‘Toughest sheriff in America’ endorses Dunn

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Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio has endorsed Republican Aubrey Dunn in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District race. The sheriff, according to a news release from the Dunn campaign, has earned a reputation as “the toughest sheriff in America.” “Of all the candidates in this race, Aubrey Dunn is the strongest on the issue of protecting our border,” Arpaio said in the release. “Aubrey Dunn strongly opposes amnesty for illegals, and he’ll fight in Congress to keep our nation safe.” Dunn said he is honored to have the endorsement. “As our next congressman, I’ll take the sheriff’s same no-nonsense approach with me to Washington as we fight to protect our border and crack down on illegal immigration,” he said. Continue Reading

Teague loans campaign another $80,000

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Harry Teague has loaned his campaign another $80,000 a week before voters will choose between him and Bill McCamley in the primary. Teague, according to Federal Election Commission records, made the new loan to his campaign on Wednesday, and has now put a total of $766,872.92 into his primary race against McCamley. He’s spent much of that money by flooding the airwaves across the district with television ads. Continue Reading

Opinion is mixed on who won GOP Senate debate

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Opinion appears to be mixed about who won Tuesday’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate debate between Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson. A poll on KOAT’s Web site asking who won has 105 votes each for Pearce and Wilson. And an Albuquerque Journal reporter wrote on the paper’s blog that opinion is mixed in the newsroom about who won. KOAT reaches every county in the state except Doña Ana, and I couldn’t get the station’s video feed on its Web site to work on Tuesday evening, so I wasn’t able to watch the debate and have no opinion on who won. You can watch excerpts from the debate by clicking here. Continue Reading

Restaurant group spending $200K to promote Tinsley

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The National Restaurant Association Political Action Committee is spending $200,000 in the final week before the June 3 primary on TV and radio ads promoting the candidacy of 2nd Congressional District Republican candidate Ed Tinsley. The independent expenditure further ups the ante in a GOP primary race that has already seen the National Association of Realtors’ PAC spend almost $1 million to promote the candidacy of Tinsley opponent Monty Newman and every candidate help self-finance his own campaign. The restaurant group’s expenditure, according to the FEC’s Web site, went entirely to a Washington group, Wilson Research Strategies. Though I’ve not seen or heard the ads, sources say the group is running radio and television ads throughout the district. Tinsley was chairman of the board of the restaurant association from May 2006 to May 2007. Continue Reading

Martin is already facing controversy at LSU

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The controversy that seems to accompany New Mexico State University President Michael Martin wherever he goes appears to already be plaguing him in Louisiana, where he hasn’t even officially been offered the job of chancellor of the main campus at Louisiana State University. While I’ve written extensively about the controversies Martin has faced at NMSU, the respected Chronicle of Higher Education published an article late last week that included surprisingly negative comments from NMSU faculty members about the tenure of a man who is still their boss. “We have had concerns about lack of communication,” Jamie L. Bronstein, an associate professor of history, told the Chronicle. “There has been a decline in morale over the past few years. I think there is more of a feeling that faculty members feel troubled about the way things are going.” Martin has been named sole finalist for the chancellor job at LSU’s main campus. Continue Reading

Richardson endorses Luján in CD3 race

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Gov. Bill Richardson today endorsed Ben R. Luján in the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary, calling him “the most qualified candidate” and “best prepared to represent the diverse communities that stretch across northern and eastern New Mexico.” “I am also proud to endorse a candidate who has taken the high road against negative and unnecessary political attacks from some of his opponents,” Richardson said in a news release from Luján campaign. In the news release, Richardson called Luján “the candidate who will stand up for New Mexico.” “He has worked hard on the Public Regulation Commission to serve the people of New Mexico,” the governor said. “No other candidate can match his record of fighting for consumers, increasing renewable energy production and creating regional solutions to climate change.” Luján said he is “proud” to have Richardson’s endorsement. “In Congress, I will carry on the tradition that Governor Richardson and Congressman Udall set of standing up for the people of New Mexico,” he said. Update, 2:20 p.m. Webster Cash, spokesman for Luján primary opponent Don Wiviott, had this to say about the governor’s endorsement: “While Wiviott has nothing but respect for the governor, this endorsement comes as no surprise. Continue Reading

Richardson endorses Teague in CD2 race

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Gov. Bill Richardson announced today that he is endorsing Harry Teague in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary, calling him “a successful businessman and community leader with moderate views who should be able to win the general election.” “I worked with Harry Teague to reinvigorate and diversify the economy in Lea County. I know Harry will use that experience to create jobs and represent the mostly rural communities of southern New Mexico in Congress,” Richardson said today in a news release from the Teague campaign. Teague said he is “deeply honored” to have Richardson’s endorsement. “I will fight everyday to continue in his tradition of getting real results for New Mexico,” Teague said. “Whether it be his service as a congressman, cabinet secretary, ambassador or governor, Bill Richardson has a strong record of accomplishment that all Americans should be proud of. Continue Reading

