CD1 race descends into a nasty battle

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First it was Martin Heinrich who stood accused of ducking a debate earlier this week. On Wednesday, the Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate tried to turn the tables by saying his opponent, Republican Darren White, skipped a forum after confirming his attendance. Heinrich’s attack is the latest in what is becoming an increasingly nasty battle between the two candidates, who are sparring over allegations each has made against the other at the expense of tackling policy stances or major issues of the day — like the economic doldrums affecting the country. In addition to the back and forth over who is attending what, the question of whether Heinrich worked as a lobbyist has dominated the debate over the past week. White has raised the issue that Heinrich was paid to push for creation of the Ojito Wilderness several years ago but didn’t register as a state or federal lobbyist. Continue Reading

Udall moves further ahead in new Senate poll

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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall’s lead is growing, according to a new poll released Wednesday. The SurveyUSA poll has Udall leading Republican Steve Pearce 56 percent to 41 percent. The poll of 671 likely voters was conducted Sunday through Tuesday for KOB-TV in Albuquerque and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points. Udall led by 35 percentage points among Hispanic voters, according to SurveyUSA. The two were tied among white voters.Pearce had the support of 77 percent of Republican voters, while Udall had the support of 81 percent of Democratic voters and a 2-1 lead among independents. Continue Reading

Another poll has Obama leading in NM

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A new poll has Barack Obama leading John McCain by 8 percentage points in New Mexico. The SurveyUSA Poll, released Wednesday, has Obama leading 54 percent to 44 percent. Two percent selected “other” and 1 percent were undecided in the poll, conducted Sunday through Tuesday for KOB-TV in Albuquerque. The survey of 671 likely voters had a margin of error of 3.9 percent. The poll is in line with another released Tuesday by American Research Group that had Obama leading by 7 percentage points in New Mexico. Continue Reading

Tinsley airs first TV ad of general-election season

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Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley began airing his first television ad of the general-election season on Tuesday, a 30-second spot that’s not unlike introductory ads he ran during the primary. Here’s the new ad: It’s actually a slightly reworked version of an ad he ran during the primary. Click here to view the version he ran in the Roswell area and here to view the version he ran in the Las Cruces area during the primary. “It was a humble beginning in a small sandwich shop. Meredith worked the cash register, and I cooked,” Tinsley says in explaining his start in business. Continue Reading

Obama tops McCain by 7 points in new NM poll

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A new survey has Barack Obama leading John McCain by 7 percentage points in New Mexico. Obama leads 51 percent to 44 percent in the American Research Group poll released today. Some 5 percent were undecided in the survey of 600 likely voters, which was conducted Sunday through Tuesday. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Here’s the wording of the question that was asked: “If the general election were being held today between John McCain for president and Sarah Palin for vice president, the Republicans, and Barack Obama for president and Joe Biden for vice president, the Democrats, for whom would you vote — McCain and Palin, Obama and Biden (names rotated), or someone else?” Obama led among Democrats 79 percent to 17 percent, while McCain led among Republicans 89 percent to 7 percent. Continue Reading

Obama talks economy in TV ad; RNC on radio in NM

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Barack Obama is out today with an unusually long television ad in which he talks about the nation’s economic problems, while the Republican National Committee is airing new English and Spanish radio ads promoting John McCain. Obama’s two-minute TV ad begins with him saying the recent financial problems are nothing new for struggling Americans and ending with him saying that “bitter, partisan fights and outworn ideas of the left and right won’t solve the problems we face today, but a new spirit of unity and shared responsibility will.” Here it is: The RNC’s English radio ad, meanwhile, paints McCain as an agent of change because, “in 20-plus years in the Senate, John McCain has never sought an earmark,” while Obama, “in three short years in the Senate,” has “requested nearly $1 billion in earmarks.” Click here to listen to the ad. The RNC’s Spanish radio ad says McCain is a “friend” because he “worked with Republicans and Democrats alike to form immigration legislation” last year. “And while the bill didn’t pass, only McCain demonstrated a real commitment to reforming immigration in a way that honored our laws as well as our immigrants and traditions,” the ad’s narrator states. Obama, the ad claims, didn’t support reform, instead supporting amendments “designed to insert a deadly poison poll to kill the immigration legislation.” Click here to listen to the ad. Continue Reading

Obama’s manager talks about the importance of NM

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Even after Thursday’s visit by Barack Obama to Española, expect the Democratic presidential nominee and his running mate, Joe Biden, to be in New Mexico again before the Nov. 4 election. But it’s personal contact by people who live in New Mexico and support Obama that is critical to his chances of winning the state and the presidential race, Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe said today. “We’re going to organize in every corner of New Mexico,” Plouffe said on a conference call with reporters. He added that the campaign has a strong staff in New Mexico but the focus is on volunteers — “people from communities in New Mexico representing our campaign and being the face of the campaign and doing a lot of the work.” “We’re big believers in that local-based organizing,” Plouffe said, adding that the campaign has 35 offices in New Mexico, which he said is a level of activity sometimes seen in gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, but not historically seen in one state by a presidential campaign. Continue Reading

