Pearce a no-show, Kissling goes solo at forum

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., didn’t attend Wednesday’s League of Women Voters forum in Las Cruces, so his opponent, Democrat Al Kissling, had the podium to himself. When the forum moderator announced that Pearce “was unable to attend,” many in the audience laughed. “Ha! Unable?” one man yelled out. Though he took part in one forum with Kissling in August, Pearce has ducked the opportunity to participate in many forums and debates with Kissling in favor of photo opportunities and other events. Continue Reading

McCulloch cited in Oct. 15 crash

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Allen McCulloch, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, was cited Wednesday for careless driving in the Oct. 15 crash that left a woman badly burned, according to KOB-TV in Albuquerque. The Sandoval County Sheriff’s Department issued the citation after determining that McCulloch was talking on a cell phone and speeding during a rainstorm when his vehicle hydroplaned and slammed into the back of a parked sport utility vehicle on Highway 550 near Cuba, the station reported. The SUV, which was carrying six women, had stopped to wait out the storm. It rolled off the road’s shoulder and caught fire. Continue Reading

Pearce, Richardson debate ducking continues

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Can you guess where Steve Pearce is today? Congress isn’t in session, so you’d think the 2nd Congressional District representative would be in his Southern New Mexico district campaigning, what with the election less than two weeks away and all. After all, he is invited to a League of Women Voters candidate forum that will be held tonight in Las Cruces. But he’s not in Las Cruces. He’s not even in the district. Continue Reading

Independents growing in numbers, threaten parties

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New Mexico is one of the seven states with the fastest growing populations of voters registering independent of a political party, according to the New York Times. New Mexico is joined by Arizona, the state with the fastest growing population, along with New Hampshire, Florida, Maryland, California and Nevada. In Arizona, the number of independents has doubled in the last decade and now accounts for more than 25 percent of all registered voters. In New Mexico, the number is about 15 percent, but it’s about 20 percent in Doña Ana County. According to the Times, both parties are losing ground to independents, and the parties are working hard to figure out how those people will vote. Continue Reading

House hopeful has long-term plan for victory

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Lawrence Joy is fairly certain he won’t win the House seat he’s seeking this year. The Republican ran against Rep. Antonio Lujan, D-Las Cruces, in 2004, but lost with 38 percent of the vote to Lujan’s 62 percent. He’s running again, and this time Joy has a different take on how to knock off an incumbent in a district where party registration heavily favors the incumbent. He’s talking openly about how he is going to lose the race this year. “I’m trying to become the underdog,” Joy said. Continue Reading

Madrid comment reveals troubled political system

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A comment made by Patricia Madrid during the 1st Congressional District debate Tuesday night was exemplary of what’s wrong with politics. Madrid, a Democrat, was asked about $125,000 given to her political action committee by Stan Fulton, the owner of the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. Fulton gave the money in two installations, one just before and the other just after Madrid formally opposed last year the proposal by the Jemez Pueblo to build a casino 10 miles away in Anthony. She took the money despite the fact that Fulton admitted he’s tossing money around to try to defeat the Anthony proposal. It’s money I’ve called on Madrid to return, but she has not done that. Continue Reading

Herrera says it’s time to ‘punch back’

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Democratic secretary of state candidate Mary Herrera says she’s tired of the mudslinging by her opponent and isn’t going to take it any more. Republican Vickie Perea has been constantly tossing allegations at Herrera, the Bernalillo County Clerk, for several weeks. She’s accused the Democrat of sending a campaign e-mail from her government e-mail address, of sitting on a records request for phone and e-mail records for more than five weeks, and of having outgoing phone calls from some phones in the clerk’s office reflect other phone numbers to hide campaign activity that is taking place using government equipment. In addition to answering those charges in an interview with me Tuesday night, Herrera wanted to announce that she’s not going to turn the other cheek any longer. “Now I’m going to punch back,” Herrera said. Continue Reading

Kissling: ‘tax the heck out of’ the ultra-rich

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I’ve been asked by several Democrats and Republicans recently whether Al Kissling, the Democrats’ candidate trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., really said people who make more than $2 million annually should be taxed at a rate of 50-75 percent. He did. Kissling made the comments during a May 24 interview on The Morning Show With Michael Swickard. He was asked about oil companies and said they were making obscene profits. He said the answer to obscene salaries for corporate officials was to “tax the heck out of them.” “I think that people who make over a couple of million ought to be taxed heavily,” Kissling said. Continue Reading

