Some surprises in Tuesday’s primary, most notably Shirley Baca’s resounding defeat

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Voters made a lot of interesting choices in Tuesday’s election, but let’s start with the Public Regulation Commission District 5 race, which was perhaps the most surprising.On the Democrat side, incumbent E. Shirley Baca was trounced by challenger Sandy Jones in her home county of Doña Ana. That ensured Jones the victory, even though voters in the rest of the 11-county district were split more evenly between the two candidates.Why did this happen? Democrats in Doña Ana County know Baca well. She’s been around a long time. It appears she lost much of her hometown support after last year’s marijuana arrest (the charges were later dropped) and other controversies that captured headlines. Continue Reading

Software glitch creates problems, but here are Doña Ana County’s numbers, minus provisionals

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A software glitch at the secretary of state’s office is apparently to blame for the discrepancies in election numbers between last night and today. For example, the computer counted Taos County’s numbers three times.The secretary of state’s office is in the process of recounting some counties. The numbers are in the process of being updated.Here are the results for Doña Ana County, with all precincts reporting plus early and absentee ballots counted. There are about 100 provisional ballots that have not been counted.DemocratsSecretary of StateMary Herrera: 1,556, 34.3 percentStephanie Gonzales: 1,464, 32.3 percentShirley Hooper: 852, 18.8 percentLetitia Montoya: 665, 14.7 percentState AuditorJeff Armijo: 2,622, 59.1 percentThomas Buckner: 1,815, 40.9 percentAttorney GeneralGeno Zamora: 1,318, 28 percentLemuel Martinez: 764, 16.2 percentGary King: 2,620, 55.7 percentCommissioner of Public LandsRay Powell: 2,095, 46.1 percentJim Baca: 2,448, 53.9 percentPRC District 2Stephanie Dubois: 231, 63.5 percentJoseph Calderon: 133, 36.5 percentPRC District 5Sandy Jones: 2,595, 60.4 percentE. Shirley Baca: 1,704, 39.6 percentMagistrate Judge Division 3Maria Rodriguez: 1,902, 42 percentOlivia Garcia: 2,629, 58 percentCounty Commission District 1Chris Jaramillo: 403, 35.3 percentOscar Vasquez Butler: 738, 64.7 percentProbate JudgeDino Villani: 621, 13.6 percentAlice Salcido: 2,605, 57.1 percentNeri Frietze: 1,333, 29.2 percentRepublicansU.S. SenatorAllen McCulloch: 1,417, 54.1 percentDavid Pfeffer: 676, 25.8 percentJoseph Carraro: 528, 20.1 percentPRC District 5D. Continue Reading

Numbers posted here are correct

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The results that appear on the secretary of state’s Web site this morning are much lower than the totals I reported on this site. The county’s elections bureau stands by the numbers I posted, which were on the secretary of state’s Web site about 2 a.m. and do not include early, absentee and provisional ballots but do include all other precincts.I can’t tell you why the secretary of state’s site shows fewer votes today than it did at 2 a.m., but when I called to ask, they were very wishy washy about whether their numbers are accurate, so I’m standing by what I have posted for now.The state Web site also shows fewer votes across the state than it did at 2 a.m.I’ll tell you more when I know it. The race between Jim Baca and Ray Powell for land commissioner still appears to be too close to call, and this snafu isn’t helping. Continue Reading

