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Poll should make Richardson supporters nervous

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A new poll of likely Democratic voters in New Hampshire should have supporters of Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign a little nervous. The poll, conducted by Research 2000 for the Concord Monitor, has Richardson nipping at the heels of John Edwards – at 8 percent to Edwards’ 10 percent – when Al Gore is included. Eliminate Gore, who isn’t running for president, and Edwards’ support jumps to 15 percent. Richardson’s support drops to 7 percent when Gore is not included in the poll. That’s bad news for Richardson because other recent polls in New Hampshire – none as recent as this – found that Richardson and Edwards were nearly tied at 8-10 percent without Gore in the running. Continue Reading

ABQ council candidate needs new e-mail address

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Rey Garduño is running an Albuquerque City Council campaign based on clean elections and ethical government. The Democrat is running for the District 6 seat in the state’s largest city – a seat being vacated by congressional candidate Martin Heinrich. He has the support of many who are fighting for good government in New Mexico and Albuquerque. But Garduño’s latest misstep is cause for concern that the man who is running a campaign based on ethical government may not know how to avoid the appearance of impropriety. It’s one thing to use a government e-mail address to campaign – which he’s doing. Continue Reading

FEC reports give clearer picture of federal races

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Candidates for federal races had to file second-quarter fundraising reports by Sunday, and the money game in New Mexico’s races became clearer with their public release. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who has drawn three lesser-known opponents but no prominent Democratic challenger thus far, raised $650,000 from April to June, the Albuquerque Tribune reported. His report isn’t yet posted on the Federal Election Commission Web site. The senator has $1 million in the bank. U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., raised $393,000 during the quarter. Continue Reading

Veterans’ activist to battle for right to take on Pearce

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A prominent Vietnam veteran who has run unsuccessfully for Congress in the past plans to fight for the right to take on U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. next year. Democrat Rick Bolaños said he is “absolutely” running and plans to officially declare his candidacy later this week. Until recently, Bolaños lived in east El Paso, and he ran in 2006 against former Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas. Mid-way through that election cycle, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of the controversial 2003 Texas redistricting, but forced the redrawing of Bonilla’s district. It also ordered a vote on Election Day 2006 that included all candidates who wanted to run, with a runoff in December if no candidate received 50 percent. Continue Reading

Voters in polls say guv is most and least ethical

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Gov. Bill Richardson won both non-scientific polls posted last week on this site, one for being the most ethical statewide elected official and the other for being the least ethical among the seven politicians. Of 289 voters in the poll about who is most ethical, Richardson received 92 votes, or 32 percent; Attorney General Gary King received 72 votes, or 25 percent; Lt. Gov. Diane Denish received 35 votes, or 12 percent; Treasurer James B. Lewis received 32 votes, or 11 percent; Auditor Hector Balderas received 31 votes, or 11 percent; Land Commissioner Pat Lyons received 24 votes, or 8 percent; and Secretary of State Mary Herrera received three votes, or 1 percent. Of 186 voters in the poll about who is least ethical, Richardson received 76 votes, or 41 percent; Lyons received 73 votes, or 39 percent; Herrera received 17 votes, or 9 percent; Balderas received nine votes, or 5 percent; Denish received six votes, or 3 percent; King received three votes, or 2 percent; and Lewis received two votes, or 1 percent. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Another Dem to fight for right to take on Wilson

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Democratic Party insider Bryon Paez has decided to jump into the race for the Democratic nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., next year. A native of Las Vegas, N.M., Paez has worked for Gov. Bill Richardson, the national Democrats and several statewide Democratic candidates. He’s never run for office before. He’s a Marine Corps veteran and, according to the Albuquerque Tribune, served in Somalia and Iraq. The entrance of a Hispanic who is well-known to party insiders makes this race interesting. Continue Reading

Bingaman talks about new emissions bill

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Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s office is working on providing video of certain events for news Web sites. The first is from the senator’s announcement earlier this week of a new bill designed to help combat global warming by reducing emissions. If you want to hear Bingaman talking about the bill, watch the video that’s below. It’s about two minutes long. Continue Reading

Kissling raises $10K, says money gap doesn’t matter

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Congressional candidate Al Kissling’s second-quarter finance report indicates that his expenditures from April to June exceeded his contributions by more than $67,000, but Kissling says the report is incorrect and he has about $8,000 in cash on hand. The report indicates that Kissling raised $10,445 during the quarter, spent $79,686.13 and had a negative cash balance at the end of the period of $67,437.43. Expenditures listed included a payment to the New Mexico Department of Labor of, according to the report, $73,098 – the likely source of the error. “That’s not anywhere near correct,” Kissling said. In fact, he said, he has $8,000 in the bank today, and raised a little more than $10,000 during the second quarter. Continue Reading

