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Dems keep Gwaltney, Sanchez in leadership positions

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The Democratic national committeeman and committeewoman for New Mexico successfully fought off challenges to be re-elected at the party’s state central committee meeting this weekend. Mary Gail Gwaltney easily defeated State Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces, securing almost 90 percent of the vote. Former Speaker of the House Raymond Sanchez also won, securing a little more than 75 percent of the vote against Bruce Barnaby. Democrats in each state elect a national committeeman and national committeewoman to the DNC. In addition to being charged with representing the state’s issues to the national party and communicating national issues to the state’s Democrats, both are superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. Continue Reading

Superdelegate Bingaman endorses Obama

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U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. and a superdelegate, today endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary. It’s a big win for Obama in a race that’s close enough that every superdelegate’s support matters. Bingaman said he intends to vote for Obama at the Democratic National Convention in June. “Our nation faces a daunting number of critical challenges: reasserting America’s leadership in the world, meeting our needs for energy independence, addressing global warming, making health care accessible and affordable, positioning our economy to effectively compete globally and extricating ourselves from the war in Iraq, to name a few,” Bingaman said in a release from the Obama campaign. “To make progress, we must rise above the partisanship and the issues that divide us to find common ground. Continue Reading

McCamley challenges Teague to four debates

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Second Congressional District Democratic candidate Bill McCamley challenged his primary opponent this weekend to square off with him in four debates to be held during the month of May. McCamley made the challenge to Harry Teague in a letter he handed him at a forum both attended on Saturday in Silver City. “If democracy is really about representing the people, then we owe the voters the chance to talk with us together in an in-depth format about their issues and concerns,” McCamley wrote in the letter. “Today’s forum is a good start. However, we can do more. Continue Reading

High court keeps Vigil-Giron on CD1 ballot

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Rebecca Vigil-Giron will appear on the June primary ballot as a Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional District seat in the U.S. House, the state Supreme Court ruled on Friday. Three supporters of Vigil-Giron primary opponent Michelle Lujan Grisham had challenged Vigil-Giron’s candidacy, alleging that she submitted more than 600 signatures that weren’t valid, which would have left her 100 short of the 1,214 needed to qualify for the ballot. A district judge in Santa Fe had already ruled in favor of Vigil-Giron, but the Grisham supporters appealed last week. “Our justice system does work and I am proof of it,” Vigil-Giron said following the high court’s ruling. Continue Reading

Most CD2 hopefuls giving big to their own campaigns

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Five of the seven candidates seeking southern New Mexico’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives this year have given or loaned their own campaigns at least $100,000. It’s a situation that’s unique among the state’s congressional races in 2008, and one that a top New Mexico political analyst says is partly attributable to the unusual makeup of the district. While all but two candidates for the 2nd Congressional District seat have contributed $100,000 or more to their own campaigns, only one of the 14 Democratic and Republican candidates for the state’s other congressional seats – 3rd District Democratic candidate Don Wiviott – has done that, loaning his campaign $890,000. The top self-financing candidate in the 2nd District race is Republican Greg Sowards, who has loaned his campaign $325,000. Not far behind is Republican Aubrey Dunn Jr., who has loaned a little more than $302,000 to his campaign. Continue Reading

Heinrich wins non-scientific Democratic CD1 poll

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More voters in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site picked Martin Heinrich than any other candidate to win the Democratic First Congressional District primary. Of 237 voters, 109, or 46 percent, picked Heinrich to win. Meanwhile, 87 voters, or 37 percent, picked Michelle Lujan-Grisham; 36, or 15 percent, picked Rebecca Vigil-Giron; and five, or 2 percent, picked Robert Pidcock. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Four wrongs make a right (-wing presidency)

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By Carter Bundy Three absurdly unfair sets of rules in the Democratic primary process are going to leave whoever is not the nominee feeling robbed. In turn, the unfairness of the process will lead some Dems to resist uniting behind the eventual nominee. If enough do so, Dems will have locked up a third term for George Bush’s terrible policies. The first three wrongs are all history, and neither Obama nor Clinton are to blame for them. The rules were set up decades ago, and there’s nothing that can be done before this August’s DNC Convention in Denver. Continue Reading

Wilson hits Pearce in her first TV ad

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Heather Wilson began running the first television ad of her Senate campaign today, a spot that points out her GOP primary opponent’s negative campaigning and then hits him back. A news release from the Wilson campaign said the ad is running “nearly statewide.” I’m assuming that means it’s in the Albuquerque television market, which includes all of the state except Doña Ana County. Here’s the ad: “Why is Steve Pearce running a negative campaign?” the ad’s narrator asks. “Because on important issues, he’s wrong. Steve Pearce voted against adding 3,000 border guards to secure our border. Continue Reading

