Preprimaries reveal several tight contests

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Steve Pearce was certainly the winner at Saturday’s U.S. Senate Republican preprimary nominating convention, coming out nine points ahead of opponent Heather Wilson, but the impact is much more complicated than that. Pearce boldly proclaimed his win a “huge upset” in a news release following the convention. In some ways it was. Wilson has a history of winning even when the odds are against her, as they were in this preprimary race, and many expected a strong showing from her. A few even expected an upset win by Wilson. Continue Reading

Voters in poll split on Dems’ chances in House races

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Voters were split last week on a non-scientific poll question asking which U.S. House seat held by the GOP is most likely to be won by a Democrat this year. Of 206 voters, 85, or 41 percent, said the First Congressional District seat by Heather Wilson is the most likely to be won by a Democrat, while 61, or 30 percent, picked the Second Congressional District seat held by Steve Pearce. Meanwhile, 60 voters, or 29 percent, said neither seat will be won by a Democrat this year. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Pearce claims a ‘huge upset’ at preprimary

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Steve Pearce says his nine-point win over Heather Wilson in today’s U.S. Senate GOP preprimary contest is a “huge upset.” Pearce finished with 54.5 percent of the vote to Wilson’s 45.5 percent. “Cynthia and I are so happy and thrilled,” Pearce said in a news release. “We did today what would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. Today’s results clearly show that I am the only candidate who has the momentum to beat Tom Udall in November.” Over just a few months, Pearce has captured the hearts of party activists and scored a clear a decisive victory at the convention, his release states. He was formally nominated by Teresita Gonzalez and his speech was received with a standing ovation and loud applause from the delegates. Continue Reading

Wilson says momentum has shifted her way

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Heather Wilson called losing today’s U.S. Senate Republican preprimary nominating convention by nine points today a “great success,” saying she did better than anyone – including opponent Steve Pearce – expected. “New Mexico Republicans understand that we must nominate a commonsense conservative who can win in November,” Wilson said in a news release. “That’s why today we proved the pundits and my opponent wrong. We picked up more support than anyone had predicted. The momentum has shifted our way.” Pearce finished with 54.5 percent of the vote to Wilson’s 45.5 percent. Continue Reading

Dunn wins; Tinsley, Greer also qualify for ballot

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Aubrey Dunn Jr. won today’s Second Congressional District Republican preprimary contest, but C. Earl Greer and Ed Tinsley also qualified for the ballot. Dunn received the support of 40 delegates, or 30 percent, while Greer and Tinsley each received 33 votes, or 24 percent. Monty Newman narrowly missed qualifying for the ballot, receiving 25 votes, or 18.5 percent of the vote. Terry Marquardt and Greg Sowards each received two votes, or about 1 percent. Update, 4:35 p.m. Dunn had this to say about his victory: “I’m grateful to have the support of grassroots Republicans across Southern New Mexico, and I look forward to taking on the Democrat candidate in November,” he said in a news release. Continue Reading

White wins; Carraro doesn’t qualify for ballot

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Darren White won the support of 85 percent of delegates in today’s First Congressional District Republican preprimary contest. White won 138 of 162 votes, leaving Joe Carraro with 24 votes, or 15 percent. Carraro failed to qualify to appear on the ballot in June. Update, 3:55 p.m. White, in a news release, said he is “humbled by this tremendous show of support from his party.” “These results show that my message about cleaning up the mess in Washington is resonating with the grassroots,” he said. The news release also pointed out that “no candidate has ever gone on to win a primary after failing to meet the 20 percent threshold at the party’s convention.” Continue Reading

Heinrich wins CD1 Dem preprimary

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Martin Heinrich won big in today’s First Congressional District Democratic preprimary contest, while Michelle Lujan-Grisham also qualified for the ballot. Heinrich received 56 percent of the vote, while Grisham received 28 percent. Rebecca Vigil-Giron came in third with 11 percent, while Robert Pidcock finished with 4 percent. Jessica Wolfe announced at the convention that she is dropping out of the race to instead run for a state Senate seat. Continue Reading