Clinton, Edwards seek to disenfranchise voters

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Hillary Clinton and John Edwards want to exclude some of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls from future debates, a move that would disenfranchise a number of Democratic voters. Their remarks, caught on tape by a number of television networks following Thursday’s NAACP debate in Detroit, are outrageous. As reported by the Associated Press, the two spoke at the conclusion of the debate, most likely believing they weren’t in range of an open microphone. “We should try to have a more serious and smaller group,” Edwards told Clinton. She agreed, saying the debates were “trivialized” by some of the other candidates and by having too many on stage. Continue Reading

Thank God for the atomic bomb

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© 2007 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “The Japanese government was by no means rational or ready to surrender… They were dictated to by Hirohito and the military, who believed they could inflict enough casualties to force the Americans to negotiate… As to the projected American casualties, they could have been higher than 800,000… Thank God for Harry Truman.” – Stephen E. Ambrose Nothing gets peaceniks like the United States dropping not one but two atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II. The 16th of July is the 62nd anniversary of the first test atomic explosion at the Trinity Site in New Mexico. This led to the bombing of two Japanese cities weeks later. In considering the decision to use the bomb, there are four core issues. Continue Reading

Judge in Foley case gave $50 to his campaign

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The Roswell judge assigned to hear the case of House Minority Whip Dan Foley, who is scheduled to go to trial next month on charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer and resisting arrest, gave $50 to one Foley’s House re-election campaigns. In addition, Foley is a close friend of a son of Judge Clyde McKee, the Roswell Daily Record is reporting today. McKee, according to the site FollowTheMoney.org, gave $50 to Foley in 2002 or 1998. The year differs on different pages on the Web site. In addition, according to the newspaper, the judge is the father of Michael McKee, who told the newspaper he is “a close personal friend of Dan Foley and a campaign contributor and supporter.” In 2004 alone, Michael McKee gave $1,103 to Foley’s campaign, the newspaper reported. Continue Reading

Pearce raises $245,500 during second quarter

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., raised about $245,500 during the second quarter of 2007. In a report filed today with the Federal Election Commission, Pearce also reported expenses of almost $60,300 during the period that ended June 30. At the end of the period, he had a little more than $383,000 on hand for his 2008 re-election campaign. His fundraising total is high above that of his most active Democratic challenger, Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley, who raised $139,600 during the quarter. But McCamley’s expenses during the period were $6,300, leaving the difference between what each candidate raised this quarter and carries over to the next period at a little more than $51,000. Continue Reading

Guv rises in Pennsylvania and Michigan, not in Ohio

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Three new polls show Gov. Bill Richardson doing reasonably well in two large states and not so well in a third. In the new polls, Richardson is at 8 percent in Pennsylvania, 7 percent in Michigan and 2 percent in Ohio. The new poll in Pennsylvania, conducted by the conservative Strategic Vision, had Hillary Clinton in the lead among Democratic contenders with 36 percent, Barack Obama with 25 percent, John Edwards with 12 percent, Richardson with 8 percent and Joe Biden with 5 percent. Twelve percent were undecided. The overall survey of 1,200 likely voters in Pennsylvania was conducted July 6-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent, but the survey asked many questions of Democrats and Republicans. Continue Reading

12 are finalists for Democratic Party director job

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The Democratic Party of New Mexico has named 12 finalists for the position of executive director, including one who wasn’t on the original list of applicants released. The successful candidate will replace outgoing Director Matt Farrauto. Party Chair Brian Colón is expected to make a decision soon. The finalists are: • Francisco Apodaca, who was not included on the original list of applicants released to the public • Joe Casados • Chris Cervini • Eamonn Donovan • Terri Holland • Christopher Honey • Michael Minh-Nguyen • Yvette Ramirez Ammerman • Laura Sanchez • Art Terrazas • Rebecca Vigil-Giron • Nate Williams Continue Reading

Building a better Las Cruces

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By Ken Miyagishima There has been considerable controversy recently over the pace and kind of growth currently occurring in our area. In the past year alone the City of Las Cruces has annexed almost 20 square miles of surrounding land, including over 4,000 acres in the Presidios project on the East Mesa. The City of Las Cruces is going to grow. We have a good climate, friendly people, a beautiful landscape and a great university. We sit at the crossroads of two of New Mexico’s major highways and within an hour of a major airport. Continue Reading