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An Albuquerque Journal poll found that the race for state land commissioner is still tight. Democratic challenger Jim Baca had 43 percent of the vote in the poll, while Republican incumbent Lyons had 39 percent, according to the Journal. Some 18 percent are undecided. A month ago, Baca led 41-36 percent in a Journal poll. The newest poll, which has a margin of error of 3.8 percent, surveyed 664 registered voters from Sept. Continue Reading
I took this video this morning at a news conference held by veterans who support Democrat Al Kissling’s bid for Congress. The veterans are upset because they believe U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has voted against issues important to them. The Disabled American Veterans have given Pearce a rating of zero (with 100 being the highest mark) three of the past four years for voting against the group’s position on various bills. Two Republican military veterans, Ron Nesler and Dale Phelps, presented staffers in Pearce’s Las Cruces office with a letter demanding that Pearce take part in a debate with Kissling on veterans’ issues and that he publicly explain why he has voted against veterans’ issues. Nesler once campaigned for Pearce, but this time around he says he is fed up with broken promises. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson was in Las Vegas, Nev. on Tuesday to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, according to KVBC-TV. Several hundred people were at the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to meet Richardson. His visit was organized by the Nevada System of Higher Education and the Hispanic Heritage Month Committee, according to the TV station. “I’m the only Hispanic governor in the country, so I try to go around the country talking about Hispanic issues and motivating the Hispanic community,” the TV station quoted him as saying. Continue Reading
A Reuters/Zogby poll released today has five-term Republican Rep. Heather Wilson trailing Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid 50-40 percent in the Central New Mexico district. The poll was one of 15 released today that show Democrats leading Republicans in 11 of 15 races for seats that are currently Republican controlled, according to Zogby. The polls, conducted between Sept. 25 and Oct. 2, each surveyed more than 500 people and have a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. Continue Reading
In early 2005, I did a series of articles for the Las Cruces Sun-News on seven child abuse deaths that had occurred in Doña Ana County. I recall sitting at a table in the district attorney’s office and looking through autopsy photographs of children who had been raped, beaten, thrown and shaken to death. To say I was lightheaded and nauseous would be an understatement. How could anyone do that to a child? To learn now that former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley of Florida was apparently having Internet sex with a teen while on the House floor, that he arranged an in-person meeting with at least one teen, all while being a champion of the protection of children, makes me sick. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson has not yet agreed to debate Republican challenger John Dendahl. So, here’s a column Dendahl wrote about the New York Times for the Santa Fe New Mexican in 2004, taken directly from Dendahl’s Web site: ‘Times’ is poisoning the well of news reporting Jan. 13, 2004 Few if any news organizations wield the power of The New York Times. Sadly, though, the Times has become a nasty illustration of power’s corrupting influence. It’s all frighteningly dissected and laid bare in attorney Bob Kohn’s book, Journalistic Fraud: How The New York Times Distorts the News and Why It Can No Longer Be Trusted, published in mid-2003. Continue Reading
The newest Albuquerque Journal poll shows that U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has increased his lead over Democratic challenger Al Kissling. The poll, conducted Sept. 25-28, shows Pearce with 58 percent of the vote, compared to 27 percent for Kissling. A Journal poll conducted a month ago had Pearce leading 54-29 percent. In the interim, Pearce unveiled a series of radio ads attacking Kissling, including the “bizarre” commercial that uses the Democrat’s own words against him. Continue Reading
Morris J. Chavez, the state gaming representative, was named insurance superintendent by the Public Regulation Commission today, according to the Associated Press. His salary was not disclosed. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson appointed Democrat Lisa Schultz today to fill the district judge vacancy created by the recent death of Silvia Cano-Garcia. Richardson was already coming to Las Cruces Thursday for a 1 p.m. swearing-in of newly appointed District Judge Fernando Macias. Schultz, who had already been in the process of closing her law practice, will be sworn in at the same ceremony. The two are the new children’s court judges, but are in fights to keep their jobs past the end of 2006. Schultz is facing Republican Janetta Hicks on Nov. Continue Reading
State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, might run for governor in the future. The representative made the comment today on the Michael Swickard show. Swickard was commenting that, when Gov. Bill Richardson leaves office sometime in the next four years, there will be a vacuum for others to fill. He asked whether Cervantes would be interested in holding statewide office. “I’d look forward to doing that,” Cervantes said, adding that no one from Las Cruces has held a statewide office since Garrey Carruthers was governor from 1987-1991. Continue Reading
The Public Regulation Commission has finally made public the list of finalists for insurance superintendent. The PRC has been working to replace Eric Serna since he resigned earlier this year amid scandal. The PRC announced last week that it was negotiating with a candidate, meaning it skipped the step of releasing publicly the names of the finalists. The director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said that violated the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act, but the PRC still refused. The Albuquerque Journal filed a formal request for records, and Monday the PRC complied, releasing the list of finalists. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson has still not agreed to a televised debate with Republican challenger John Dendahl. Richardson gave a new explanation, published Monday in the Albuquerque Tribune. Noting that he originally agreed to one debate with Dendahl, Richardson told the Tribune he can’t live with Dendahl’s conditions. “He set some impossible conditions,” Richardson told the newspaper. “He had no right to set conditions. Continue Reading
ABQJournal started another round of election polls Sunday, with its first poll showing that the 1st Congressional District race is as tight as can be. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid were tied, each with 44 percent of the vote in the poll. Some 7 percent were undecided and 5 percent said they won’t vote for either candidate. The poll, which surveyed 400 voters from Sept. 25-28, has a margin of error of about 5 percentage points. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson made a stop Friday in Utah for the Western Presidential Primary Symposium. He was there with others to talk about the possibility of a Feb. 5, 2008 Western States Primary, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, and joins Utah’s governor in pushing for the proposal to become reality. At a breakfast meeting of Utah’s Democratic Party leadership, Richardson said that state is turning toward Democrats. “You care going to see a dramatic change,” the Tribune quoted Richardson as saying. Continue Reading
Gov. Bill Richardson has only Democrat Lisa Schultz to consider for appointment to the district court vacancy created by the death of Silvia Cano-Garcia. Republican Rita Nuñez Neumann was the other applicant to appear today before a judicial nominating commission that opted to recommend only Schultz. The decision came after Neumann attacked the commission during her interview, saying the system favors Democrats and that, in the past 12 years, a commission in Doña Ana County has never recommended a Republican applicant to the governor. Neumann said that made other qualified Republicans afraid to apply for judgeships, because their opponents in elections can use against them the fact that they didn’t get past the commission. “It is used as a political sword against an opponent, and that is wrong,” Neumann said. Continue Reading