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Republicans, others attack Democratic ad they say lumps immigrants in with terrorists

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Republican Hispanics and others are blasting a Democratic group for a political ad they say unfairly compares Hispanic immigrants to terrorists. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ran an ad on its Web site that shows footage of two apparently undocumented immigrants scaling a border fence, along with images of Osama Bin Laden and North Korea’s leader, according to an Associated Press article that you can read via the Albuquerque Journal. Pedro Celis, chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, called the ad “appalling” and said the Democratic group should remove it, according to the Associated Press. Republicans aren’t the only ones upset. A Democratic city councilwoman from Houston is among those calling for the ad to be removed from the group’s Web site. Continue Reading

Richardson to pressure Wal-Mart on pay, benefits

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Gov. Bill Richardson is one of four potential Democratic presidential candidates who will be in Iowa this week to join a union-based group that’s trying to pressure Wal-Mart to offer higher wages and better benefits. According to the Associated Press, Richardson will be participating in events organized by Wake Up Wal-Mart on Thursday. The group is planning to visit 19 states in 35 days, according to the article, which was posted on the Santa Fe New Mexican’s Web site. The tour will be in Iowa through the weekend and in New Mexico next week. The group claims Wal-Mart’s low wages and poor benefits equal government subsidies, because its workers are eligible for programs that include Medicaid and food stamps. Continue Reading

Judge: Vigil trial staying in New Mexico

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A federal judge issued a preliminary ruling Tuesday morning denying a request to move the trial of former state Treasurer Robert Vigil out of New Mexico, according to the Associated Press. The review is pending U.S. District Judge James Browning’s review of a few other cases, but the judge said he’s confident a jury can be found in the state, the Associated Press reported. The retrial is set to begin Sept. 5. Vigil resigned in October and has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of racketeering and extortion. Continue Reading

Richardson interviews district judge candidates

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Gov. Bill Richardson interviewed Monday the two candidates for the new district judgeship in Las Cruces, and will announce an appointment in the next several days. A judicial nominating committee sent the names of Democrats Fernando Macias, 54, and Bernadette Sedillo, 40, to Richardson at the end of July. Both candidates plan to seek the party’s nomination to run in November if appointed. The Republican Party has chosen Rita Nuñez-Neumann, 62, to run in November. The governor has until Aug. Continue Reading

Mexico’s ambassador can play politics, too

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Mexico’s ambassador to the United States was in Las Cruces Monday to show House Republicans he can play the political game as well as anybody. Ambassador Carlos de Icaza spoke about immigration issues at New Mexico State University, and spoke later in the day in El Paso. They were two of several stops he plans in cities across the nation. House Republicans, seeking to stall meaningful immigration reform until after the November election, have been conducting hearings on immigration across the nation this summer. They conducted such a hearing earlier this month in Las Cruces. Continue Reading

State might give even more to Virgin Galactic

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A Sunday article in the Albuquerque Journal revealed an interesting little detail that has, thus far, been left out of public statements about the deal between the state and Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic is the company that has verbally agreed to a 20-year lease of a new facility the state is going to build at Spaceport America. But the agreement has not been put on paper, so many remain skeptical about the project. Some legislators opposed the state’s approval earlier this year of more than $100 million to begin construction on the facility, saying they wanted to see Virgin Galactic commit to the state before they pledged money. Their voices were silenced by a larger crowd that went along with Gov. Bill Richardson. Continue Reading

Housing authority was selling properties in Las Cruces to investors instead of needy people

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A supposed affordable housing development in Las Cruces that wasn’t benefiting low-income people was among the final discoveries before the resignation earlier this month of Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos as Region III Housing Authority director. Properties the housing authority planned to develop in Las Cruces were being sold to an investor instead of needy people, the State Investment Council found. That is “beyond the scope of authority of the New Mexico Regional Housing Law” and violates the terms of the housing authority’s bonds, according to a July 6 letter from State Investment Council Lawyer Bryan Otero to the housing authority’s corporations. Gallegos’ resignation is part of a larger scandal that has left the state’s regional housing authorities in shambles. The Region III authority, based in Albuquerque, and the Region VII authority, based in Las Cruces, have been devastated by the problems. During its investigation of the housing authorities, the investment council discovered a 33-lot development near Oñate High School in Las Cruces. Continue Reading

