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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said state Rep. Antonio Lujan, D-Las Cruces, will be re-elected in November. Of 140 voters, 90, or 64 percent, said the District 35 representative will win, while 50, or 36 percent, said he will be defeated by his Republican challenger, Matthew Martin. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading
Republican presidential candidate John McCain will make his first trip to Las Cruces as a 2008 presidential candidate on Wednesday. McCain will hold a town-hall meeting with several hundred people Wednesday morning at the New Mexico State University Annex Practice Gymnasium at the Pan American Center, according to an e-mail from his campaign. The e-mail provided few details, but did say that doors open at 8:30 a.m. and guests must be seated by 9:30 a.m. It said those who attend should enter on the northeast side of the facility. To RSVP, the e-mail states, people should e-mail csierra@mccain08hq.com. This will be McCain’s third trip to New Mexico as a 2008 presidential candidate. Continue Reading
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s Monday trip to New Mexico will consist of two events in Albuquerque. Obama will hold an invitation-only discussion on the economy on Monday morning in Albuquerque. Because the event is not open to the public, the campaign isn’t releasing the location to the public. At 1 p.m., Obama is holding a town-hall meeting in the gymnasium at Rio Grande High School, 2300 Arenal Road in Albuquerque.The event is free and open to the public but tickets are required and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. All online tickets have already been snatched up, but you can try to pick tickets up from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Obama’s volunteer headquarters, 3523 Central Ave. Continue Reading
The bill to fund the special session of the Legislature will have to go back to the House for concurrence after senators removed a House-approved provision to provide each lawmaker approximately $300 for mailing constituents during the session. House Bill 1, the feed bill, is now awaiting new House action. The bill was amended Friday evening by the House Appropriations and Finance Committee to extend the length of the session to a maximum of 10 days and include the $35,233 for mailing expenses. The House approved the bill on a vote of 47-14. But the Senate wouldn’t have it. Continue Reading
The secretary of state’s office has drafted a letter it plans to send Monday morning to New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO), a nonprofit the attorney general’s office says must comply with the state’s campaign reporting laws. James Flores, spokesman for the secretary of state, did not reveal information about the content of the letter but said the office’s attorneys are reviewing the letter before sending it via certified mail on Monday. The news follows an afternoon meeting between officials from the offices of the secretary of state and attorney general about the situation. The attorney general contends that mailers the group sent shortly after the regular legislative session — two to three months before the June primary — targeting several lawmakers, including three who lost, crossed the line between issue advocacy and political campaigning. Because of that, the AG’s office contends, the nonprofit must register as a political committee and regularly report contributions and expenditures publicly, just like candidates, campaigns and political action committees. Continue Reading
The special session of the Legislature that Gov. Bill Richardson called for several issues including health-care reform and tax relief is underway. The Senate convened briefly today before taking a break, but senators plan to return at 2:30 p.m. According to The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Kate Nash, Majority Leader Michael Sanchez said on the floor that the Senate also plans to work on Saturday. The House is in recess but might return to work around 3 p.m., the New Mexico Independent is reporting. There apparently aren’t the votes in the Senate to defy the governor and adjourn sine die, so expect something to happen this session. But expect it to happen quickly. Continue Reading
A couple of months ago, a reporter from the Rocky Mountain News in Denver contacted me to ask what story the newspaper could tell about New Mexico in the 2008 presidential race that wasn’t being told by other media outlets. I suggested that she skip Albuquerque, one of the main battleground areas in New Mexico, and instead come to Doña Ana County. She did, and the result is a fantastic journalistic package that includes an in-depth article, good photographs and video that tells a story about the culture and demographics of Doña Ana County in the context of the 2008 presidential race. I’ve written several times about this Democratic stronghold being conservative and Hillary country and about the difficulty that creates for Barack Obama in the presidential race. The Rocky Mountain News captured that reality well. Continue Reading
Hillary Clinton will campaign in Española on Sunday for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Doors open at 2 p.m. for Clinton’s rally, which will be held in the gymnasium at Northern New Mexico College’s Española campus, located at 921 Paseo de Oñate. The event is open to the public, according to a news release. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Organizers won’t allow bags into the event. Continue Reading
