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Networks say Obama wins Pennsylvania

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ABC and NBC are projecting that Barack Obama will win Pennsylvania, a state both campaigns said was very important to their strategies. John McCain trailed in the polls in the state, which has 21 electoral votes, but hoped he would be able to carry it in case things went Obama’s way in several smaller battleground states, including New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada in the West. Is this an early indication that things are going Obama’s way? Time will tell. Continue Reading

A last hurrah or a victory send-off?

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John McCain made one final, quick stop in Albuquerque this afternoon to greet 75-100 supporters working a phone bank and briefly speak to a crowd that had gathered outside the GOP office. McCain, according to The Associated Press, told the workers at the phone bank that his campaign is seeing strong turnout in GOP areas of Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, all battleground states. “Things are looking good, but it’s very early. Then you’ve got to move west, my friends, and we’ve got to win New Mexico,” The Associated Press quoted McCain as saying. You can watch video of McCain greeting supporters outside the GOP office in Albuquerque by clicking here. Continue Reading

Though he tried, college student won’t get to vote

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Absentee ballot from Doña Ana County never arrived at 20-year-old’s residence in Washington, D.C. Philip Zakahi is a 20-year-old college student living in Washington, D.C. who has voted in every election since he was old enough and had hoped to vote for Barack Obama this year. Instead, Zakahi, a student at American University, is going to have to deal with the disappointment of not being able to vote in this election. Zakahi is one of an unknown number of people who is registered to vote in Doña Ana County but won’t be able to vote because they never received the absentee ballots they requested. The county said this morning that 3,844 people who had requested absentee ballots hadn’t yet voted, and the fear is that, when the dust settles on this election, hundreds or even thousands of them may have been disenfranchised. The problem is at least in part attributable to the fact that the county didn’t comply with a law requiring that absentee ballots be mailed out within 24 hours of the office receiving requests for the ballots. Continue Reading

Watch TV coverage of the election right here

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There are lots of ways you can get election news this evening. One is by keeping your eyes on Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics. I’ll have updates throughout the evening and night. In addition, to make it easier for you, I’m embedding video of MSNBC’s live coverage of the election. Here it is: To keep this article with the video open all night, click on the “permalink” link at the end of the posting. Continue Reading

Election Day voting appears to be running smoothly

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I’ve already reported the bad news in Doña Ana County about the thousands of absentee ballots that are still outstanding. Now it’s time for some relatively good news: Election Day voting appears to be running fairly smoothly, and turnout is good, several voters and people working the election say. County spokesman Jess Williams said all 117 polling places opened on time this morning. A few poll workers were late or didn’t show up, but Bureau of Elections staffers went to those sites to help. According to The Associated Press, the election appears to be running fairly smoothly statewide. Continue Reading

Absentee ballot snafu: How many won’t get to vote?

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Doña Ana County says Monday statement was erroneous; thousands of absentee ballots are outstanding This article has been updated. Despite what Doña Ana County said on Monday, nearly 4,000 absentee ballots haven’t been returned to the Bureau of Elections. At this point, it’s certain some people who tried to vote won’t be able to do it. How many people is the question. And that has some worrying that the people who don’t get to vote could be the difference in a close race. Continue Reading

Vote today: You can change our nation

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This article has been updated.It was just over 13 months ago, on Oct. 3, 2007, that the Washington Post broke the news that Pete Domenici would retire this year after 36 years in the U.S. Senate. Thus began the wildest political roller coaster ride in the state’s history At that point, the energy surrounding the presidential race already promised to make this a historic year. But Domenici’s retirement led to four of five seats in the New Mexico delegation opening up, and it turned a small swing state into ground zero for the 2008 election. Doña Ana County appears to be ground zero in New Mexico. Continue Reading

McCain rallies supporters in Roswell

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This article has been updated. Here’s a video report from KOB-TV about tonight’s John McCain rally in Roswell: DayPortPlayer.newPlayer({articleID:”9076″,bannerAdWidth:”300″,bannerAdHeight:”60″,autoPlay:”false”,slideShow:”false”,playerInstanceID:”6E68EC0F-99BA-7874-34DF-5F11200832D1″,domain:”kob.dayport.com”}); There’s still no word on where McCain will be or what he’ll be doing on Tuesday in New Mexico. All we know is that McCain’s campaign says the candidate will be in New Mexico after he stops in Grand Junction, Colo. around noon. At this point, don’t expect a rally. Continue Reading

