{"id":2401,"date":"2007-10-18T14:49:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-18T20:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/10\/domenicis-retirement-affecting-down-ticket-races\/"},"modified":"2007-10-18T14:49:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-18T20:49:00","slug":"domenicis-retirement-affecting-down-ticket-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/10\/domenicis-retirement-affecting-down-ticket-races\/","title":{"rendered":"Domenici’s retirement affecting down-ticket races"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019ve been writing a lot lately about the effect U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici\u2019s<\/a> retirement will have on the top-of-the-ticket races in 2008, but there will also be quite an effect on down-ticket races. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve already seen the effects in one Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> situation. State Rep. Peter Wirth<\/a>, realizing U.S. Rep. Tom Udall\u2019s<\/a> seat isn\u2019t coming open, has opted to run for the state Senate seat being vacated by John Grubesic<\/a>. He had been eyeing the congressional seat for years, but a number of other potential candidates are also waiting for the day Udall leaves it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The effects are starting to show in Las Cruces<\/st1:city> and Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> as well.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Down south, Republicans are waiting to see who runs for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>. Republicans are watching with interest to see whether state Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson<\/a> or Reps. Joseph Cervantes<\/a> or Jeff Steinborn<\/a> run for that seat. They\u2019re floating the name of former Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Paul Curry<\/a> as a possible candidate for the Rawson Senate and Cervantes House seats, and the name of current Commissioner Kent Evans<\/a> as a possible candidate for Steinborn\u2019s House seat.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Evans is leaving the commission at the end of next year, so he might run regardless of whether he would have to face the incumbent.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>, former GOP House candidate Storm Field is taking a serious look at Sen. Joe Carraro\u2019s<\/a> seat. He might run even if Carraro opts against running for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Heather Wilson<\/a>. And I\u2019m told at least one GOP candidate is taking a close look at the House seat held by Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a>, who is also considering running for Wilson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

From a Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> perspective, 2008 was shaping up to be an interesting election year even before news of Domenici\u2019s coming retirement. On the Democratic side, Sen. Mary Jane Garcia<\/a> is being challenged by Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Oscar V\u00e1squez Butler<\/a> and Rep. Joni Gutierrez<\/a> is being challenged by Mesilla Mayor Pro Tem Jesus Caro<\/a>. And on the Republican side two candidates – Doyle Pruitt and Anna Mae Evans, Kent Evans\u2019 wife, have already announced their runs for the commission seat Kent Evans is vacating next year.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s taking some time for the U.S. Senate and House races to be sorted out. Once that happens, expect more movement on the down-ticket races. When the dust settles, I suspect we\u2019ll find that Domenici\u2019s retirement ends up reshaping the entire state\u2019s political makeup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been writing a lot lately about the effect U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici\u2019s retirement will have on the top-of-the-ticket races in 2008, but there will also be quite an effect on down-ticket races. We\u2019ve already seen the effects in one Santa Fe situation. State Rep. Peter Wirth, realizing U.S. Rep. Tom Udall\u2019s seat isn\u2019t coming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401","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=2401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}