GOP hammers Heinrich on ‘lobbying,’ skipping debate

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Republicans are calling on Democratic 1st Congressional District candidate Martin Heinrich to release records related to his work toward the creation of the Ojito Wilderness and accusing him of ducking debate. The GOP contends that Heinrich “broke state and federal law by failing to register as a lobbyist” while he worked toward the creation of the Ojito Wilderness, according to a Monday news release from the state Republican Party. Heinrich was paid by several organizations to push for creation of the wilderness. His campaign calls it “advocacy,” while the GOP and the campaign of his Republican opponent, Darren White, call it “lobbying.” In the release, the GOP called on Heinrich to release records related to his work, including “all names of the clients he represented at Heinrich Consulting and the corresponding gross receipts tax records for all income Heinrich Consulting received from those clients.” A spokeswoman for Heinrich, Angela Barranco, wouldn’t respond directly to the allegation that Heinrich was required but failed to register as a lobbyist or to the request that Heinrich release his records. Instead, she made this statement: “Martin is proud of the work that he did to advocate on behalf of New Mexico priorities and help bring together grassroots work on behalf of Ojito Wilderness, which is one of New Mexico’s greatest challenges,” she said. Continue Reading

Obama to campaign in Española on Thursday

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Barack Obama will visit Española on Thursday as he attempts to reach Hispanics in Hillary Clinton-friendly northern New Mexico. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. for a rally at Plaza de Española, 706 Bond Street, according to Obama’s Web site. The rally will begin at 12:30 p.m. It’s open to the public, but a ticket is required and space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to get a ticket online or here to find the locations of offices where you can pick up a ticket. Parking on site is limited, and bags, signs and banners will not be allowed into the event. Continue Reading

New McCain ad focuses on economy

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John McCain is setting aside his hard-hitting and in some cases misleading attacks on Barack Obama in his new TV ad to focus instead on his own plan to deal with the nation’s economic woes. Here’s the 30-second spot, which is airing in New Mexico and other states: “Our economy in crisis. Only proven reformers John McCain and Sarah Palin can fix it,” the ad’s narrator states. “Tougher rules on Wall Street to protect your life savings. No special-interest giveaways. Continue Reading

527 group helped Herrera win in 2006

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The Center for Public Integrity is highlighting a group that helped Mary Herrera win New Mexico’s 2006 secretary of state race in a new posting on its Web site. The group, a “little-known 527” called The Secretary of State Project, “raised more than $500,000 in 2006 to ensure no right-leaning secretary of state will swing the 2008 presidential election to the GOP, as they did in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004,” the center’s blog posting states. That $500,000 helped Democrats win secretary of state races in key states in 2006 — Nevada, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio. The group also supported losing candidates in Colorado and Michigan. In New Mexico, the group’s Web site states, it funded 10 percent of Herrera’s campaign. Continue Reading

Obama, union out with new TV ads in NM

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Barack Obama is out with a new TV ad today slamming John McCain for dishonest advertising. Here’s the 30-second spot, which is airing in New Mexico and other states: “The old John McCain,” the ad’s narrator states before the ad shows a clip of McCain saying, “I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land.” “What’s happened to John McCain?” the narrator asks before quoting several media outlets as commenting on McCain’s recent advertising as “one of the sleaziest ads ever seen,” “Truly vile,” “dishonest smears” and “exposed as a lie.” “After voting with Bush 90 percent of the time, proposing the same disastrous economic policies, it seems deception is all he has left,” the ad’s narrator states. Meanwhile, Service Employees International Union has begun airing a new ad in New Mexico and other states promoting Obama’s candidacy. The ad quotes McCain as saying he needs to be educated about economics and that America is better off than it was eight years ago, then promotes Obama as the candidate who will help the middle class. Here it is: Continue Reading

McCamley starts PAC to help young Dem candidates

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Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley has started a political action committee to help Democrats who are under 35 get elected. New Mexico’s Future Leaders hopes to help five or six young, Democratic candidates this election, and will focus on recruitment and training after the election, according to a news release. “There is no better way to bring real change to this state and this country than electing young people to office,” McCamley, a former 2nd Congressional District candidate, said in the release. “The time has come for a new generation to help move our country in the right direction.” McCamley, 30, was first elected to the county commission when he was 26. “There are many challenges to overcome when running for office, but fundraising can be especially difficult for younger candidates who may not have the connections necessary to raise the unfortunately large amounts of money necessary to compete with opponents,” he said. Continue Reading

Richardson to open Obama’s 35th NM office today

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Gov. Bill Richardson will open Barack Obama’s 35th office in New Mexico and launch the state’s Hispanics for Obama group today. Richardson will hold the ceremony at the new office in south Santa Fe on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month. The ceremony will be held at 2:15 p.m., and the new office is located at 3494 Zafarano Drive, Suite B. The Obama campaign opened its 34th office on Saturday in the south valley of Albuquerque with U.S. Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., in attendance. Obama has three offices in Doña Ana County, according to his Web site. They’re in Las Cruces, Anthony and Hatch. Continue Reading