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Tired of waiting for your absentee ballot? Vote early

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Wondering why you haven’t received the absentee ballot you requested? If you’re starting to get worried, you can go to any early voting site in the state before early voting ends on Saturday and vote that way instead. There’s been an unexpectedly long lag in people receiving absentee ballots because of the huge number of requests from people wanting to vote absentee. I know several people who are still waiting, and some have already taken advantage of Wednesday’s instruction from the secretary of the state to county clerks to let them vote early instead. All you have to do is sign an affidavit at an early voting site saying you haven’t received your absentee ballot and fill out an application for a new one. Continue Reading

Many GOP operatives fear an Election Day bloodbath

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Ask Republican candidates for office what they think of their chances on Tuesday, and even many of those who have no shot at winning — if you believe the polls — are expressing optimism. Ask GOP operatives what they expect on Election Day, and promise them anonymity in exchange for their answers, and you get a much different response. Political operatives and analysts have suspected throughout this election cycle that the Republican Party would lose ground as a result of Tuesday’s election, but, before the nation’s economy tanked in September, a number of GOP operatives in New Mexico remained confident in off-the-record conversations that several of their candidates would win on Nov. 4, including Darren White in the 1st Congressional District race, Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson in the state Senate District 37 race, and, to a lesser degree, Ed Tinsley in the 2nd District race and John McCain in the presidential race. At McCain’s Saturday rally in Mesilla and in several conversations since, that sense of optimism was largely gone. Continue Reading

Ad calls Heinrich ‘disgraceful, dishonorable, extreme’

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Republican 1st Congressional District candidate Darren White is out in the final days of the campaign with an ad hammering Democratic opponent Martin Heinrich as an extremist and law-breaker. Heinrich wants White to stop running the ad because, he says, it’s full of “brazen lies.” Here’s the 30-second spot: “Martin Heinrich. He broke the law to hide his past. Like his partnership with Dave Foreman,” the ad’s narrator states. “Convicted of attempting to sabotage a nuclear power plant, (Foreman) is known as the ‘most dangerous environmentalist in America.’” “Heinrich co-founded an extremist group with Foreman. Continue Reading

Tinsley’s new plan: hammer Teague on cable, radio

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GOP candidate still hasn’t made good on his promise to release tax records Last week, Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley cancelled his final week of scheduled broadcast TV advertising, an unconventional move in a close race that surprised many. This week, Tinsley unveiled his new media strategy: negative ads on radio and cable television attacking his opponent, Democrat Harry Teague. The sum of the ads: Teague is an inarticulate man who ignores sexual-harassment claims in his companies and doesn’t mind the government taking away your guns. The ads about Teague’s speaking ability and stance on guns are spin — like every other political ad out there — but are based primarily on statements Teague has made. But there are three misleading claims in Tinsley’s new TV and radio ads about the sexual harassment lawsuit against two of Teague’s companies. Continue Reading

PAC with ties to oil and gas plays big in state races

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A political action committee funded almost entirely by companies tied to one family that makes its living in the oil and gas industry is contributing big money to six Republican candidates for state House seats. Much of the focus appears to be in Doña Ana County, where New Mexico Turn Around has contributed $16,000 to the county GOP on top of the $27,840 it has given directly to Kent Evans and the $13,200 it has given to Mike Tellez. Evans is challenging Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, while Tellez is challenging Andy Nuñez, D-Hatch. Since the PAC gave the money to the county GOP on Aug. 5, the party has given another $7,500 to Tellez and $3,642.25 to Evans. Continue Reading

Memo to Washington: Change is coming; get on board

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In the face of the myriad of crises that threaten the stability and security of our nation and world, there’s one big reason to be hopeful as Election Day approaches. Change is coming. I’m not talking about the trite slogans of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. I’m talking about the grassroots uprising of America’s citizens. The number of registered voters is at an all-time high. Continue Reading

2nd District hopefuls spar during final debate

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Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley wants voters to believe only he has the ability to clearly articulate vision and argue policy on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. His Democratic opponent, Harry Teague, wants voters to believe he’s just like them and, because of that, is the only candidate who can bring an outsider’s perspective to Washington and help change a broken political system. The candidates’ respective views of the race collided Tuesday in their final showdown before Election Day. The debate in Mesquite was the least controlled of all forums and debates in which the candidates have participated, and they directly engaged each other at several points during the event. For Teague, there’s been quite a shift from the primary, when he tried to divert attention from the reality that he’s not the most articulate candidate to ever run for Congress. Continue Reading

