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With provisional ballots yet to be counted, Democrats say they’ve won three closest races

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With hundreds of provisional ballots left to be counted, the three Democrats leading close races in Doña Ana County believe they have won. There are 714 provisional ballots yet to be counted in Doña Ana County, and about 100 in Otero County. The election will be certified in Otero County on Thursday, but a final tally in Doña Ana County may wait until next week. Those in Otero County are relevant to the House District 53 race between Republican incumbent Terry Marquardt and Democratic challenger Nate Cote because 2 of 10 precincts are in that county. In that race, Cote is beating Marquardt by 180 votes. Continue Reading

Garza has to pay thousands to commission

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In addition to being removed from the bench, Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Carlos Garza was ordered today to pay $16,760 to the Judicial Standards Commission. That was for reimbursement of the costs of its investigation. The commission found that Garza used cocaine and abused his position to benefit a woman with whom he had a personal relationship. Because of the commission’s findings, the New Mexico Supreme Court ordered Garza’s immediate removal from the bench, a permanent ban on him ever seeking or holding judicial office again and the reimbursement of costs, according to Commission Director Jim Noel. The court’s decision came after Noel and Garza each had an opportunity to argue their cases before the high court. Continue Reading

Board member: Allegations against Diaz must be probed; leave not indicative of lack of confidence

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Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz was placed on administrative leave so the board could investigate allegations raised by staff, not because the board is unhappy with what she is trying to accomplish, the board says. Board Member Leonel Briseño, speaking for the school board, made the comments during a news conference this afternoon. He said the vote to place Diaz on paid, administrative leave was unanimous and taken in an open session. “Let me be clear: This does not reflect a lack of confidence in our superintendent’s performance. Dr. Diaz was selected for her passion, for the education of all children, her extensive background in curriculum and her ability to communicate with various segments of our community,” Briseño said. Continue Reading

Legislators say Diaz needs time, support to do job

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Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz was allowed to lead a meeting of school board members and legislators this morning before the board advised her that she had been placed on administrative leave Tuesday night and asked for her keys and cell phone. In an interview, Diaz said she had no idea she had been placed on leave as she led the meeting. Several of the legislators had already heard rumors, and asked to meet with school board members about the situation after their initial meeting to discuss legislative priorities. Two board members – John Schwebke and Sharon Wooden – went with legislators, and told them Diaz had been placed on leave. Two others – Leonel Briseño and Chuck Davis – met privately with Diaz to inform her, Diaz said. Continue Reading

BREAKING NEWS: Superintendent placed on leave; legislators may ask state to take over LCPS

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Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Sonia Diaz was placed on administrative leave by the school board Tuesday night, and the Doña Ana County legislative delegation is considering asking the state to take over the school district. School Board member Leonel Briseño will make a public statement at 1 p.m. at the administration building, 505 South Main Street. Until then, the district will make no comment, said spokeswoman Jo Galvan. The county’s legislators had a previously scheduled meeting with the board this morning to discuss legislative priorities. State Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, said that, after the meeting, legislators met with Board President Sharon Wooden and member John Schwebke to discuss rumors that Diaz was placed on administrative leave. Continue Reading

Garrison survives local Democratic wave

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If provisional ballots don’t affect current results in other, closer races, the Republican sheriff will be the only GOP member to survive a Democratic wave that swept through Doña Ana County on Tuesday. Democrats kept all other seats they held in the county. They also picked up two House seats and one county commission seat, unless provisional ballots change any results. In this county, provisional ballots historically swing to Democrats. But Sheriff Todd Garrison, the Republican incumbent who was appointed to the job 18 months ago by the commission, beat Democrat Ralph Misquez. Continue Reading

An explanation of the Tuesday night controversy over getting a court order to open ballot boxes

