White’s polling says he’s easily the frontrunner

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Polling done by the congressional campaign of Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White has him well ahead of other Republicans considering the race and also beating two Democrats he could face in next year’s general election. The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, found that 51 percent of likely voters in the First Congressional District have a favorable opinion of White, while an impressively low 15 percent have an unfavorable opinion. Some 74 percent know his name, and even 48 percent of Democrats surveyed view him favorably. You can read the company’s polling memo to White’s campaign by clicking here. The poll put him in a potential primary race against state Sens. Continue Reading

Madrid won’t seek Senate, may consider House run

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Former state Attorney General Patricia Madrid has decided against running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici, but there may be a chance she will run for the First Congressional District House seat she unsuccessfully sought last year. Madrid said in an interview that she decided a contested Senate primary “will not be good for the Democratic ticket, particularly if I’m running against Mayor (Martin) Chávez.” “He and I have much the same support statewide, and even if the race were friendly and amicable, it still would be competitive, and I would not want to compromise the Democrats’ chances of winning the seat,” Madrid said. Her decision follows a weekend trip to Las Cruces to discuss the situation with her family. Chávez is the only top-tier Democrat in the race, but Lt. Gov. Diane Denish is considering it, and political newcomers Don Wiviott, Jim Hannan and Leland Lehrman are also running. On the Republican side, U.S. Reps. Continue Reading

Pearce will run for Senate

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce will announce Wednesday that he’s running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated next year by Pete Domenici, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting. The newspaper reported that Pearce plans to make the announcement in an e-mail to friends and supporters. The report stated that Pearce wants to inform supporters informally and won’t make a formal announcement until sometime in the coming weeks. He’ll have to face U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson and newcomer Spiro G. Vassilopoulos in a GOP primary. The Democrats who are running for Senate are Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez and political newcomers Don Wiviott, Jim Hannan and Leland Lehrman. Continue Reading

Teague confirms run; McCamley gets union support

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Former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague confirmed today that he’s running for the Second Congressional District House seat regardless of whether U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce gives it up to run for Senate. Meanwhile, one of two Democrats Teague will have to face in a primary, Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley, announced today an important endorsement from the New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council. I first reported Monday evening on Teague’s entrance into the race. The Hobbs oilman said today he has no knowledge of whether the GOP congressman will give up his House seat to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici, but said he decided to run regardless. Teague didn’t plan until recently to enter the race, and actually gave McCamley $2,300 in June. Continue Reading

Web sites pressure Udall to run for Senate

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Two Web sites have been created in an effort to convince U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., to reconsider his decision to not seek the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. The development is further evidence that many Democrats in New Mexico and Washington aren’t happy with their candidates. Thus far, the only top-tier Democrat who has entered the race is Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez, who is not well-liked by the progressive wing of his party and had less support than Republicans in a recent poll of the Senate race. The other Democrats who have entered the race are political newcomers Don Wiviott, Jim Hannan and Leland Lehrman, but with U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., already in the race, and fellow GOP Rep. Steve Pearce considering it, many Democrats don’t want to leave the contest to a rookie any more than they want to leave it to Chávez. One other candidate has entered the Senate race – GOP oilman Spiro G. Vassilopoulos. Continue Reading

Former Lea County commissioner to run for Congress

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Former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague, a conservative Democrat, informed party officials today that he is running for the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. He joins two other Democrats in the race – Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley and Al Kissling, both from Las Cruces. It was too late to reach Teague, the owner of Eunice Well Servicing Co., when I learned of his candidacy tonight, but Stephanie DuBois, the state Democratic Party’s Second Congressional District vice chair, confirmed that he called today to inform her that he’s running. Teague is currently the chair of a state transportation needs task force convened by Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. The timing of his entrance in to the race is interesting. Teague is an associate of Pearce, a fellow Hobbs oilman who is considering giving up his House seat to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici next year. Continue Reading

Wiviott raises $130K during third quarter

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Political newcomer Don Wiviott, one of three Democrats who had entered the 2008 U.S. Senate race before Pete Domenici announced his retirement earlier this month, raised more than $130,000 during the third quarter of the year. With the entrance last week of Albuquerque Mayor and Democrat Martin Chávez into the race, Wiviott has committed to spending $2.1 million on the primary, and says he will fund the amount himself if he doesn’t raise it. The spokeswoman for the Santa Fe developer says he didn’t seriously start soliciting donations until after Labor Day, so most of his cash was raised in three weeks, not three months. Wiviott began the campaign at the end of the second quarter of the year with $400,000 of his own money. He raised $130,083 during the third quarter, bringing the total contributed to his campaign to about $535,000 – including the money he gave. Continue Reading

