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Wiviott goes negative in TV ad attacking Luján

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Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate Don Wiviott went negative over the weekend with a TV ad hitting primary opponent Ben R. Luján as a do-nothing politician who earns a hefty paycheck simply because his father is the speaker of the state House. Here’s the ad, which began airing on Saturday: “Most New Mexicans work hard to make it on their own. Not Ben Ray Lujan Jr.,” the ad states. “Lujan was a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas before his famous father got him a state job. Now Lujan makes $90,000, but he didn’t show up to 13 of the 14 meetings of the health commission.” “Lujan Jr. doesn’t even show up,” the ad states. Continue Reading

Watch Roswell debate between Pearce and Wilson

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Republican U.S. Senate candidates Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson took part in their third debate Saturday in Roswell. In case you missed it, here’s the full debate, courtesy of KNME-TV: Part 1 Part 2 Pearce declared victory afterward, with a news release from his campaign stating that he “won handily” and “showed why he is the candidate who best represents New Mexico’s conservative values and will fight for the interests of New Mexicans.” Wilson, meanwhile, claimed in a news release that Pearce “failed to explain the vote he cast this week to severely weaken the state’s dairy industry.” She was referring to a controversy over a farm-bill vote. “I believe on June 3rd New Mexicans need to nominate a commonsense conservative who can win in November,” Wilson said in the release. “We need a senator who will stand up and fight for our contribution to national security. Steve Pearce was the only member of our delegation to mothball Cannon Air Force Base. Continue Reading

Sun-News, Journal back different candidates in CD2

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The Las Cruces Sun-News endorsed Republican C. Earl Greer and Democrat Bill McCamley in the 2nd Congressional District race on Sunday, while the Albuquerque Journal endorsed Republican Ed Tinsley and Democrat Harry Teague. The Sun-News, in its endorsement of Greer, said his “background and commonsense approach puts him a shade ahead” of the other candidates. “Greer’s sense of the district is solid. He’s a fifth-generation New Mexican who knows agriculture as well as business,” the endorsement states. “And in a district that’s almost half Hispanic, it’s worth noting Greer is a Spanish speaker, and half Hispanic himself.” In its endorsement of McCamley, the newspaper said that, though it hasn’t agreed with all McCamley has done, the members of its editorial board have been impressed with his work as a Doña Ana County commissioner and his ability to bring disparate groups together. Continue Reading

Dunn triggers Millionaire’s Amendment with new loan

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Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Aubrey Dunn Jr. loaned his campaign another $150,000 on Friday and triggered the Millionaire’s Amendment that triples contribution limits for his opponents. Dunn has now loaned his campaign $452,435.17, according to Federal Election Commission records. Any U.S. House candidate who loans his campaign more than $350,000 triples contribution limits for his opponents from $2,300 to $6,900. Dunn’s newest loan further complicates a wide-open primary that has seen the National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee spend almost $600,000 to promote Monty Newman, who has also loaned his own campaign $100,000. Another candidate in the GOP primary, Greg Sowards, has loaned his campaign $325,000, and candidate Ed Tinsley has loaned $200,000 to his campaign. Continue Reading

Voters in poll say Yolanda Lucero will win clerk’s race

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Yolanda Lucero won last week’s non-scientific poll on this site asking who would win the Doña Ana County clerk Democratic primary. Of 222 voters, 92, or 41 percent, said Lucero would win, while 81, or 36 percent, said Lynn Ellins would win; 36, or 16 percent, said Rita Torres would win; and 13, or 6 percent, said Martha Ann Lucero would win. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Martin says he has not decided to leave NMSU

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“We feel terrible,” were the words New Mexico State University Board of Regents Chair Bob Gallagher used today to describe the board’s reaction to news that President Michael Martin is considering taking a job in Louisiana. But nothing has been decided, Martin and Gallagher said today at a news conference at which they formally announced that Martin, as I reported on Thursday, is the sole finalist for chancellor of Louisiana State University’s main campus in Baton Rouge. Martin will travel to Louisiana on Monday for two days of on-campus interviews. He could be offered the job as soon as a week from today. During today’s news conference, Martin said he’s not looking to leave or being pushed to leave. Continue Reading

How will the Democratic wave affect N.M. races?

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Democrat Travis Childers’ Tuesday victory in a special election in a conservative Mississippi U.S. House district has Washington Republicans reeling and pundits considering the possibility that other GOP seats – even New Mexico’s right-leaning 2nd Congressional District – are more vulnerable than previously thought. It was the third time this year that a Democrat won a special election for a U.S. House seat in a district that historically favors Republicans. The others were in Illinois and Louisiana. U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., wrote in a memo to colleagues that the losses are “canaries in the coal mine, warning of far greater losses in the fall, if steps are not taken to remedy the current climate.” “The political atmosphere facing House Republicans this November is the worst since Watergate and is far more toxic than it was in 2006,” Davis wrote, according to the New York Times. House Republicans lost 30 seats, and came within a couple of percentage points of losing another 15, in 2006. Continue Reading

New poll has Pearce leading Wilson by three points

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Steve Pearce has a three-point lead over Heather Wilson in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, according to the first poll of the race to be released publicly in months. The new poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for KOB-TV in Albuquerque, has Pearce leading 49 percent to 46 percent. The survey of 439 likely Republican primary voters was conducted Monday through Wednesday and has a margin of error of 4.8 percent. The last polling released publicly was in January, when an internal state Republican Party poll had Pearce up three points, 38 percent to 35 percent. The new poll shows that, with three televised debates to go before June 3, the race remains highly competitive. Continue Reading