New Luján TV ad talks about middle class

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Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate Ben Ray Luján is out with a new TV ad in which he takes a play out of the generic Democratic playbook in explaining how he’ll fight for the middle class. Here’s the ad: “We need to start standing up for the middle class. I’ll fight for tax breaks for the middle class and will begin to do it by doing away with the tax breaks that exist for millionaires and big oil companies,” Lujan says in the ad. “This administration has ignored the working people. They’re making their friends rich. Continue Reading

Teague loans his campaign another $500K

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Harry Teague has loaned his campaign another $500,000, bringing the total he has spent on his race during the primary and general election cycles to almost $1.8 million. Teague’s new campaign loan was disclosed in a filing with the Federal Election Commission that detailed finances from Oct. 1-15. On top of the new loan, Teague raised just under $96,000 during that period and spent $342,000. The most important number: He had just over $400,000 on hand going into the final stretch of the election. Continue Reading

All about allegations of voter fraud and suppression

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In these last, crazy days of the 2008 election, there’s been a lot of back and forth about voter fraud and voter suppression. To this point, I haven’t written about it: Much of it isn’t about current events and should have been brought up months ago if the real goal was to ensure fair elections. But the fighting is escalating, so I wanted to at least provide you with some links to more information. • Click here to read about state Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, raising concerns about possible voter fraud in his district. The article includes the response of his Democratic opponent, Steve Fischmann. Continue Reading

Voters can quiz local candidates at Anthony forum

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Voters in Doña Ana County’s south valley will get a chance to hear from candidates for county treasurer and clerk and magistrate judge on Wednesday at a forum in Mesquite. The forum will be held at 6 p.m. at The Women’s Intercultural Center in Anthony, 203 Lincoln Street. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to question the candidates. The forum will be moderated by New Mexico State University government professor Jose Z. Garcia. It’s sponsored by The Women’s Multicultural Center, Moving Anthony Forward, Montana Vista Coalition and Southern New Mexico PACE membership. Continue Reading

Redefining morality

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Many younger evangelicals are thinking outside the box promoted by their elders, and it may have consequences for the presidential race Ricardo Luna is a 25-year-old evangelical Christian and a registered Republican who, if the election were today, would vote for the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. Joseph Lange, a 30-year-old evangelical and Republican, will vote for Obama’s GOP opponent, John McCain. As Nov. 4 approaches, the two men may well symbolize the ongoing change in a culture group largely responsible for President Bush’s victories in 2000 and 2004 — evangelicals. Surveys show younger evangelicals have fractured politically as they have expanded beyond the traditional clutch of issues their elders have staked out as moral values. Continue Reading

Is county commission candidate lying about his past?

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Is Doyle Pruitt, the Republican candidate for a seat on the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners, lying about whether he’s ever served as an elected official? The evidence suggests he is lying, and Pruitt, in a brief interview, refused to answer any questions about the situation. Pruitt has told the Las Cruces Sun-News he has prior experience as an elected official on a city council in California. And he told the Las Cruces Bulletin he served four years on the city council in Lakewood, Calif. A spokesman for that city, Don Waldie, wrote in an e-mail that Pruitt ran for city council in 1980 but came in 13th out of 14 candidates, winning 308 votes out of about 4,000. Continue Reading

Obama speaks in Spanish in new TV ad

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Gov. Bill Richardson helped unveil today what Barack Obama’s campaign is calling an “unprecedented” effort in the final days of the election to reach Hispanics that includes a TV ad in which Obama speaks entirely in Spanish. In the new ad, titled “Sueño Americano,” or “American Dream,” Obama speaks entirely in Spanish about “how to get our country on track,” Richardson said today on a conference call with reporters. The ad isn’t yet available on Obama’s Web site or YouTube page, but Richardson said it’s airing beginning today in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Florida and Virginia. It’s one of three new Spanish-language ads Richardson said the Obama campaign is airing today. In addition, Miami Mayor Manny Díaz announced on the call that the Obama campaign plans to run a 30-minute commercial in prime time on Univision later this week. Continue Reading

Pearce stays positive in new TV ad

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Pearce’s new TV ad takes a break from the negativity and back-and-forth of the campaign to focus on a positive message. Here’s the ad, which is airing statewide on broadcast and cable television: “I grew up in New Mexico, in 4-H, majored in economics, built a business, raised a family. I am a decorated Vietnam veteran. God has blessed me,” Pearce says in the ad. “Today we face challenges: our economy, energy and environment. Continue Reading