NMPolitics.net (https://nmpolitics.net/index/author/heath-haussamen/page/420/?wpmp_switcher=mobile)
Today is filing day for candidates for legislative and other races throughout the state. Every legislative seat is up for grabs, and tonight we’ll know who’s running. In Doña Ana County, several other offices, including district attorney, treasurer and clerk, are up for grabs. So are three seats on the county commission. No statewide offices are open this year. Continue Reading
Monty Newman says his campaign to become the next representative of the Second Congressional District of New Mexico is moving forward even after he narrowly missed qualifying for the ballot at Saturday’s Republican preprimary nominating convention. “We expect to file at least 1,500 signatures when we officially qualify for the Republican primary in 10 days,” Newman said in a news release. “We are ecstatic with the overwhelming support we’ve gotten directly from the voters. When over 1,500 voters say ‘We want you to run,’ you have to listen. My record in Hobbs and my sincere conservative message is resonating loud and clear.” Aubrey Dunn Jr. won Saturday’s contest with the support of 40 delegates, or 30 percent. Continue Reading
Al Kissling said today he hasn’t decided whether to try to gather the signatures necessary to stay in the race to replace Steve Pearce in Congress. “At this point, we’re still doing thinking and reflection, OK? No comment,” Kissling said in a brief phone interview. Kissling won 13 percent of delegates at Saturday’s Democratic preprimary nominating convention, while Bill McCamley won 49 percent and Harry Teague won 36 percent. Candidates had to secure at least 20 percent to win a spot on the ballot. Continue Reading
Frank McKinnon won’t attempt to stay in the race to replace Steve Pearce in Congress after receiving only 1 percent of the vote at Saturday’s Democratic preprimary nominating convention. “It looks like Pete Domenici and George W. Bush have succeeded in helping the nuclear industry buy all Democratic candidates for the congressional seat of New Mexico’s District 2,” McKinnon wrote in an e-mail and a posting on his campaign Web site. “Having Tom Udall as a senator may be enough to override any damage that Bill McCamley or Harry Teague may do. I hope so.” McKinnon said his campaign Web site would be taken down in the next couple of weeks. While McKinnon secured only 1 percent of the vote, McCamley won 49 percent, Teague won 36 percent and Al Kissling received about 13 percent of the vote. Continue Reading
Rebecca Vigil-Giron plans to stay in the race to replace Heather Wilson in Congress despite failing to qualify for the ballot at Saturday’s Democratic preprimary nominating convention. “I got into the race approximately five weeks ago. I didn’t expect to get the 20 percent of the delegates,” she said in an e-mail. “But I did communicate with most of them and they were very sorry that they had committed to the other candidates and, had they known that I was entering the race, they would have supported me. But my Democratic delegates are true to their word.” In anticipation of not reaching the 20-percent threshold at the convention to qualify for the ballot, Vigil-Giron said, her campaign has gathered more than 1,500 signatures of registered Democrats in the First Congressional District. Continue Reading
Terry Marquardt plans to stay in the race to replace Steve Pearce in Congress despite getting the votes of only two delegates at Saturday’s Republican preprimary nominating convention. “The campaign moves forward,” he said in an e-mail. “At this point, we have much work ahead of us.” Marquardt said he needs to submit 817 signatures by March 25 to stay in the race. My calculations are that he needs 804 signatures, based on information I was provided by the Secretary of State’s Office. Either way, Marquardt says he has already gathered more than enough signatures to stay on the ballot. Continue Reading
New Mexico State University President Michael Martin isn’t one to generally admit any sort of weakness or mistake in public. That’s why I was surprised on Saturday when he sent an e-mail to the NMSU community apologizing for comments he made that appeared to discount the hard work of students who were protesting the forced departure of two faculty members from the Department of Health Science. A number of current and former students held a protest on Tuesday against the decision to not renew the contracts of John Moraros and Yelena Bird. The outgoing professors say months of racial and sexual discrimination led to their ousters. An associate dean and the department head have temporarily stepped down pending the outcome of a university investigation. Continue Reading