Updated primary numbers and projected winners

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Here are the results with 106 of 106 precincts reporting in Doña Ana County. Absentee, early and provisional ballots have yet to be tallied, and add up to about 1,800 ballots.Democrats:Secretary of state:Mary Herrera: 1,220Stephanie Gonzales: 1,110Shirley Hooper: 656Letitia Montoya: 570State auditor:Thomas Buckner: 1,338Jeff Armijo: 2,009Attorney general:Geno Zamora: 1,106Gary King: 2,024Lemuel Martinez: 549Commissioner of public lands:Jim Baca: 1,971Ray Powell: 1,590PRC District 5:Sandy Jones: 2,082E. Shirley Baca: 1,261County commission district 1:Chris Jaramillo: 336Oscar Vasquez Butler: 534Probate judge:Dino Villani: 507Alice Salcido: 2,006Neri Frietze: 1,056Magistrate judge Division 3:Maria Rodriguez: 1,486Olivia Garcia: 2,056Republicans:U.S. senator:Allen McCulloch: 1,138Joseph Carraro: 381David Pfeffer: 571PRC District 5:Doyle Pruitt: 368C. Earl Greer: 605D. Kent Evans: 825County commission District 3Ruben Gonzalez: 148Mack Haley: 538***I’m going to call it a night. Continue Reading

Updated numbers

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Here are the results so far with 104 of 106 precincts reporting in Doña Ana County.Democrats:Secretary of state:Mary Herrera: 1,204Stephanie Gonzales: 1,097Shirley Hooper: 647Letitia Montoya: 567State auditor:Thomas Buckner: 1,321Jeff Armijo: 1,991Attorney general:Geno Zamora: 1,096Gary King: 1,999Lemuel Martinez: 542Commissioner of public lands:Jim Baca: 1,951Ray Powell: 1,571PRC District 5:Sandy Jones: 2,059E. Shirley Baca: 1,245County commission district 1:Chris Jaramillo: 322Oscar Vasquez Butler: 508Probate judge:Dino Villani: 503Alice Salcido: 1,981Neri Frietze: 1,045Magistrate judge Division 3:Maria Rodriguez: 1,464Olivia Garcia: 2,039Republicans:U.S. senator:Allen McCulloch: 1,072Joseph Carraro: 368David Pfeffer: 529PRC District 5:Doyle Pruitt: 346C. Earl Greer: 573D. Kent Evans: 777County commission District 3Ruben Gonzalez: 148Mack Haley: 538 Continue Reading

Greer pulling ahead of Evans, and Jim Baca retakes lead

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Earl Greer is pulling further ahead of Kent Evans in the Public Regulation Commission District 5 Republican primary.Greer now has 2,787 votes, or 41 percent. Evans has 2,413, or 36 percent.Evans still has a sizable lead in Doña Ana County – 46 percent to Greer’s 34 percent. But Greer told me earlier he is doing better here than he expected.In the Democratic land commissioner primary, Jim Baca has retaken the lead from Ray Powell.Baca now has 60,166 votes to Powell’s 54,255. Baca has 53 percent of the vote to Powell’s 47 percent.And votes left to count are outside Albuquerque, where Powell won the vote. In the rest of the state, Baca is slightly ahead, so this could signal a victory for Baca, but it’s a bit too early to call it. Continue Reading

Powell overtakes Baca

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If my numbers are correct in the Democratic land commissioner race, Ray Powell now has a 479-vote lead over Jim Baca.Powell has 44,577 votes, or 50.3 percent. Baca has 44,098, or 49.7 percent.This race is far from over. Look to provisional ballots to resolve it. Continue Reading

Butler has solid lead in county commission race

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With five precincts left to report from county commission District 1, incumbent Oscar Vasquez Butler has 60 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary to 40 percent for challenger Chris Jaramillo.With 92 of 106 precincts reporting countywide, Butler has 385 votes. Jaramillo has 258.The winner faces Republican John Zimmerman in November.That commission district is the largest in the county, is extremely rural and includes most of the county’s colonias. It wraps around Las Cruces on all sides except the east.Zimmerman had 219 votes and no opponent in Tuesday’s primary. That means 862 votes were cast in that district (plus those left from the five precincts that have yet to report), making voter turnout there extremely low. Continue Reading