3rd quarter: McCamley raised $66K; Kissling got $11K

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Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley raised almost $66,000 during the third quarter of the year for his congressional run, while Al Kissling raised almost $11,000. The amounts brought in by the two Democrats are far below what U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. collected during the third quarter. According to his report, Pearce raised $251,021 during the quarter and spent $52,040, leaving him with $582,312 on hand. Pearce is seriously considering dropping his re-election bid to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. If that happens, McCamley is poised to be the frontrunner in the race for an open House seat. Continue Reading

County mum after closed meeting on spaceport tax

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Doña Ana County officials are staying mum on how they will respond to the state’s refusal to allow delaying collection of the spaceport tax. Commissioners voted Wednesday to delay collection of the tax, which was originally scheduled to begin on Jan. 1, until at least July. That was done because, though commissioners in Sierra and Otero counties have said they plan to schedule elections on possible gross receipts tax increases to help fund Spaceport America, neither has done it. Under state law, unless two governments enact the tax, none of the money can be spent. Continue Reading

Adams raises almost $20,000 for congressional bid

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Albuquerque attorney Jon Adams raised almost $20,000 in the third quarter of the year for his bid to become the next representative of the First Congressional District of New Mexico. The report filed this weekend is Adams’ first, and it puts him far behind fellow Democrat and Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich in the money game. Though he hasn’t yet filed his third-quarter report, Heinrich announced last week that he raised $137,000 in the third quarter, has raised a total of $318,127 for his congressional run and had $217,000 in on-hand cash at the end of the third quarter. Other candidates who have entered the race are Bernalillo County Sheriff and Republican Darren White and former state Health Secretary and Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, but both entered after the end of the third quarter and did not have to file reports. The seat is open because U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. Continue Reading

Egolf drops Senate bid, will seek Wirth’s House seat

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Democrat Brian Egolf has decided that he will run for the state House seat being vacated by Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, rather than running against Wirth in a Senate primary next year. Egolf had been in the Senate District 25 race for months, and, having already raised $85,000, became the frontrunner when Democrat John Grubesic recently announced he would not seek re-election. But with the state Senate seat coming open and U.S. Rep. Tom Udall announcing he would not seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici and create an opening in Washington for Wirth to seek, the representative instead opted last week to run for the seat Grubesic is vacating. That prompted Egolf to swap races with Wirth and run for the open District 47 House seat. “After careful consideration, I have decided to run for the District 47 State House seat being vacated by Peter Wirth,” Egolf said. Continue Reading

Arnold-Jones forming exploratory committee

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State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, is forming an exploratory committee as she considers whether to run for the U.S. House seat being vacated next year by Republican Heather Wilson, who is running for Senate instead of seeking re-election. Arnold-Jones confirmed the decision, a step toward a potential run, in an e-mail. “I am forming an exploratory committee. I will take an appropriate amount of time to assess the alternatives, weigh the merits of what I can accomplish in the state as a legislator against what I believe I can accomplish and the positive contributions I can make for the nation and the state as a member of Congress,” she said. “Nothing is off the table.” Arnold-Jones would have to face Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, who entered the congressional race last week, in a GOP primary. Continue Reading

Voters in poll say Frietze will be re-elected

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said José Frietze will win another term as the Las Cruces city councilor representing District 1. Of 206 voters, 104, or 51 percent, said the 12-year councilor would be re-elected on Nov. 6, while three challengers split the rest of the vote. Ron M. Gurley received 52 votes, or 25 percent; Miguel G. Silva received 38 votes, or 18 percent; and Conrado M. Guerra received 12 votes, or 6 percent. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Colleagues, McCamley dispute Pearce’s SCHIP claim

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One of the reasons U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has given for his opposition to a bill that would expand a children’s health insurance program is that it would allow undocumented immigrants to receive government-funded medical care. It’s an assertion three of Pearce’s colleagues in the New Mexico delegation say is false, and one that prompted a Democrat seeking the GOP congressman’s seat to call him a liar. Pearce and other House Republicans who recently voted against the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill are coming under increasing pressure as Democrats and moderate Republicans work to secure enough votes to overturn the president’s veto of the bill. The proposal would expand the program by $35 billion to cover another 4 million children, and fund it through an increase in the federal cigarette tax. There are enough votes in the Senate to overturn the veto, but supporters of the bill in the House are some 20 votes short of that goal. Continue Reading

Well-known fundraiser to manage White’s campaign

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Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White has hired a well-known fundraiser to manage his 2008 congressional campaign. Sara Lister was U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s head fundraiser for many years and was the deputy director of President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign in New Mexico. She has agreed to manage White’s campaign, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed. The move is critical for White’s bid. With the scramble resulting from Domenici’s retirement, and the number of primary races that are developing, the talent is being snatched up quickly and the money is certain dry up fast. Continue Reading