{"id":2422,"date":"2007-10-24T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-24T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/10\/rawson-wont-run-for-congress-will-seek-re-election\/"},"modified":"2007-10-24T10:01:00","modified_gmt":"2007-10-24T16:01:00","slug":"rawson-wont-run-for-congress-will-seek-re-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/10\/rawson-wont-run-for-congress-will-seek-re-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Rawson won’t run for Congress, will seek re-election"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>State Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson<\/a>, R-Las Cruces, has decided to forgo the \u201crare opportunity\u201d of running for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M., because of family considerations. <\/p>\n

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

Rawson made the announcement in an e-mail this morning.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cMoira and I have the rare privilege of having all of our family and extended family living in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>. The present joy of having three sons living at home, two sons working full-time in our family business (Rawson Builders Supply<\/a>), and one son getting married in January cannot be sacrificed or replaced. These are precious times with our parents and our sons, along with their growing families,\u201d Rawson said. \u201cAfter prayerful thought and consideration, we have determined that it would be the wrong decision for me to serve in Congress at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Rawson and his wife have four sons.<\/p>\n

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

Rawson is right to call this a rare opportunity. Pearce is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici<\/a>, creating an open seat in a conservative district that fits well with Rawson\u2019s political views. In addition, there is no obvious Republican frontrunner.<\/p>\n

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

While announcing that he won\u2019t run for Congress, the 20-year state senator announced his re-election bid for his state Senate seat. He\u2019s the only Republican lawmaker from Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt is my heartfelt desire to continue our effective service in this capacity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe would be honored by our district\u2019s continued support.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Rawson said the situation in state government wasn\u2019t a factor in his decision. He is part of a bipartisan group of senators serving as the primary check on the governor, and he is highly critical of many of the governor\u2019s proposals and actions.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThat was not a factor in the decision. The decision was simply family. I believe there are plenty of people in the state and this district who can do just as good a job as I can (in the Senate),\u201d Rawson said. \u201cI do believe the seniority that we\u2019ve built up allows us to be more effective than a new legislator, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019m more capable than anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Rawson\u2019s decision to not seek the congressional seat means the GOP is still without an announced candidate. Meanwhile, three Democrats have entered the race: Al Kissling<\/a>, Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley<\/a> and former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague<\/a>. At least three other Democrats are considering running for the seat.<\/p>\n

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

On the GOP side, Ed Tinsley, who ran unsuccessfully against Pearce in the 2002 primary, is seriously considering the race and being pushed by many in Washington, in part because the restaurant chain owner, who\u2019s also a Capitan rancher, real estate developer and oilman, can help fun his own campaign. Tinsley isn\u2019t expected to make a decision for about two weeks.<\/p>\n

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

Sierra<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> Republican Party Chair C. Earl Greer<\/a> has been considering the race, and told me today that he\u2019s \u201cleaning toward running, definitely,\u201d and will make a decision shortly.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThings are beginning to look very favorable, and the support appears to be there, but I want to make sure it\u2019s there before we make a final decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Other Republicans considering the race or being mentioned as potential candidates include state Reps. Don Bratton<\/a> of Hobbs<\/st1:city> and Don Tripp<\/a> of Socorro, Roswell<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> businessman and former congressional candidate Phelps Anderson, Roswell Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Mike Kakuska and former Roswell Mayor Bill Owen.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 11:35 a.m.<\/p>\n

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

Anderson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> said he is \u201cstill seriously thinking about\u201d running for Congress, but isn\u2019t in a hurry to make a decision, saying there are lots of considerations. He said Rawson\u2019s decision \u201cis an important dynamic in the Republican primary\u201d because, unless another GOP candidate from Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> emerges, that population center is up for grabs.<\/p>\n

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

Anderson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> said he has received \u201ca lot of positive feedback\u201d in conversations about a potential run, but said he has to discuss the situation with more people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, has decided to forgo the \u201crare opportunity\u201d of running for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., because of family considerations. Rawson made the announcement in an e-mail this morning. \u201cMoira and I have the rare privilege of having all of our family and […]<\/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-2422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2422","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=2422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}