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I want to better explain what happened last night with the ballot boxes that required a court order to open. State law requires that such action be taken in the presence of the county’s canvassing board. Tuesday’s snafus revealed the flaw in that law: Votes needed to be counted, but the county commission isn’t even set to authorize the creation of a canvassing board until 1 p.m. today. District Judge Doug Driggers was called first. He told me last night that a county official explained to him the situation with the canvassing board, and Driggers decided that, because of that, he needed to be in a formal setting where he could hear from all parties involved and consider the statute, so he opted to wait until today. Continue Reading

With provisionals out, some races still close

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All results from Doña Ana County are counted except provisional ballots. You can view the results by clicking here. The county has not yet released the number of provisional ballots cast Tuesday. To be safe, I’m going to say that means there are a number of races too close to call: • In the House District 53 race, Democrat Nate Cote is beating Republican Terry Marquardt by 180 votes. • In the House District 37 race, Democrat Jeff Steinborn is beating Republican Scott Witt by 289 votes. Continue Reading

Unless provisionals change it, Steinborn, Cote win

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Here are the final results on the hot House races:In District 37, Democrat Jeff Steinborn has 4,798 votes, or 51.55 percent. Republican Scott Witt has 4,501 votes, or 48.55 percent.In District 53, Democrat Nate Cote has 2,631 votes, or 51.8 percent. Republican Terry Marquardt has 2,451 votes, or 48.2 percent.Provisional ballots have yet to be counted. Elections Supervisor Lynn Ellins couldn’t tell me how many there are. Continue Reading

Steinborn takes lead, Cote holds lead

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With 101 of 106 precincts reporting, both hot House races are too close to call.In District 37, Democrat Jeff Steinborn has taken the lead. He currently has 4,272 votes, or 50.6 percent. Republican Scott Witt has 4,170 votes, or 49.4 percent.In the District 53 race, Democrat Nate Cote has 2,432 votes, or 50.8 percent. Republican Terry Marquardt has 2,356 votes, or 49.2 percent. Continue Reading

Votes will be counted tonight after all

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County spokesman Jess Williams just announced that District Judge Robert E. Robles is on his way to the government center to sign an order allowing the county to open several boxes and count absentee and early ballots tonight.Robles is doing this despite the fact that Judge Doug Driggers told the county it would have to wait until tomorrow.It appears we’ll have final, unofficial results sometime in the next several hours. Continue Reading

Thousands of votes may not be counted tonight

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It’s possible that more than 3,300 absentee ballots in Doña Ana County won’t be counted until at least Wednesday morning, which could affect most local races and some statewide races.County elections officials said a district judge refused to issue an order allowing two things – the opening of the early voting ballot box from Hatch and the opening of four precincts’ locked boxes.A worker error means the Hatch early votes need to be recounted. And workers erroneously put all materials from their precincts – including any absentee ballots that were cast – into the locked boxes. Officials can’t tally absentee ballots until those boxes are opened.The judge, Doug Driggers, said county officials didn’t tell him that absentee ballots were involved, but said he made his decision because he could not adequately consider the situation tonight.“It would wait until tomorrow morning when I could look at the statutes before me, rather than issuing an order from my home,” Driggers said. “We’ll just wait until tomorrow at 8 a.m. and see what comes up.”With two nearly tied House races in Doña Ana County and several other close races, candidates from both parties are nervous, upset and confused by Driggers’ decision. Continue Reading

Cote beating Marquardt by 53 votes

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In the House District 53 race, Democratic challenger Nate Cote is beating Republican incumbent Terry Marquardt.With 95 of 106 precincts reporting in Doña Ana County and all precincts reporting in Otero County, Cote is leading with 2,225 votes, or 50.6 percent. Marquardt, the House minority whip, has 2,172 votes, or 49.4 percent.“It looks like a very tight race,” Cote said. “It looks to me like we’re neck and neck.”Marquardt did not want to comment.This total also does not include absentee ballots in either county. Unless absentee ballots are counted tonight in Doña Ana County, we may not know the outcome of this race or the District 37 race. Continue Reading