Rep. Pearce increases lead over Kissling

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The newest Albuquerque Journal poll shows that U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has increased his lead over Democratic challenger Al Kissling. The poll, conducted Sept. 25-28, shows Pearce with 58 percent of the vote, compared to 27 percent for Kissling. A Journal poll conducted a month ago had Pearce leading 54-29 percent. In the interim, Pearce unveiled a series of radio ads attacking Kissling, including the “bizarre” commercial that uses the Democrat’s own words against him. Continue Reading

BREAKING NEWS: Schultz appointed to judgeship

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Gov. Bill Richardson appointed Democrat Lisa Schultz today to fill the district judge vacancy created by the recent death of Silvia Cano-Garcia. Richardson was already coming to Las Cruces Thursday for a 1 p.m. swearing-in of newly appointed District Judge Fernando Macias. Schultz, who had already been in the process of closing her law practice, will be sworn in at the same ceremony. The two are the new children’s court judges, but are in fights to keep their jobs past the end of 2006. Schultz is facing Republican Janetta Hicks on Nov. Continue Reading

Cervantes may have gubernatorial aspirations

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State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, might run for governor in the future. The representative made the comment today on the Michael Swickard show. Swickard was commenting that, when Gov. Bill Richardson leaves office sometime in the next four years, there will be a vacuum for others to fill. He asked whether Cervantes would be interested in holding statewide office. “I’d look forward to doing that,” Cervantes said, adding that no one from Las Cruces has held a statewide office since Garrey Carruthers was governor from 1987-1991. Continue Reading

PRC candidates don’t like commission’s secrecy

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The Public Regulation Commission has finally made public the list of finalists for insurance superintendent. The PRC has been working to replace Eric Serna since he resigned earlier this year amid scandal. The PRC announced last week that it was negotiating with a candidate, meaning it skipped the step of releasing publicly the names of the finalists. The director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said that violated the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act, but the PRC still refused. The Albuquerque Journal filed a formal request for records, and Monday the PRC complied, releasing the list of finalists. Continue Reading

Dendahl’s thoughts on Israel

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Gov. Bill Richardson has still not agreed to a televised debate with Republican challenger John Dendahl. Richardson gave a new explanation, published Monday in the Albuquerque Tribune. Noting that he originally agreed to one debate with Dendahl, Richardson told the Tribune he can’t live with Dendahl’s conditions. “He set some impossible conditions,” Richardson told the newspaper. “He had no right to set conditions. Continue Reading

Journal polls give good news to Democrats

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ABQJournal started another round of election polls Sunday, with its first poll showing that the 1st Congressional District race is as tight as can be. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and Democratic challenger Patricia Madrid were tied, each with 44 percent of the vote in the poll. Some 7 percent were undecided and 5 percent said they won’t vote for either candidate. The poll, which surveyed 400 voters from Sept. 25-28, has a margin of error of about 5 percentage points. Continue Reading

Richardson touts Western States Primary in Utah

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Gov. Bill Richardson made a stop Friday in Utah for the Western Presidential Primary Symposium. He was there with others to talk about the possibility of a Feb. 5, 2008 Western States Primary, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, and joins Utah’s governor in pushing for the proposal to become reality. At a breakfast meeting of Utah’s Democratic Party leadership, Richardson said that state is turning toward Democrats. “You care going to see a dramatic change,” the Tribune quoted Richardson as saying. Continue Reading

Commission recommends Schultz to governor, but not before Neumann attacks its integrity

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Gov. Bill Richardson has only Democrat Lisa Schultz to consider for appointment to the district court vacancy created by the death of Silvia Cano-Garcia. Republican Rita Nuñez Neumann was the other applicant to appear today before a judicial nominating commission that opted to recommend only Schultz. The decision came after Neumann attacked the commission during her interview, saying the system favors Democrats and that, in the past 12 years, a commission in Doña Ana County has never recommended a Republican applicant to the governor. Neumann said that made other qualified Republicans afraid to apply for judgeships, because their opponents in elections can use against them the fact that they didn’t get past the commission. “It is used as a political sword against an opponent, and that is wrong,” Neumann said. Continue Reading

Dendahl on abortion and other life issues

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Gov. Bill Richardson has still not agreed to debate Republican challenger John Dendahl. The reason given by his campaign manager is that Dendahl isn’t capable of “positive sharing of ideas.” Debates and candidate forums should be standard in all races. Richardson’s refusal to debate ideas on how to better the State of New Mexico shouldn’t mean that Dendahl doesn’t get to share his views in a public forum. Until Richardson agrees to a televised debate, I’ll be publishing Dendahl’s stances on various issues. I was planning to do the same for Al Kissling, the Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., because Pearce only agreed to one debate, held in the middle of the day, which ensured no live television coverage. Continue Reading

Poll: Most say Macias will win district judgeship

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In last week’s non-scientific poll on this site, an overwhelming majority said Democrat Fernando Macias will win his district judge race with Republican Rita Nuñez Neumann. Of 165 votes, 117, or 71 percent, went to Macias. Some 48, or 29 percent, went to Neumann. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

UP Aerospace rocket recovered

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UP Aerospace today recovered its rocket launched Monday from Spaceport America. The company announced that it also recovered the payloads and is returning them to customers. “We were absolutely determined to find the vehicle and provide the payloads and experiments back to our launch partners,” CEO Eric Knight said. “We’ve spoken to our launch partners this morning, and they’re ecstatic over the news of the recovery.” The company hopes recovery of the rocket will help determine what went wrong nine seconds into Monday’s launch, so any problems can be corrected before the next launch on Oct. 21. Continue Reading

BREAKING NEWS: Vigil found guilty on one count

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Former state Treasurer Robert Vigil has been found guilty on one of the 24 counts he was facing, according to KOB-TV in Albuquerque. Vigil was convicted on one count of attempted extortion, but acquitted on 23 other charges. The conviction carries a prison sentence of as much as 20 years or as little as 12 months, the station reported. The verdict came back about 1:30 p.m. today. Stay tuned for more. Continue Reading

Sex scandal increases chances Democrats will take control of House

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Retaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives keeps looking less likely for Republicans. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., abruptly resigned today after being questioned by ABC News about sexually explicit instant messages he allegedly sent to underage male pages who worked for him. Once a champion of tough laws regarding child predators, Foley might now be prosecuted under some of those laws, ABC News reported. Foley was chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children. His departure sends Republicans scrambling to find a replacement just weeks before the election, according to the Associated Press. Continue Reading