Attorney General Gary King and lawyers for a nonprofit at the center of an election-year controversy agree on one thing: Making New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO) comply with the state’s campaign reporting laws would have far-reaching implications in New Mexico.They disagree, however, on whether that’s a good thing. King says he wants all groups who engage in political activity to play by the same rules, meaning all nonprofits that engage in politics should have to regularly report contributions and expenditures publicly, just like candidates, campaigns and political action committees. Attorneys for the Center for Civic Policy (CCP), the parent organization of NMYO, say that would hurt the ability of New Mexico nonprofits to bring important issues to light.“This will certainly have broader implications, and frankly this is one of the reasons I’m interested in it,” King said in an interview. “I don’t want anyone to think they can create an entity that is exempt from our campaign finance reporting laws. I think all groups should be treated equally.”Attorneys Sara Berger and John Boyd of Albuquerque, who represent NMYO and CCP, wrote in a June 6 letter to Secretary of State Mary Herrera that “requiring groups like NMYO to register as a political committee when they conduct issue advocacy campaigns” would “have a severe chilling effect on these groups’ free speech rights.” The key issues are the definition of “political purpose” in state law and the question of whether federal law applies to this situation.Ultimately, Herrera will decide whether to take the AG’s advice and force NMYO to register as a political committee. Continue Reading
© 2008 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Some government issues are complicated. This is not. I listened with disbelief last week when a national politician said that proper tire pressure is a real good way to deal with the fuel crisis. He did not mention what really would help. Differences in tire inflation vary mileage by as much as 3 percent. Continue Reading
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will return to New Mexico on Monday, his campaign announced today. It will be his third general-election season trip to the state. The campaign said additional details will be forthcoming. Obama’s campaign said earlier this week that almost every scenario that would give him the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency requires that he win New Mexico. Obama has made the state a priority: He’s already opened 24 campaign offices here and plans more, and he has visited New Mexico twice since he won the primary. Continue Reading
There’s speculation today that Gov. Bill Richardson hasn’t been added to the list of speakers at the Democrats’ presidential nominating convention because he’s among a handful of people still being considered for the vice-presidential spot on the ticket. Then again, maybe convention organizers just haven’t figured out when to put him on the program. As a former presidential candidate and the most high-profile Hispanic Democrat in the nation, many argue that Richardson is an obvious convention speaker. But he’s still not on the program for the convention being held in Denver from Aug. 25-28. Continue Reading
Liberals sure have figured out how to use the blogosphere to their advantage. A comment Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley made at a recent forum in Las Cruces exploded onto the national stage on Wednesday thanks to their efforts. It’s sure to come back to bite Tinsley in November. The assault began with two liberal New Mexico blogs, Democracy for New Mexico and NMFBIHOP, posting video of Tinsley uttering these words during a candidate forum held last week in Las Cruces: “How can I call my two nephews over there right now — one’s a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps in Anbar Province, another one in the Persian Gulf — and tell them I’m running against a guy that will cut your throat, that will cut the bottom out of your funding?” Tinsley asked. The liberal bloggers pounced. Continue Reading
There’s been a lot of attention in the past few days on today’s event at which retiring U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., will pledge his support for his party’s nominee for the seat he’s vacating. Republican Steve Pearce put out a news release on Monday stating that Domenici “will be endorsing my candidacy for his seat after a long and distinguished career.” “Please join me… for this historic occasion for our state,” Pearce said in the release. The Associated Press was quick to put out a story quoting a Domenici staffer as confirming “that the longtime senator will announce his backing of Pearce Thursday in Albuquerque” and stating that Domenici’s “support of Pearce comes nearly three months after he endorsed Pearce’s rival” in the primary. Even the Washington publication The Hill wrote about today’s event, stating that Domenici “is set to endorse Rep. Steve Pearce’s (R) candidacy for his seat more than three months after Domenici endorsed Rep. Heather Wilson (R) over Pearce in her unsuccessful primary bid.” The implication of the articles is that Domenici hadn’t previously pledged his support to Pearce. Political blogger Joe Monahan wrote just that in a Wednesday posting: “Some e-mailers pointed out that Pete’s nod will come over two months after the primary and claimed it shows he remains unexcited by the Pearce candidacy,” Monahan wrote. Continue Reading
By Jim Scarantino Barack Obama and John McCain are loving New Mexico way too much. McCain put up his first national general-election television spot in this state. He hasn’t been off New Mexico’s airwaves since May. Obama’s advertising buys have kept pace. He is also building an unprecedented ground organization. Continue Reading