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Martin Heinrich won big in today’s First Congressional District Democratic preprimary contest, while Michelle Lujan-Grisham also qualified for the ballot. Heinrich received 56 percent of the vote, while Grisham received 28 percent. Rebecca Vigil-Giron came in third with 11 percent, while Robert Pidcock finished with 4 percent. Jessica Wolfe announced at the convention that she is dropping out of the race to instead run for a state Senate seat. Continue Reading
Ben R. Luján won just over 40 percent of the vote in a six-way race today in the Third Congressional District Democratic preprimary contest, while Don Wiviott also qualified for the ballot with just under 30 percent of the vote. No other candidate reached the 20-percent threshold. Luján had 40.2 percent of the vote to Wiviott’s 29.6 percent. Benny Shendo Jr. came in third with 16.4 percent of the vote, while Harry Montoya had almost 11 percent, Jon Adams had just over 2 percent and Rudy Martin had less than 1 percent. Update, 3:55 p.m. In a news release, Wiviott campaign spokeswoman Caroline Buerkle said Wiviott’s support shows that his message “is clearly resonating with voters.” “It is remarkable how far this campaign has come,” she said. Continue Reading
Bill McCamley won today’s Second Congressional District Democratic preprimary contest, receiving almost 50 percent of the vote in a four-way race. McCamley received 48.8 percent of the vote, while Harry Teague received 36.5 percent. They’re the only candidates who received greater than 20 percent of the vote and qualified for the ballot. Al Kissling received about 13 percent of the vote, and Frank McKinnon received about 1 percent. Update, 4:50 p.m. McCamley said he is “thankful to the people of the second district for giving us the momentum to move forward strongly in this race.” “The results today show that elections are about earning people’s votes. Continue Reading
Steve Pearce topped Heather Wilson today in the Republican U.S. Senate preprimary race, with 54.5 percent of the vote to Wilson’s 45.5 percent. Pearce received 236 votes to Wilson’s 197 votes. Pearce had previously proclaimed that he would win big today. Continue Reading
Jessica Wolfe, a former cabinet aide to Gov. Bill Richardson, announced today that she’s dropping her bid for Congress and will instead run for a state Senate seat this year. Wolfe had been one of five Democrats seeking to replace Heather Wilson in Congress. She announced at the end of her speech at today’s preprimary nominating convention in Rio Rancho that she was leaving the race. She plans instead to run for the District 21 state Senate seat currently held by Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque. Her exit from the race leaves Democrats Martin Heinrich, Michelle Lujan-Grisham, Robert Pidcock and Rebecca Vigil-Giron vying for the support of delegates at today’s convention. Continue Reading
The Governor’s Office calls the Department of Transportation’s now defunct efforts to redevelop two offices in Santa Fe “a fatally flawed process” in a long-awaited review reported on today by the Albuquerque Journal. The plans, which the governor halted in the midst of the scandal last fall, “suffered from poor planning and poor decisions,” the report stated, according to the Journal. The report said the DOT lacked the expertise for planning public-private projects, “skirted purchasing rules and made questionable use of state aircraft,” the Journal reported. None of this is news. The Journal has done an excellent job of reporting on this topic and already reported most of what was in the governor’s report. Continue Reading
Democrats will gather in Rio Rancho and Republicans will gather in Albuquerque on Saturday for preprimary nominating conventions that will be the first real tests of candidates for four open seats in Congress. Candidates can qualify to appear on the June 3 ballot by securing the votes of at least 20 percent of delegates at the respective conventions. Those who fail to reach that threshold can attempt to gather a large number of signatures over the course of the next few days to appear on the ballot, but getting at least 20 percent at the preprimary goes a long way toward convincing party insiders that a candidate is serious and credible. Here’s a rundown of the races to watch this weekend: CD2 GOP primary Five of six candidates in this race have boldly proclaimed that they believe they have the support of 20 percent of delegates. Though that’s mathematically possible – barely – it isn’t going to happen. Continue Reading
Democrat Maria Rodriguez, 48, of Las Cruces, has announced her candidacy for Doña Ana County Magistrate Court judge. In a news release, the former magistrate judge cited the need for professionalism at the magistrate level as one of the key factors in her decision to try to return to office. “It is extremely important to have competent, experienced judges at the magistrate level,” Rodriguez said. “Professionalism and high standards are essential at every level of the judiciary.” She’ll be running for the seat currently held by Kent Wingenroth – the only magistrate judgeship in the county that’s up for grabs this year. Rodriguez has nearly three decades of legal experience in both the private and public sector, according to the release. Continue Reading
