campaign. That’s on top of the nearly $1 million the National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee has spent promoting the candidacy of Newman, a past vice president of the group. Continue Reading

Pidcock hits Heinrich in new TV ad

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Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate Robert Pidcock is out with a harsh new TV ad attacking the primary’s frontrunner, Martin Heinrich. Here’s the 30-second spot: “Have you heard about the Martin Heinrich maneuver?” the ad’s narrator asks. “Going from part-time summer-camp counselor to Congress? Who is he kidding?” “Claims he had a consulting business but didn’t know he needed a business license? Who’s he kidding?” the narrator asks. Continue Reading

Teague decries McCamley ad, unveils his own ad

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Harry Teague is responding to primary opponent Bill McCamley’s new TV ad by reaffirming his commitment to running a positive campaign. He’s also, according to a news release, unveiling his own, new TV ad. McCamley began running on Wednesday an ad that compares Teague to President Bush. The Teague news release called McCamley’s ad “negative and dishonest” and said that, while McCamley “claims to be running for change… his ad is just more of the same old politics.” The release doesn’t say what about McCamley’s ad is dishonest. “For the past 7 months, my campaign has talked about the issues and my plans to get things done,” Teague said in the release. Continue Reading

Las Cruces, Roswell newspapers endorse Pearce

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce has received the endorsements of the Las Cruces Sun-News and Roswell Daily Record. “Pearce has been a strong advocate for the district, working both in Washington and southern New Mexico to deal with problems and push for issues that are important for the area and its residents,” the Sun-News stated in its endorsement editorial. “We believe he is the best choice in this race.”“Pearce has a solid track record of supporting the interests of southern New Mexico and he’s the Republican candidate who will most benefit our region, state and nation,” the Daily Record editorial stated. Continue Reading