Polls show hot prez race, not-so-hot Senate contest

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The newest polls show that the presidential race remains hotly contested in New Mexico, but in the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Tom Udall is maintaining a strong lead. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had a five-point lead over Republican opponent John McCain in New Mexico in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll, released Friday. He was up 46 percent to 41 percent. Last month, Obama led in the group’s poll by eight points, and in May, he led by nine. The newest telephone survey of 700 likely voters was conducted Thursday and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Continue Reading

Voters in poll say Cote will win re-election

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said state Rep. Nate Cote, D-Organ, will be re-elected. Of 241 voters, 138, or 57 percent, said Cote will win the District 53 race, while 103, or 43 percent, said his Republican challenger, Stanford Locke, will win. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Presidential campaigns to mobilize Saturday in N.M.

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The campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain will hold events in Las Cruces and other parts of New Mexico on Saturday. The campaign of the Democratic presidential candidate will host the grand opening of its Albuquerque headquarters, located at 117 Montclaire Dr. SE, at 5 p.m. In addition, it will hold neighborhood-team trainings in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Las Cruces at 1:30 p.m. In Las Cruces, the training will be held at the Doña Ana County Democratic Party headquarters, 139 North Downtown Mall. Volunteers with the campaign of the Republican presidential candidate, meanwhile, will spend 12 hours — from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. — reaching out to thousands of undecided voters by knocking on doors and making phone calls in Las Cruces and Albuquerque. That will include more than 60 volunteers from McCain’s home state of Arizona who are traveling to New Mexico to help. In Las Cruces, the volunteers will meet at the Las Cruces NM Victory Headquarters, 121 Wyatt Drive, Suites 15 and 16, at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Continue Reading

Pearce may not attend national GOP convention

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce may not attend his party’s presidential nominating convention in September, joining nine of 12 Republicans running in the most competitive Senate races in either saying they won’t attend or aren’t sure whether they will. Republicans from around the country will gather in Minnesota for the Sept. 1-4 convention, but Pearce is still on the fence about whether he’ll attend, according to the National Journal. A Pearce campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this article. Attending the convention is apparently not a high priority for many GOP Senate candidates. Continue Reading

Group hits Sen. Rawson with mailers, radio ad

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A flier hitting mailboxes this week in the district of Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, accuses him of engaging in “monkey business” instead of taking reform seriously. A radio ad that will run in the Las Cruces area in the coming days makes the same claim. While debating a bill during the 2007 legislative session that would have made New Mexico the 46th state to enact campaign contribution limits, Rawson, who opposed the bill, proposed an amendment that would have made the proposal take effect in 3007 instead of 2007. The amendment briefly passed, then was removed, before the Senate approved the bill, but a dispute between the House and Senate led to the bill’s demise. “Senator Rawson acted to block campaign reform for 1,000 years. Continue Reading

Tinsley still pushing for forums in every county in CD2

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The campaign of Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley is continuing its push to get Democratic opponent Harry Teague to agree to attend forums in each county in the district. Today, the Tinsley campaign released an undated video of Tinsley hand-delivering a letter making the forum challenge to Teague’s campaign headquarters in Hobbs. You can watch the video by clicking here. Teague wasn’t at the office on the day the video was recorded — a campaign staffer told Tinsley he was in Las Cruces — but Tinsley delivered the letter to a Teague staffer during a friendly encounter. Tinsley said on the video that it was the third time he visited Teague’s office. Continue Reading

Either candidate could win 2nd District race

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A reporter for a Washington, D.C. publication asked me on Wednesday whether I disagreed with her publication’s listing of New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District seat as “safe Republican” in the 2008 election. I do disagree. There are a lot of reasons why. For starters, there’s a Democratic wave. Eight years of the current administration has most Americans fed up with the Republican Party. Continue Reading

Denish blogs from Roundhouse on the Road tour

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As she travels around the state to meet with New Mexicans, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish is trying her hand at blogging. Denish stopped in Santa Rosa, Fort Sumner, Melrose and Clovis on Wednesday, the first day of her Roundhouse on the Road tour that is taking her around New Mexico. She recorded her travels in a new blog you can read by clicking here. Her postings about stops in each community are short, so there’s only a little bit of substance, but I get a sense that, at the end of it all, her blog from the trip could paint an interesting picture of rural New Mexico and its concerns. Consider these snippets: From Santa Rosa: “… the most common concern was health care access. Continue Reading