Updated numbers

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Here are the results so far with 92 of 106 precincts reporting in Doña Ana County.Democrats:Secretary of state:Mary Herrera: 1,097Stephanie Gonzales: 995Shirley Hooper: 596Letitia Montoya: 522State auditor:Thomas Buckner: 1,220Jeff Armijo: 1,801Attorney general:Geno Zamora: 1,000Gary King: 1,838Lemuel Martinez: 483Commissioner of public lands:Jim Baca: 1,767Ray Powell: 1,453PRC District 5:Sandy Jones: 1,890E. Shirley Baca: 1,125County commission district 1:Chris Jaramillo: 258Oscar Vasquez Butler: 385Probate judge:Dino Villani: 465Alice Salcido: 1,807Neri Frietze: 959Magistrate judge Division 3:Maria Rodriguez: 1,315Olivia Garcia: 1,878Republican:U.S. senator:Allen McCulloch: 1,072Joseph Carraro: 368David Pfeffer: 529PRC District 5:Doyle Pruitt: 346C. Earl Greer: 573D. Kent Evans: 777County commission District 3Ruben Gonzalez: 148Mack Haley: 538 Continue Reading

Democratic state races still up for grabs

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The secretary of state’s Web site has Stephanie Gonzales up 5 percent over her closest opponent in the secretary of state race and Jim Baca up 10 percent on his opponent in the land commissioner race.But Bernalillo County isn’t included in those results.So far, according to that county’s Web site, some 28,000 Democrat votes have been tallied in that county but aren’t reported on the state’s Web site.If you add the numbers from both Web sites, in the secretary of state race Mary Herrera is beating Gonzales with 24,044 votes to Gonzales’ 16,656.And Baca is still beating Ray Powell, but barely, with 28,259 votes to Powell’s 27,797.You can view Bernalillo County’s results by clicking here. Continue Reading

Republican county commission race a blowout

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Mack Haley trounced Ruben Gonzalez in the Doña Ana County Commission District 3 race.With 81 of 106 precincts reporting, Haley has 538 votes to Gonzalez’s 148.Some Haley supporters were worried today because voter turnout in and around New Mexico State University was low. Haley works in the College of Engineering and was counting on support from the university crowd. Continue Reading

Senate candidate a surprise winner

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Allen McCulloch pulled off a surprise win Tuesday night in the race to take on Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., in November.So far he has 8,117 votes, or 56.3 percent, statewide. Joseph Carraro has 3,302 votes or 22.9 percent. David Pfeffer has 3,010 votes or 20.9 percent.Many analysts predicted that McCulloch and Pfeffer would split the Anglo vote and Carraro would win.So much for that. Continue Reading

Updated results

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Here are the results so far with 74 of 106 precincts reporting in Doña Ana County. I’m going to start just giving numbers, and not percentages, so I can get you the results faster.Democrats:Secretary of state:Mary Herrera: 939Stephanie Gonzales: 877Shirley Hooper: 518Letitia Montoya: 461State auditor:Thomas Buckner: 1,069Jeff Armijo: 1,547Attorney general:Geno Zamora: 862Gary King: 1,604Lemuel Martinez: 414Commissioner of public lands:Jim Baca: 1,525Ray Powell: 1,266PRC District 5:Sandy Jones: 1,613E. Shirley Baca: 965County commission district 1:Chris Jaramillo: 159Oscar Vasquez Butler: 286Probate judge:Dino Villani: 413Alice Salcido: 1,572Neri Frietze: 825Magistrate judge Division 3:Maria Rodriguez: 1,114Olivia Garcia: 1,660Republican: U.S. senator:Allen McCulloch: 955Joseph Carraro: 323David Pfeffer: 483PRC District 5:Doyle Pruitt: 304C. Earl Greer: 500D. Kent Evans: 681County commission District 3Ruben Gonzalez: 148Mack Haley: 538 Continue Reading

Magistrate candidate not ready to call race

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Though she’s currently up 60-40 percent, Olivia Garcia is not ready to declare victory in the Magistrate Judge Division 3 Democrat race.Her opponent is Maria Rodriguez.Garcia lost a state senate race in 1984 by 38 votes. She was winning the race until absentee ballots were counted, after all others had been recorded.”I’m always reluctant to say anything until all the votes have been counted,” she said. “You never know.” Continue Reading