Dems rip Jennings for denouncing attacks on Rawson

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This article has been updated. Democrat Tim Jennings, the state Senate’s leader, has drawn the ire of the governor and other members of his party for denouncing in a robocall negative attacks against the Senate’s minority whip, Leonard Lee Rawson. The robocall went out over the weekend and again today across Rawson’s district. “While Sen. Rawson and I are from different parties and can disagree politically, I must take a stand against the incorrect character assassinations that are being launched against Sen. Rawson,” Jennings says in the recorded message, which you can hear by clicking here. “The accusations against him are untrue and unfair.” Rawson, R-Las Cruces, is locked in what insiders call a close election battle against Democratic challenger Steve Fischmann, who Gov. Bill Richardson and other Democrats are working hard to elect. Continue Reading

Absentee problem may be less severe than feared

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Statistics released today by the Doña Ana County Bureau of Elections indicate that, as of this morning, 633 people who requested absentee ballots had yet to vote, suggesting that problems here may not be as great as many had feared. A news release from the county said 7,908 absentee ballots were requested in Doña Ana County. Before today’s mail came in, 7,275 of those people had voted. That included 5,291 who had returned their absentee ballots and 1,984 who took advantage of the option to instead vote early because they hadn’t yet received their absentee ballots. Of the 633 who requested ballots but had not yet voted, the county expected that most would have their ballots arrive in the Bureau of Elections office today or Tuesday. Continue Reading

NYT: McCain will campaign in NM on Election Day

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John McCain will make one final campaign stop in New Mexico on Election Day, the New York Times is reporting. That’s in addition to the rally he’s holding this evening in Roswell. McCain plans to return to his home state of Arizona this evening after campaigning in seven states today. He’ll vote Tuesday morning in Phoenix, and then campaign in Grand Junction, Colo. and somewhere in New Mexico during the day on Tuesday, the newspaper quoted McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis as saying. Continue Reading

Clark asks Obama supporters to help get out the vote

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Former Democratic presidential candidate and retired Gen. Wesley Clark urged a group of about 100 supporters of Barack Obama at a rally today in Las Cruces to help convince people to vote on Tuesday. “I don’t trust the polls, and there’s no room for complacency,” Clark said. “… In good elections in this country, 60 to 65 percent of Americans vote. Can’t we do better than that?” Clark, speaking at a VFW post on the city’s East Mesa, hardly mentioned Obama’s opponent, John McCain, but was highly critical of the Bush Administration during his speech in arguing that Obama will bring change. During Bush’s presidency, Clark said, a pattern has emerged: Warnings of a coming disaster are ignored, a disaster strikes, the federal government is slow to respond, and, at the end of Bush’s term, the disaster lingers. Continue Reading

Journal polls have Dems leading in all federal races

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Democrats, Democrats, Democrats. Though the election isn’t over, and things could change by Tuesday, that’s the trend revealed by Albuquerque Journal polls of all federal races in New Mexico: Democrats have the edge in every race. In the presidential race, the Journal poll released today had Barack Obama leading John McCain by eight points, 51 percent to 43 percent. Some 5 percent remained undecided in the survey, which was conducted Tuesday through Thursday. The big reason for Obama’s lead: He was ahead by a whopping 22 percentage points in Albuquerque. Continue Reading

Giuliani says it’s time to fight for McCain

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Rudy Giuliani asked an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 people today at a rally in Mesilla to prove the polls wrong and elect John McCain on Tuesday. In a speech full of shots at Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson and the media, the former GOP presidential candidate and New York mayor said the polls have been wrong before. “You gotta go get them,” Giuliani told those in attendance in urging them to find friends and family members to take to vote on Tuesday. “… New Mexico is so important to winning this election, and we can do it.” Giuliani’s was the latest in a series of high-profile visits to New Mexico as McCain makes a play for the swing state. McCain is trailing in most polls here and across the nation, but his campaign insists he can prevail in New Mexico, and it’s trying to win over conservative Democrats and others who may still be undecided. Continue Reading

Concern about county’s absentee ballots grows

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County elections official says anyone who wants to vote has alternative ways to do it Will delays in mailing out absentee ballots mean that people who tried to vote in Doña Ana County don’t get to cast a ballot in Tuesday’s election? And, if so, will the number of people who try but aren’t able to vote be significant enough to affect the outcome of any races? Those are the questions Democrats, Republicans and others are trying to process since learning on Friday that the county’s Bureau of Elections hasn’t complied this election cycle with a state statute that requires that absentee ballots be mailed out within 24 hours of the office receiving requests for the ballots. While there are varying interpretations of what it means — GOP officials allege that it could disenfranchise 3,000 to 5, 000 voters, while others argue the number of disenfranchised might be minimal or even zero — everyone appears to agree on one thing: the need to spread the word about alternative voting methods to as many people as possible before it’s too late. The elections bureau is in compliance with the portion of the law that requires that all absentee ballots be mailed out by today. Continue Reading