Obama campaign unveils Spanish-language radio ad

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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is out today with his first Spanish-language radio ad, a personal look at his life in which he aims to relate to Hispanic voters. “Some people have power and connections. But most of us have to make our own way through life. This is true even for the man who could become the next president, Barack Obama,” the ad’s narrator says in Spanish. “He grew up without a father — raised by his mother with the support of his grandparents. Continue Reading

CD2 candidates getting new campaign managers

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The campaigns of both 2nd Congressional District candidates are undergoing changes in leadership this month. Republican Ed Tinsley’s campaign already has a new manager. Chris Collins, who managed Heather Wilson’s unsuccessful primary bid for U.S. Senate, has taken over for Grant Hewitt, who is now deputy campaign manager. Meanwhile, Democrat Harry Teague has fired former campaign manager Brad Foster, who has yet to be replaced. “We wish Brad well. Continue Reading

Teague agrees to three debates; Tinsley wants more

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Harry Teague has agreed to three debates with Republican opponent Ed Tinsley, but he has thus far not responded to a challenge to make joint appearances in every county in the district. According to the Teague campaign, Teague and Tinsley have agreed to three debates — on Saturday in Mescalero, Aug. 7 in Las Cruces and Oct. 19 in Albuquerque. But Tinsley said in a Monday news release that he is disappointed in Teague’s failure to respond to his challenge to attend joint town-hall meetings in every county in the district. Continue Reading

Wilson, other N.M. vets attack Obama’s Iraq stance

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U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson and other New Mexico veterans joined today in the assault on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s stance on the Iraq War a day after the candidate visited the war-torn nation. The Republican representative from New Mexico joined U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and a staffer for Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign on a conference call today to discuss Obama’s trip to Iraq and positions on the 2007 troop surge and a timeline for withdrawal. After visiting Iraq, Obama said today in Jordan that Iraq needs a “political solution” and held to his plan to withdraw combat troops within 16 months of becoming president. While Obama said as recently as Monday that he still opposes the troop surge despite a sharp drop in violence in Iraq, today he said the surge is one of many factors that have improved the situation in that war-torn nation. Wilson said during the conference call that Obama’s shifting statements prove that he isn’t leading. Continue Reading

Pearce says he wants ‘at least’ three debates

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce responded today to a challenge from Democratic opponent Tom Udall to attend three debates by saying he wants at least three. “The Pearce campaign completely agrees that at least three debates made available to all media in New Mexico in a format that provides the widest discussion of ideas is essential for what is truly a historic election,” Pearce campaign manager John Billingsley wrote in a letter to Udall campaign manager Amanda Cooper. Earlier today, Cooper sent a letter to the Pearce campaign challenging Pearce to three debates to be held after Labor Day, televised and coordinated to reach every part of the state, and to include a “variety of formats to allow the most statewide interaction with the people of New Mexico.” “The voters need to know that Congressman Udall and some of the most radical special interests in the Democratic Party have been standing in the way of America’s ability to move forward on energy, education, the economy, on issue after issue,” Pearce’s campaign manager wrote. “Both Congressman Udall and Congressman Pearce have voting records that speak to who they are and what they believe. We look forward to the opportunity to reveal Congressman Udall’s record to the people while proudly reminding voters of Congressman Pearce’s common sense, pro-family, pro-business record.” Continue Reading

Udall challenges Pearce to three debates

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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall challenged his opponent today to three debates before the November election. Udall campaign manger Amanda Cooper sent a letter to Bob Carter, chief of staff for Republican Steve Pearce, challenging Pearce to three debates that would be televised statewide. Asked if he had any response, Pearce’s spokesman, Brian Phillips, said, “Not yet.” Udall’s challenge comes after a disagreement over format ended hopes of a joint appearance at this weekend’s New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau gathering on Saturday in Mescalero. Instead, Udall will speak for 30 minutes, then take questions, and Pearce will do the same when Udall is done. In addition, Udall refused a debate challenge from Pearce several weeks ago, saying there would be plenty of time for debates in the fall. Continue Reading

Bolstered by recent wins, progressives target Rawson

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By Heath Haussamen Democratic state Senate District 37 candidate Steve Fischmann accuses his opponent, incumbent Republican Leonard Lee Rawson, of supporting allowing Las Cruces to grow to the base of the Organ Mountains. Rawson says he supports preserving the mountains and calls Fischmann a hypocrite because he lives in the mountains adjacent to federally preserved land. Fischmann, who has worked to preserve the mountains and the area around them, responds by saying the house he owns is in a development built by Rawson’s brother that was already subdivided. If he didn’t buy it, someone else would have. He says he doesn’t want to stop the purchase of land that is already subdivided — he just wants to better control future growth. Continue Reading