© 2008 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. I am weary of the question, “What will happen if (name a candidate) is elected our next president?” If it is Barack, more Americans will learn to spell his name. Someone will be elected and do things I like and some I will not, as was the case with George W. Bush. The 24-hour news channels shout like there is a daily crash of a 747 when describing the presidential election. While I have a personal preference, nothing really bad will happen regardless of who is elected because we have three branches of government. This balance keeps one branch from having an overwhelmingly bad effect on the entire government. Continue Reading
Third Congressional District candidate Ben R. Luján has been benefiting this week from fundraisers hosted by a who’s who of New Mexico legislators and lobbyists, with his father, House Speaker Ben Lujan, headlining the events. It’s no surprise that Ben R. Luján is leaning heavily on his father’s influence to help him raise money. The speaker, the most powerful state legislator, has a great deal of influence over House Democrats and lobbyists. The younger Luján, as a member of the Public Regulation Commission, also has some influence over lobbyists. Luján’s campaign has been accusing Don Wiviott, one of his opponents in the Democratic primary, of trying to buy the election because he put almost $600,000 of his own money in the race. Continue Reading
Republican Greg Sowards is further complicating a crowded GOP primary in the Second Congressional District race by loaning his campaign $325,000 and forcing the other candidates to take him seriously. He’s the third Republican candidate to announce a loan of several hundred thousand dollars to his campaign. Sowards originally said earlier today that he would loan his campaign $400,000, but after he learned that loans of greater than $350,000 trigger the Millionaires’ Amendment and triple contribution limits to $6,900, he instead decided to loan his campaign $325,000. Sowards said today’s was a family decision. He went to the bank this afternoon to finalize a $200,000 loan, and said he will loan his campaign another $125,000 within the next week. Continue Reading
Heather Wilson picked up a key endorsement from the top-ranking Republican in the state Senate today. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales and the Senate minority leader, called Wilson “a steady, commonsense leader who continues to fight for lower taxes, private industry, a strong national defense and our families” in an e-mail the Wilson campaign sent to supporters today. “Heather Wilson is the kind of person who leads by digging in on important issues and getting things done,” he said. Ingle referenced Wilson’s work to save Cannon Air Force base, even though it isn’t located in the First Congressional District she represents. “Whether it’s our bases or labs, our children or small businesses, Heather Wilson stands up and fights for the contribution New Mexico makes to our nation,” Ingle said. Continue Reading
The U.S. House of Representatives approved on Tuesday the creation of an independent office that has the authority to initiate investigations into allegations of ethics violations by House members and is required to disclose its findings publicly. It’s a strong move that’s being characterized by the Washington Post as “one of the most significant changes to (House) ethics rules in decades.” U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., voted to approve the creation of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. New Mexico’s GOP representatives, Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson, voted against it. The measure was ultimately approved by a vote of 229-182, with 159 Republicans and 23 Democrats opposing it. “New Mexicans and people across the nation have called on Congress to end the culture of corruption in Washington, and the House has responded,” Udall said in a news release. Continue Reading
Supporters of Ralph Nader’s longshot independent presidential bid are on their way to New Mexico to try to get him on the ballot. New Mexico has one of the more restrictive ballot-access laws for independents, so Nader supporters will have to gather 7,000 signatures in two weeks. The campaign sent out an e-mail Monday morning in an attempt to raise $10,000 in New Mexico to send supporters here to gather signatures. It announced Wednesday evening that 149 people had given a total of $12,607.27 – an average of $84 per donation. “That’s exactly what we needed when we needed it,” the campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters announcing that Nader’s “road-trippers” are on their way to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Continue Reading
State Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, has announced that she is running for re-election in District 13, which includes parts of the North Valley, mid-Heights and West Side of the city. Feldman currently serves as chair of the Senate Public Affairs Committee and the legislature’s interim Health and Human Services Committee. Feldman is the sponsor of two of the only health care reforms to pass in this year’s session – reforms that will to prevent insurance companies from turning down people with pre-existing conditions and attack chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity, according to a news release announcing her candidacy. For years, she has spearheaded the effort to promote alternative energy, successfully sponsoring both the solar and the green-building tax credits. A steadfast supporter of ethics and campaign-finance reform, she has pushed for public financing of elections, campaign contribution limits and open legislative committee meetings. Continue Reading