Iglesias awaits ‘magnum opus’ on attorney firings

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David Iglesias says Thursday’s “qualified admonition” of U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., by the Senate Ethics Committee is reason to celebrate, but the most important investigation of the U.S. attorney scandal is yet to come. The former U.S. attorney for New Mexico, in an exclusive interview, said he was celebrating on Thursday evening after learning about the letter the committee issued to Domenici upon the conclusion of its investigation. While finding no “substantial evidence” that Domenici “attempted to improperly influence an ongoing investigation” in his October 2006 phone call to Iglesias, the committee scolded the senator, saying he should have known that the call would create “an appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate.” Iglesias said he agrees that Domenici’s actions created the appearance of impropriety. “This was a public rebuke for improper actions on Domenici’s part,” he said. The committee didn’t find that Domenici had pressured Iglesias to speed indictments in a public corruption probe in time to sway voters in the November 2006 election – allegations that Iglesias has made publicly and under oath. Continue Reading

Who to blame for the price of gas

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© 2008 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “Resolve, then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving and tiny blasts of tiny trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us.” Walt Kelly, 1952 In 1970 Walt Kelly condensed the quote to, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I was thinking of that quote while filling up this week. Fuel prices are up dramatically. Americans are staring at the pump prices with alarm and wondering, “Gas should not cost that much. Who can we blame?” Blame all of us. It was not easy to get oil to $120 per barrel, but with incredible determination and stupidity, we Americans have done our part. Continue Reading

Auditor will consider request to scrutinize land deals

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State Auditor Hector Balderas says he’ll consider a request to investigate the land commissioner’s dealings with developers and determine whether he should get involved in a controversy over a provision in a lease agreement the attorney general says is illegal. Five state representatives sent a letter on Tuesday to Balderas requesting that he audit all land-sale, land-swap and leasing contracts entered into by the commissioner of public lands. Their request comes in light of a recent opinion issued by Attorney General Gary King’s office that says a lease agreement for land in Las Cruces includes a compensatory provision not authorized by state law. “We suspect other State Land Office contracts throughout the state may reflect similarly illegal financial arrangements,” the lawmakers stated in their letter, which you can read by clicking here. The lawmakers want Balderas to consider “whether contracts are written for the benefit of New Mexicans, not developers,” and wrote that the contracts “merit special scrutiny, an investigation of potential mismanagement and a complete audit by your office.” The letter is signed by Democratic Reps. Continue Reading

McCain expected to visit New Mexico next month

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John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, is expected to visit New Mexico in early May, a source with knowledge of the planned visit confirmed this evening. No other details were provided by the source. It will be McCain’s first visit to the state as a 2008 presidential candidate, but he has already given a great deal of attention to the Land of Enchantment. New Mexico was the first state where he ran his first TV ad of the general election season, and his campaign manager was in Albuquerque recently to speak at a national meeting of state Republican Party chairs. McCain is also trying to help the Republican National Committee raise money to pass on to the Republican Party of New Mexico to help out in the battleground state. Continue Reading

AFSCME endorses McCamley in CD2 race

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The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has endorsed Democrat Bill McCamley in the Second Congressional District race. The influential union represents more than 12,000 city, county, state and university employees in New Mexico. In endorsing McCamley, the union cited his “great relationship with labor over the years,” according to a news release from the McCamley campaign. McCamley has worked with the union in his role as a Doña Ana County commissioner. “Bill is going to do great things for Southern New Mexico,” AFSCME committee member Fred Marquez said in the release. Continue Reading

Probe finds no proof that Domenici pressured Iglesias

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The Senate Ethics Committee has found no evidence that Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., attempted to improperly influence an ongoing investigation during his October 2006 phone call to then-U.S. Attorney to David Iglesias but says Domenici should have known that the call would create the appearance of impropriety. The committee issued a “public letter of qualified admonition” to Domenici today, more than 13 months after it began its investigation. You can read the letter by clicking here. “The committee finds no substantial evidence to determine that you attempted to improperly influence an ongoing investigation,” the committee members wrote in the letter. “The committee does find that you should have known that a federal prosecutor receiving such a telephone call, coupled with an approaching election which may have turned on or been influenced by the prosecutor’s actions in the corruption matter, created an appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate.” Domenici and U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., separately called Iglesias in October 2006 to discuss an ongoing corruption investigation related to construction of the Bernalillo County Courthouse. Continue Reading

Environmental groups join forces to elect Udall

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Several national environmental groups are joining forces this year to try to elect Tom Udall and two other Democrats to the U.S. Senate, an unprecedented level of coordination that aims to build off their success in 2006 in ousting a U.S. House member. The news that the groups picked Udall as one of three candidates they will focus on electing further indicates the national importance of New Mexico’s U.S. Senate race. The groups that will join forces to elect Udall are the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, League of Conservation Voters, Clean Water Action and Environment America. They’re also rallying behind Udall’s cousin, Mark Udall, who is running for an open Senate seat in Colorado, and former N.H. Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, who is trying to unseat Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H. Ivan Frishberg, the national political director for Environment America, said in a conference call with reporters today that many measures backed by environmental groups passed the House in 2007 only to fall approximately three votes short of the 60 needed in the Senate to stop the minority from filibustering votes. “This election is an opportunity to change that,” he said. Continue Reading