Luján wins CD3 Dem preprimary

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Ben R. Luján won just over 40 percent of the vote in a six-way race today in the Third Congressional District Democratic preprimary contest, while Don Wiviott also qualified for the ballot with just under 30 percent of the vote. No other candidate reached the 20-percent threshold. Luján had 40.2 percent of the vote to Wiviott’s 29.6 percent. Benny Shendo Jr. came in third with 16.4 percent of the vote, while Harry Montoya had almost 11 percent, Jon Adams had just over 2 percent and Rudy Martin had less than 1 percent. Update, 3:55 p.m. In a news release, Wiviott campaign spokeswoman Caroline Buerkle said Wiviott’s support shows that his message “is clearly resonating with voters.” “It is remarkable how far this campaign has come,” she said. Continue Reading

McCamley wins CD2 Dem preprimary

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Bill McCamley won today’s Second Congressional District Democratic preprimary contest, receiving almost 50 percent of the vote in a four-way race. McCamley received 48.8 percent of the vote, while Harry Teague received 36.5 percent. They’re the only candidates who received greater than 20 percent of the vote and qualified for the ballot. Al Kissling received about 13 percent of the vote, and Frank McKinnon received about 1 percent. Update, 4:50 p.m. McCamley said he is “thankful to the people of the second district for giving us the momentum to move forward strongly in this race.” “The results today show that elections are about earning people’s votes. Continue Reading

Wolfe quits First Congressional District race

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Jessica Wolfe, a former cabinet aide to Gov. Bill Richardson, announced today that she’s dropping her bid for Congress and will instead run for a state Senate seat this year. Wolfe had been one of five Democrats seeking to replace Heather Wilson in Congress. She announced at the end of her speech at today’s preprimary nominating convention in Rio Rancho that she was leaving the race. She plans instead to run for the District 21 state Senate seat currently held by Kent Cravens, R-Albuquerque. Her exit from the race leaves Democrats Martin Heinrich, Michelle Lujan-Grisham, Robert Pidcock and Rebecca Vigil-Giron vying for the support of delegates at today’s convention. Continue Reading

Governor’s Office report criticizes DOT projects

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The Governor’s Office calls the Department of Transportation’s now defunct efforts to redevelop two offices in Santa Fe “a fatally flawed process” in a long-awaited review reported on today by the Albuquerque Journal. The plans, which the governor halted in the midst of the scandal last fall, “suffered from poor planning and poor decisions,” the report stated, according to the Journal. The report said the DOT lacked the expertise for planning public-private projects, “skirted purchasing rules and made questionable use of state aircraft,” the Journal reported. None of this is news. The Journal has done an excellent job of reporting on this topic and already reported most of what was in the governor’s report. Continue Reading

Pre-game analysis of the preprimary conventions

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Democrats will gather in Rio Rancho and Republicans will gather in Albuquerque on Saturday for preprimary nominating conventions that will be the first real tests of candidates for four open seats in Congress. Candidates can qualify to appear on the June 3 ballot by securing the votes of at least 20 percent of delegates at the respective conventions. Those who fail to reach that threshold can attempt to gather a large number of signatures over the course of the next few days to appear on the ballot, but getting at least 20 percent at the preprimary goes a long way toward convincing party insiders that a candidate is serious and credible. Here’s a rundown of the races to watch this weekend: CD2 GOP primary Five of six candidates in this race have boldly proclaimed that they believe they have the support of 20 percent of delegates. Though that’s mathematically possible – barely – it isn’t going to happen. Continue Reading

Rodriguez announces bid for magistrate judgeship

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Democrat Maria Rodriguez, 48, of Las Cruces, has announced her candidacy for Doña Ana County Magistrate Court judge. In a news release, the former magistrate judge cited the need for professionalism at the magistrate level as one of the key factors in her decision to try to return to office. “It is extremely important to have competent, experienced judges at the magistrate level,” Rodriguez said. “Professionalism and high standards are essential at every level of the judiciary.” She’ll be running for the seat currently held by Kent Wingenroth – the only magistrate judgeship in the county that’s up for grabs this year. Rodriguez has nearly three decades of legal experience in both the private and public sector, according to the release. Continue Reading