New elections supervisor hopes he can help Torres stay in office until she’s ready to leave

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The new Doña Ana County elections supervisor hopes he can help Clerk Rita Torres stay in office as long as she desires, despite her health problems. Democrat Torres has suffered from health problems that have prompted some to question whether she should resign. Even the county chair of Torres’ political party admits that the clerk’s health may be affecting her job performance. Lynn Ellins, who was hired Friday by Torres to run the November election, said he wanted to make a statement about that, and said it’s all he’ll say about Torres’ health. “I hope I do a good enough job so that, when Rita leaves the office, it’s on her own terms,” Ellins said. Ellins starts work today. Continue Reading

Poll: Most think government shouldn’t be able to regulate campaign signs on private property

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Most who voted in last week’s poll think governments should not be able to regulate campaign signs on private property. Of 100 voters, 66, or 66 percent, said governments should not be allowed to do that. 30, or 30 percent, said governments should be able to do that. 4, or 4 percent, said governments should only be able to regulate the signs of Republicans, and none said governments should only be able to regulate the signs of Democrats. The polls results go against the norm in cities and counties across the state. Continue Reading

Ellins pledges full effort, transparency and cooperation for November election

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Before he moved to Colorado in the 1970s, Lynn Ellins was what you might call a “Rockefeller Republican.” In general, that means one who espoused the more liberal views of Republican Nelson Rockefeller, the former governor of New York and United States vice president. But when Ellins moved from New York to Colorado, he found he was “about as far left a Republican as you can be” in the more conservative state. Ellins, now 69, changed his party registration in 2000. “This was not the Republican Party that I signed up for many years ago,” he said. “My heart was not with it. Continue Reading

BREAKING NEWS: Torres puts co-chair of elections task force in charge of November election

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Lynn Ellins, co-chair of the Doña Ana County elections task force, has been hired to run the November election. County Clerk Rita Torres made the decision this afternoon to hire Ellins, a Democrat, as the elections supervisor on a temporary basis. John Caldwell, the county’s head attorney and interim human resources director, said Ellins will serve though the November election. Torres fired the previous elections supervisor, Mari Langford, shortly after the June primary and placed her chief deputy, Cecilia Madrid, in charge of the elections bureau. At the time, Torres, who suffers from health problems that have affected her job performance, said she would not hire an elections supervisor before November. Continue Reading

There’s no proof of widespread voter fraud, but the system does allow for potential misdeeds

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With all the uproar about alleged voter fraud, I thought it might be interesting to look back at the 2004 election, which is often the springboard for such allegations. Kate Nelson of the Albuquerque Tribune summed up the political climate at the time of the 2004 election well in a Jan. 29, 2005 article: “(It was alleged that) apolitical slackers in search of the $7-a-voter bounty some groups were paying simply opened phone books to borrow the fill-in-the-blanks necessities,” she wrote. “County clerks were deluged with good forms and bad. The election was looming. Continue Reading

Richardson’s criticism of Dendahl backfires

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On Wednesday, Republican gubernatorial candidate John Dendahl filed his first campaign finance report, a month late, and the campaign of Gov. Bill Richardson criticized the fact that almost half of Dendahl’s contributions came from the oil and gas industry. Richardson’s campaign asked for it, and Dendahl gave the appropriate response –Richardson has taken almost 10 times as much oil and gas money. Dendahl reported raising $59,700 as of July 3. At that point, he had spent only $1,373. More than half – $25,000 – came from the oil and gas industry. Continue Reading