{"id":22026,"date":"2010-09-30T08:20:32","date_gmt":"2010-09-30T14:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=22026"},"modified":"2010-10-01T10:40:37","modified_gmt":"2010-10-01T16:40:37","slug":"duran-touts-her-experience-pledges-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/09\/duran-touts-her-experience-pledges-integrity\/","title":{"rendered":"Duran touts her experience, pledges integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Dianna Duran<\/p><\/div>\n

When I met with Republican Secretary of State candidate Dianna Duran<\/a>, I expected her to hammer Democratic incumbent Mary Herrera<\/a> over controversies that include allegations of criminal activity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead, Duran talked primarily about her own qualifications and what she wants to do in the office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have as much experience as anyone in the State of New Mexico related to elections,\u201d Duran said during a recent interview in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

Duran started working on elections in 1979 as a voting machine technician in Alamogordo. She eventually became the Otero County clerk and served two terms. She\u2019s now in her fifth term as a state senator and has worked on election-related legislation in that capacity.<\/p>\n

Of course, in talking about herself, Duran was often implicitly contrasting her candidacy with that of Herrera. For example, she said repeatedly that she will bring \u201ccompetent, dedicated, professional people\u201d to work in the office \u2013 which contrasts with the high turnover rate Herrera has faced and the complaints from some county clerks and their staffers about a lack of competence in Herrera\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Duran said it was some county clerks who first asked her to run against Herrera. Five Democratic clerks have endorsed Duran\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey understand that I understand the importance of having knowledgeable, competent, experienced people,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

When I asked specifically about the allegations Herrera is facing, Duran talked about them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word scandal comes to mind any time you think of that office, and I\u2019d like for us to have a scandal-free Secretary of State\u2019s Office,\u201d Duran said. \u201cOur elections should be above reproach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis campaign is not about Democrats and Republicans,\u201d she said. \u201cThis campaign is about working to restore the confidence and trust in the Secretary of State\u2019s Office.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accessibility and fiscal responsibility<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Duran said if she\u2019s elected she\u2019ll be intentional about communicating with the public and running a transparent office. In a subtle shot at Herrera\u2019s recent dodging of reporters\u2019 questions<\/a> at a news conference, Duran said, \u201cWe must have a secretary of state who is answerable not just to the media, but through the media to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duran\u2019s cell phone number is printed on her campaign literature (it\u2019s also on her campaign Web site<\/a>), and she said she\u2019ll ensure that she remains accessible by keeping that cell number and giving it to the public.<\/p>\n

Duran said she wants to improve the accessibility of information maintained by the office as well. She cited the online campaign reporting system<\/a> \u2013 which she acknowledged Herrera has improved \u2013 as something that still needs work. For example, she said, reports from older systems need to be integrated into the new system so they are easier to find.<\/p>\n

Duran said she will consider supporting more frequent or even real-time campaign contribution reporting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be willing to look at any of those changes that would make it more accessible and easier for the public,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Duran also said voters need to \u201clook carefully\u201d at their choices and pick the candidate who will \u201cbe extremely careful with every single one of your taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can provide good government in that office, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m about,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

Voter ID<\/h3>\n

As a lawmaker, Duran has pushed for a voter ID law. She plans to continue that as secretary of state. Duran said polls show that most New Mexicans want some form of voter ID.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in New Mexico who are registered to vote want to know that their vote will count and only count once, and they want to know that illegal immigrants won\u2019t be able to vote,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

Requiring people to show identification when they vote is a controversial proposal in New Mexico that many Democratic lawmakers and other groups have fought. Among those fighting it are some American Indian groups, because many living on reservations don\u2019t even have driver\u2019s licenses.<\/p>\n

Duran didn\u2019t go into specifics, but she said she believes she can help find a compromise that will satisfy such concerns and still bring more integrity to elections. Democrats have signed onto bills she\u2019s sponsored in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that, working together, we can implement something that will work well in New Mexico,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re getting the message out\u2019<\/h3>\n

No Republican has been elected secretary of state in decades, but many believe Duran has a good chance this year. Some say it will take TV ads, but as of the last finance report, Duran hadn\u2019t yet raised the cash for a significant TV buy.<\/p>\n

Since then, former GOP gubernatorial candidates Doug Turner and Allen Weh have joined her team, announcing that they\u2019re going to help her raise money using the fundraising lists they developed during their own campaigns.<\/p>\n

Still, in her interview, Duran didn\u2019t promise TV ads. She said she\u2019s been traveling around the state and believes running a grassroots campaign is what will count.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting the message out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A prior version of this article incorrectly stated that four, not five, Democratic county clerks had endorsed Duran.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican Secretary of State candidate Dianna Duran says she has \u201cas much experience as anyone in the State of New Mexico related to elections,\u201d and it\u2019s time to use her experience to bring integrity to the office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,107],"class_list":["post-22026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}