Witt pulls ahead, race still a toss up

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With 31 precincts reporting, in the House District 37 race Republican Scott Witt has pulled slightly ahead of Democrat Jeff Steinborn.Witt has 2,352 votes, or 51 percent, to Steinborn’s 2,255 votes, or 49 percent.In the House District 35 race, Democratic incumbent Antonio Lujan is beating Republican challenger Lawrence Joy 66-34 percent.In the House District 36 race, Democratic incumbent Andy Nuñez is beating Republican challenger Isaac Chavez 57-43 percent.In the House District 53 race, counting this county’s results only, Democratic challenger Nate Cote is beating Republican incumbent Terry Marquardt 57-43 percent. Continue Reading

Sandy Jones has early lead

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Democrat Sandy Jones is off to a hot start in the Public Regulation Commission District 5 race. Combining results from other counties on the Secretary of State’s Web site with results from Doña Ana County, I calculate that Jones has 7,829 votes so far, compared to 5,827 for Republican Earl Greer. That means Jones is up 57-43 percent. Continue Reading

First results are in

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The first results are in for the county. You can view them all by clicking here. As predicted, we have three very close House races. In District 37, Democrat Jeff Steinborn is leading Republican Scott Witt by 13 votes. We also have two close county commission races. Continue Reading

Garrison doing well in south county

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In Precinct 17 in La Mesa, Republican Sheriff Todd Garrison did pretty well, increasing his chances of winning this race. If Garrison makes a decent show in the Democratic south county, he has a good shot at winning. Garrison received 144 votes at that precinct, Mitch Boyer reports. Democratic challenger Ralph Misquez received 169 votes. In the county commission District 1 race, Oscar Vasquez Butler received 203 votes, and Republican challenger John Zimmerman received 111 votes. Continue Reading

Hatch early vote results will wait a day

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Results from four of the five early voting sites are about to be reported. The 103 early votes cast in Hatch won’t be reported until at least tomorrow. When elections workers opened the early voting box from Hatch, the tape that should show that the count began at zero was missing. That means workers have to recount the votes, but the ballots are already locked in a box. That means workers need a court order to open that box, and a district judge would not authorize opening the box tonight. Continue Reading

In Mesquite, Misquez, Butler get more votes

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I just received a call from Mitch Boyer, a south-county activist, who said results have been posted at the polling place in Mesquite, which is Precinct 79. In the sheriff race, Democrat Ralph Misquez received 89 votes. Garrison received 73 votes, he said. In the county commission District 1 race, Democrat Oscar Vasquez Butler received 107 votes and Republican John Zimmerman received 48 votes. He said Democrats had more votes in all races on the ballot at that precinct. Continue Reading

Where will everyone be tonight?

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The Republican Party of Doña Ana County isn’t having a post-election party tonight, said chair Sid Goddard. He said tonight “is a work night.” Republicans Janetta Hicks, who is running for district judge, and Sheriff Todd Garrison are having a party at the Best Western Mesilla Valley Inn on Avenida de Mesilla. Democrats are gathering at the Beverly Hills Hall near Meerscheidt Recreation Center in Las Cruces. Many are at the county government center tonight, where results will be broadcast live in the commission chambers as ballots are counted. Continue Reading

Wilson, Madrid race might end up in court

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What has been an ugly race for the 1st Congressional District seat in central New Mexico just got uglier. The race is expected to end with a photo finish and has been characterized by its negativity. Things got even worse this morning. U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson found two heavily Republican precincts in her district that received one tenth of the paper ballots they were supposed to get, according to the Albuquerque Tribune. They should have received 1,500 and 1,700, respectively but instead got 150 and 170. Continue Reading

Additional poll workers report few problems

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I’ve visited four additional precincts in the central and northwest portions of Las Cruces, and workers there also report few problems. At Valley View Elementary School in inner-city Las Cruces, 79 of 990 registered voters had cast votes by 12:30 p.m. in Precinct 48. At Picacho Middle School on the city’s northwest side, there are two precincts. In Precinct 88, 27 of 316 had voted by 1 p.m. In Precinct 87, 214 of 1,126 had cast votes. At Fairacres Elementary School on Picacho Avenue, 219 of 1,164 registered voters had cast votes by 1:10 p.m. As was the case with other polling places I visited today, poll workers at these sites reported that very few provisional ballots have been cast. This is a great sign that we will likely be able to know the results of close races later tonight. Continue Reading