McCamley begins running his first TV ad

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Democratic 2nd Congressional District candidate Bill McCamley will begin airing his first TV ad Friday, a 30-second spot called “Gravy Train.” Here it is: “There is a special-interest gravy train in Washington, D.C. Money from big oil and drug companies comes in one door, and taxpayer giveaways go right out the other,” he says in the ad. McCamley talks in the ad about health care and gas prices before saying that he “will not rest until things change in Washington because it is time, finally, to put the middle class ahead of the special interests.” The ad will begin running Friday in the Albuquerque television market, which covers the entire district except Doña Ana County. The campaign touted in the news release the fact that the ad was produced by the firm Fletcher, Rowley, Chao, Riddle, which also created the TV ads for Democrat Travis Childers, who won a surprising victory in a conservative Mississippi House district on Tuesday. “This ad not only highlights why Bill is running, it clearly shows the passion and energy that he is going to bring to the general election and to Washington in January,” McCamley campaign spokesman Mike Ward said in the release. “Voters want to see a candidate who stands up for them against the special interests, and this ad focuses on how Bill will do just that.” As I’ve disclosed in the past, I’m friends with McCamley. Continue Reading

With love to all of the mutts

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© 2008 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Recently there has been a move to make the Las Cruces municipal animal shelter a no-kill facility that would instead place these pets in homes. Success is tied to changing the behavior of people. Let us talk about dogs. Paris Hilton fueled the boutique dog craze in which women want cute, fashion-accessory dogs peeking out of their purses. These dogs have to be pure-breed, hoity-toity dogs. Continue Reading

Martin named sole finalist for LSU chancellor job

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New Mexico State University President Michael Martin was named today the only finalist for chancellor at Louisiana State University’s main campus in Baton Rouge, and he’s expected to visit the campus next week to interview for the job. University officials in Las Cruces have called a news conference for 10 a.m. Friday at the Fulton Center to discuss the situation, and Board of Regents Chair Bob Gallagher is expected to announce that the university will allow Martin to interview for the job. The announcement that an LSU chancellor search committee had narrowed the field of finalists from 11 to one was made today in a news release after the committee unanimously voted to invite Martin to campus for a series of interviews next week. “(Martin) would be a very strong leader for our campus,” Jack Hamilton, the search committee’s chair, said in the release. “He’s worthy of this place and I hope he decides to come. Continue Reading

Newman airs TV ad as Tinsley attacks with mailer

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Republican 2nd Congressional District candidate Ed Tinsley is out with a new mailer that attacks primary opponent Monty Newman, while Newman is up today with his first TV ad. While many across the 2nd District have already seen the National Association of Realtors’ TV ad in support of Newman, today’s is the first ad from the Newman campaign. Here it is: The ad introduces Newman as the former Hobbs mayor and a small businessman whose son served in Iraq and wife teaches elementary school. Then it focuses on the fact that Newman has taught Bible school for more than 20 years. “We need to bring pro-faith, pro-life values to Washington, and that’s why I approved this message,” Newman says at the end of the ad. Continue Reading

Wiviott’s self-financing tops $1 million

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Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate Don Wiviott has pumped another $100,000 into his campaign, bringing his self-financing to more than $1 million for the primary race. According to Federal Election Commission records, Wiviott’s newest loan was made on Tuesday, and brings the total he has loaned his campaign to $1,090,000. It’s more than any other candidate has contributed to his own campaign in New Mexico this year. Wiviott has said since he entered the race that he will spend whatever it takes to win. He’s in a hotly contested primary race with five other Democrats, the most prominent being Public Regulation Commissioner Ben R. Luján, the son of the speaker of the state House. Continue Reading

Wilson picks up mayoral, newspaper endorsements

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Heather Wilson has picked up the endorsements of the Farmington mayor and a Silver City newspaper in recent days in her quest to win the Republican U.S. Senate primary. In endorsing Wilson over primary opponent Steve Pearce, Farmington Mayor Bill Standley said Wilson “is a conservative leader of sound judgment.” “When Heather Wilson votes, she votes for the needs of New Mexicans, and I believe she will continue to do that when she’s elected to the Senate,” he said in a release from the Wilson campaign. “Wilson’s recent work to protect critical funding for rural hospitals, including San Juan Regional Medical Center, is a perfect example of her commonsense, conservative leadership. Heather Wilson believes in low taxes and smaller government, but she also believes in standing up for New Mexicans.” Standley’s endorsement follows that of San Juan County Commission Chairman Tony Atkinson, who put his support behind Wilson last week. “I am very pleased with the support my campaign is receiving in San Juan County,” Wilson said in the release. Continue Reading

Blogger to be seated with N.M. delegation in Denver

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Democracy for New Mexico has been named an official blogger for the Democratic National Convention to be held in Denver in August. That means Barbara Wold, who runs the site, gets to sit with the state delegation at the convention and have special access to the event. Wold learned of her selection in a video from Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. “I’ll be reporting to you directly from Denver and sharing my experiences and insights day-by-day as the drama unfolds. I hope I can do the job justice,” Wold wrote on her site. Continue Reading