Republican Joe Carraro plans to stay in the race to replace Heather Wilson in Congress despite failing to qualify for the ballot at Saturday’s Republican preprimary nominating convention. Carraro won 15 percent of the vote at the convention, while Darren White took 85 percent. Carraro said he suspected before the convention that he wouldn’t reach the 20-percent threshold that would qualify him for the ballot. He said on Sunday that he has already collected the signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot via the alternate route. “After seeing the results of (the) Bernalillo County Convention, we knew we were at 10 percent in Bernalillo, so we went out and got what we needed,” Carraro said of gathering signatures. Continue Reading
Steve Pearce was certainly the winner at Saturday’s U.S. Senate Republican preprimary nominating convention, coming out nine points ahead of opponent Heather Wilson, but the impact is much more complicated than that. Pearce boldly proclaimed his win a “huge upset” in a news release following the convention. In some ways it was. Wilson has a history of winning even when the odds are against her, as they were in this preprimary race, and many expected a strong showing from her. A few even expected an upset win by Wilson. Continue Reading
Voters were split last week on a non-scientific poll question asking which U.S. House seat held by the GOP is most likely to be won by a Democrat this year. Of 206 voters, 85, or 41 percent, said the First Congressional District seat by Heather Wilson is the most likely to be won by a Democrat, while 61, or 30 percent, picked the Second Congressional District seat held by Steve Pearce. Meanwhile, 60 voters, or 29 percent, said neither seat will be won by a Democrat this year. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading
Steve Pearce says his nine-point win over Heather Wilson in today’s U.S. Senate GOP preprimary contest is a “huge upset.” Pearce finished with 54.5 percent of the vote to Wilson’s 45.5 percent. “Cynthia and I are so happy and thrilled,” Pearce said in a news release. “We did today what would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. Today’s results clearly show that I am the only candidate who has the momentum to beat Tom Udall in November.” Over just a few months, Pearce has captured the hearts of party activists and scored a clear a decisive victory at the convention, his release states. He was formally nominated by Teresita Gonzalez and his speech was received with a standing ovation and loud applause from the delegates. Continue Reading
Marco Gonzales scored a big victory in the Third Congressional District Republican preprimary contest today, but Daniel East also qualified for the ballot. Gonzales received 91 votes, or 68 percent, to East’s 43 votes, or 32 percent. Continue Reading
Heather Wilson called losing today’s U.S. Senate Republican preprimary nominating convention by nine points today a “great success,” saying she did better than anyone – including opponent Steve Pearce – expected. “New Mexico Republicans understand that we must nominate a commonsense conservative who can win in November,” Wilson said in a news release. “That’s why today we proved the pundits and my opponent wrong. We picked up more support than anyone had predicted. The momentum has shifted our way.” Pearce finished with 54.5 percent of the vote to Wilson’s 45.5 percent. Continue Reading
Aubrey Dunn Jr. won today’s Second Congressional District Republican preprimary contest, but C. Earl Greer and Ed Tinsley also qualified for the ballot. Dunn received the support of 40 delegates, or 30 percent, while Greer and Tinsley each received 33 votes, or 24 percent. Monty Newman narrowly missed qualifying for the ballot, receiving 25 votes, or 18.5 percent of the vote. Terry Marquardt and Greg Sowards each received two votes, or about 1 percent. Update, 4:35 p.m. Dunn had this to say about his victory: “I’m grateful to have the support of grassroots Republicans across Southern New Mexico, and I look forward to taking on the Democrat candidate in November,” he said in a news release. Continue Reading
Darren White won the support of 85 percent of delegates in today’s First Congressional District Republican preprimary contest. White won 138 of 162 votes, leaving Joe Carraro with 24 votes, or 15 percent. Carraro failed to qualify to appear on the ballot in June. Update, 3:55 p.m. White, in a news release, said he is “humbled by this tremendous show of support from his party.” “These results show that my message about cleaning up the mess in Washington is resonating with the grassroots,” he said. The news release also pointed out that “no candidate has ever gone on to win a primary after failing to meet the 20 percent threshold at the party’s convention.” Continue Reading