Obama’s Las Cruces remark creates controversy

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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is taking fire from Republicans after erroneously saying during his town-hall meeting with veterans in Las Cruces that his uncle was among the American soldiers who liberated Auschwitz during World War II. Auschwitz was liberated by the Russians, not the Americans. But Obama said on Monday, while talking about the need for improved health care for veterans, that he had an uncle “who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps. The story in our family was that when he came home, he just went up into the attic and he didn’t leave the house for six months. Now, obviously something had really affected him, but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain.” According to the Associated Press, the Obama campaign said on Tuesday that the Illinois senator’s story was correct except that the camp his great uncle helped liberate was Buchenwald. Continue Reading

Newman has to share hometown paper’s endorsement

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Citing concerns about the $1 million the National Association of Realtors has spent to promote Monty Newman’s candidacy, the Hobbs News-Sun has decided to give a dual endorsement in the Republican 2nd Congressional District race to Newman and Lincoln County’s Ed Tinsley. The decision is a blow to the campaign of Newman, a former Hobbs mayor. “We are concerned about the nearly $1 million being spent by the National Association of Realtors on Newman’s behalf, a significant amount by one special interest group for a single candidate,” the newspaper’s Friday editorial states. The newspaper did praise Newman for brokering and overseeing the move of City Hall to a new building and for beautification efforts on Hobbs’ main street. And it pointed out that he’s the only GOP candidate who has held elective office. Continue Reading

Activists host candidate forum, urge early voting

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A group of activists from throughout Doña Ana County are making a bipartisan effort to encourage early voting on Saturday by hosting a forum for local candidates and offering rides to polling places in a limousine. The forum will be held from noon to 5 p.m. at the Dream Center, 1400 6th Street in Las Cruces. From there, anyone who wants will be given rides to early voting sites in a limo. No single group is sponsoring the event, said Arturo Uribe, a south-county activist who is helping organize the event. He said individuals and groups from throughout the county are coming together to donate money and time to make the event a success. Continue Reading

To win N.M., Obama needs to come back to Cruces

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Because it was closed to the public, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s Memorial Day visit to Las Cruces did little to help him win over southern New Mexico Democrats who will take a hard look at Republican presidential candidate John McCain before deciding how to vote in November. If Obama wants to win New Mexico – one of the most important swing states in the 2008 presidential election – he’ll have to return to the Las Cruces area at least once to hold a public rally and give voters a chance to see him in person. Hillary Clinton won New Mexico’s Democratic presidential caucus in February, but it’s the reason she won that’s important to the November contest between Obama and McCain. Obama narrowly won northern New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District and the Albuquerque-area 1st Congressional District, but Clinton easily won the more conservative 2nd Congressional District in southern New Mexico by several thousand votes, which propelled her to a statewide victory of 1,709 votes out of about 150,000 cast. In Doña Ana County – the most populous county in the 2nd District and a Democratic stronghold – Clinton easily won by about 1,200 votes out of almost 9,500 cast. Continue Reading

Bush helps White, state GOP raise $317K

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A fundraiser hosted by President Bush today in Albuquerque raised $317,000 that will be split between the state GOP and the campaign of 1st Congressional District Republican candidate Darren White. At the noon event, Bush praised White’s understanding of national security issues and applauded his record as a law-enforcement officer, according to a release from the White campaign. Bush also called White a “proven vote-getter.” White was re-elected as sheriff of Bernalillo County in 2006 with 64 percent of the vote. U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici also spoke at the fundraiser, where he praised White’s independence and integrity. Domenici noted that White resigned from his job in former Gov. Gary Johnson’s administration after the governor came out in favor of drug decriminalization. Continue Reading

Pearce, Wilson announce new endorsements

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce has picked up a number of endorsements in recent days in Farmington, while his primary opponent, Heather Wilson, has announced other endorsements, including those of two U.S. senators. Pearce has received the endorsements of state Sens. Bill Sharer and Steve Neville and Reps. James Strickler and Paul Bandy, all from Farmington. He was also endorsed by San Juan County Commissioner Keith Johnson, former Commission Chairman Jack Fortner and former House Minority Leader Richard Cheney. Continue Reading

GOP Senate candidates to debate twice this week

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Republican U.S. Senate candidates Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson will face off twice this week in debates, with the first head-to-head contest held tonight. Tonight’s debate, sponsored by KOAT-7 and the Albuquerque Journal, will be broadcast by the Albuquerque TV station live beginning at 9 p.m., and will also be streamed live on the Internet. Click here to watch the debate online tonight. You can also submit questions to be asked of the candidates by clicking here. The second debate, which will be held on Friday, will be broadcast on TV and radio stations throughout New Mexico. Continue Reading

Wiviott unveils another TV ad attacking Luján

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Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate Don Wiviott continues spinning primary opponent Ben R. Luján’s record in his newest TV ad, another assault on the frontrunner. Here’s the ad: The ad refers to Wiviott’s previous negative ad, which accused Luján of missing 13 of 14 meetings of the state Telehealth Commission while being paid $90,000. The new ad then attacks Luján for taking trips to Miami, Reno and San Diego at taxpayer expense, and says that’s why Democrats are supporting Wiviott. As the Luján campaign has already pointed out, while the accusation that Luján missed the meetings is true, being a member of the commission is something Luján does as a volunteer, not in his paid capacity as a member of the Public Regulation Commission, so the two are not connected. Wiviott’s new ad also gives no context for the taxpayer-funded trips. Continue Reading