I’m co-hosting PRC debate tomorrow

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I want to remind you all that I’m co-hosting on Thursday morning a debate between the candidates for the Public Regulation Commission District 5 seat. Michael Swickard and I are organizing the debate and will moderate. It will be held from 8-10 a.m. on The Morning Show With Michael Swickard, which can be heard throughout much of Southern New Mexico on KSNM-AM 570. The District 5 candidates are Republican Earl Greer and Democrat Sandy Jones. For those who can’t listen at that time or live too far away to hear it on the radio, I’m planning to rebroadcast audio of the debate on this site later Thursday. Continue Reading

Voters to decide whether to hike tax for spaceport

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The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners voted today to support the creation of a spaceport taxing district and to ask voters to approve a 1/4 percent gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. On a vote of 4-1, with Oscar Vasquez Butler dissenting, the commission voted to direct staff to begin the process that will end with an election, which will likely be held on April 3. “The investment that we would make with this tax would repay this community God knows how much. It would be a phenomenal boon,” said Commissioner Kent Evans, who has been involved in trying to bring the commercial space industry to the area for 20 years. “I think it’s going to be a phenomenal enterprise. Continue Reading

More than 2,300 have voted in the county

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As of Monday, 2,356 people had voted in Doña Ana County. That’s about 2.5 percent of the county’s 96,246 registered voters. According to the county, 2,317 people had voted at the Doña Ana County Government Center on Motel Boulevard in Las Cruces, which has been open for voting since Oct. 10. Early voting at the satellite sites started Saturday, so those numbers are much smaller. Continue Reading

Dismissal of legislator’s traffic tickets causes stir

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A controversy is brewing over whether a state representative facing re-election this year has benefited from an improper interpretation of a clause in the New Mexico Constitution. Some legislators believe Article 4, Section 13 of the constitution grants them immunity from receiving traffic citations when they’re driving to or from legislative sessions. But that’s not what the most recent attorney general opinion stated, or what the nation’s high court has determined about a similar clause in the United States Constitution. This weekend, voters in House District 53 received a mailer from the New Mexico Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee charging the district’s Republican representative, Terry Marquardt, with being “arrogant and irresponsible” because he “abuses his position… and our trust.” At issue is that fact that Marquardt has had two speeding citations dismissed on grounds that the constitutional clause requires it. In the first case, he was cited on May 8, 1999 for driving 85 mph in a 55-mph zone. Continue Reading

While Richardson hides, Clinton debates

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Score one for Hillary Clinton. While N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson was who-knows-where (cutting a ribbon? speaking in New Hampshire?) on Friday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., was debating the opponent in her Senate race. Republican John Spencer is way behind Clinton in the polls. His campaign has been abandoned by his party. Continue Reading

Allegations against Herrera starting to stick

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I had been ignoring the mud Vickie Perea was slinging at Mary Herrera in the secretary of state’s race, but it’s starting to stick. Perea, the Republican candidate, started attacking Democrat Herrera several weeks ago after Herrera, the Bernalillo County clerk, allegedly sent a campaign e-mail from her government e-mail address.If it’s true, that is an ethical lapse and a technical violation of state policy, but it was just one e-mail, so I let it go. Then Perea sent a records request for a wide range of documents that would show whether Herrera has used the office’s resources for any other campaigning. The request is vast and the office is trying to run an election, so it’s not entirely unreasonable that, 39 days later, Herrera hasn’t yet been able to comply. Still, the journalist in me says she should have provided the records by now. Continue Reading

Kissling gets a new campaign manager, again, and help from a newly formed anti-Pearce group

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Al Kissling, the Democrat trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has changed campaign managers again. His new manager is Bill Grigaliunas, the 2006 chair of the board of directors for the United Way of Southwest New Mexico. Grigaliunas, a longtime friend of Kissling who is working for free, also served recently as the interim general manager for KRWG-TV. He replaces Loveless Johnson III of Santa Fe, who left the campaign in September. “Loveless didn’t quite, I think, come up to everybody’s expectations and decided to leave,” Grigaliunas said. Continue Reading