{"id":2579,"date":"2007-11-29T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-29T23:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/11\/cervantes-mccamley-strong-at-first-candidate-forum\/"},"modified":"2007-11-29T17:25:00","modified_gmt":"2007-11-29T23:25:00","slug":"cervantes-mccamley-strong-at-first-candidate-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/11\/cervantes-mccamley-strong-at-first-candidate-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Cervantes, McCamley strong at first candidate forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joseph Cervantes<\/a> and Bill McCamley<\/a> both gave strong performances during the first forum for Democratic candidates for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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

Al Kissling<\/a> also did well \u2013 a sign that he\u2019s come a long way from his failed 2006 run against Pearce. A prior commitment kept Harry Teague<\/a> from attending the forum in Truth or Consequences, and the fifth candidate in the race, Frank McKinnon<\/a>, said he\u2019ll be happy to get out of the race as soon as one of the other candidates agrees to take up his most important issues \u2013 opposing two nuclear waste reprocessing plants being built in the southeastern corner of the state, phasing out the nuclear industry and improving government regulation of polluting industries.<\/p>\n

\n

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

Cervantes used the two-hour forum to try to convince the approximately 40 people in attendance that his seven years in the Legislature \u2013 and record of results \u2013 makes him most qualified for the job. McCamley frequently cited his own accomplishments as a Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> commissioner in arguing that he\u2019s the candidate with a proven record of results.<\/p>\n

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

The two spent much of the evening countering each others\u2019 claims about having the most experience on issues. The reality is that they both have accomplishments to cite from their time as elected officials.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Cervantes\u2019 best moment of the night came when he effectively highlighted his experience by speaking about his work to push for payday lending reform and his high-profile role in reforming the state\u2019s housing authority system. When the system became publicly embroiled in scandal last year that was tied to the speaker of the House and involved improper spending of at least $1 million, Cervantes held a public hearing on the situation.<\/p>\n

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

He did that even though he and others suspected it would cost him his chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. The speaker later replaced him with a new chair, but Cervantes said holding the hearing was right thing to do.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI stood up to say that a million dollars shouldn\u2019t have gone into your pocket,\u201d Cervantes said. \u201cThat was supposed to go into low-income housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>McCamley effectively touted his experience when speaking about health-care reform. Counties are charged with ensuring the health of their residents and have to foot the bill for indigent care. He pointed out that he led a reform of the county\u2019s health-care system to try to reduce costs by focusing on preventative care, instead of emergency-room care, and increasing cooperation between clinics.<\/p>\n

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

\u2018If you want someone with the results of getting it done, then I would ask for your support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Cervantes pointed out that health-care reform will be the focus of the upcoming legislative session, and said he\u2019s looking forward to being a part of it. McCamley pointed out that he authored and secured passage of a county resolution in support of one of two health-care reform plans that will be considered during the session.<\/p>\n

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

Strong answers to minimum wage question<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Kissling answered a question about raising the minimum wage by saying he supports the creation of a \u201cliving wage,\u201d which he said \u201cought to be enough to support a family of at least two.\u201d He transitioned into talking about other ways to help families that are struggling financially, saying he favors lifting the cap on Social Security taxes to ensure its solvency and ending the war in Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> so more money can be spent on domestic problems.<\/p>\n

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

McKinnon also gave a strong answer, saying he supports raising the minimum wage \u201cto make it where everybody\u2019s living comfortably,\u201d but said implementing universal health care would also help struggling Americans.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThat medical care issue is a very serious one that could solve a whole lot of problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

McCamley said it\u2019s apparent the minimum wage is too low because someone being paid minimum wage and working 40 hours a week lives below the poverty level.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThis is really about the disparity between the people making big money and the people making too little money,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I will never, ever, ever vote for a pay increase for Congress without a subsequent increase in the minimum wage. I will promise you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Cervantes pointed out that, as a legislator, he had a hand in the state minimum wage increase approved earlier this year, which exceeded the federal increase.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019ve walked the walk. I have consistently supported raising the minimum wage and I\u2019ve fought the fight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

A spaceport dispute<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The evening became tense when Cervantes used a question about renewable energy to bring up Spaceport America<\/a>, which McCamley has championed. Cervantes said the approximately $200 million in public money going to that risky project would have been better spent on the development of renewable energy.<\/p>\n

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

He pointed out three times during his statement that he disagreed with McCamley on the spaceport, and said he was glad that McCamley, despite pushing earlier this year for approval of a tax increase in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> to help fund the spaceport, was now backing off and seeking a repeal or delay of the tax.<\/p>\n

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

Commissioners, including McCamley, support delaying the tax until Sierra or Otero counties approve a similar increase, because none of the money can be spent unless that happens. McCamley does not support a repeal of the tax.<\/p>\n

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

Cervantes also said during the forum that he opposed the tax before it was approved earlier this year.<\/p>\n

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

McCamley, when his turn came, said in a heated tone that Cervantes only opposed the spaceport tax publicly after it was already approved, despite Cervantes\u2019 recent assertion on a radio program that people knew before the election that he opposed the tax.<\/p>\n

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

What\u2019s accurate is that Cervantes was vehemently opposed to the tax but he refused to confirm that for reporters or admit it in at least one public setting that I wrote about at the time<\/a>, so many voters in the county didn\u2019t know about his opposition.<\/p>\n

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

After the shot at Cervantes, McCamley defended the spaceport as a project that is risky but has the potential to create needed jobs for young people in Southern New Mexico<\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

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

\n

More back-and-forth between candidates<\/span><\/p>\n

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

When it was his turn to speak, Kissling jumped into the fray, pointing out that McCamley incorrectly said earlier in the forum that he was the first Democrat to enter the race. Kissling filed to run in March, a few weeks before McCamley filed in April.<\/p>\n

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

When he got another chance to speak, Cervantes said the other Democratic candidates have good qualities, and he singled out McCamley in saying his \u201cpassion and enthusiasm are important for a candidate in this race, and he\u2019s to be commended for that.\u201d However, Cervantes said, he\u2019s the only candidate with something the GOP candidate won\u2019t have \u2013 the experience to \u201caddress these issues with action and results.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

McCamley ended his closing statement by attacking Cervantes. He pointed out that Cervantes said he entered the race because Pearce\u2019s decision to run for Senate and vacate the House seat made this \u201cthe right time.\u201d McCamley said he was in the race long before Pearce decided to not seek re-election because attempting to unseat him was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cTo me, it\u2019s about doing the right thing, not about waiting for the right time,\u201d McCamley said. \u201c\u2026 When it\u2019s about getting us out of Iraq<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>, voting on health care\u2026 I\u2019ll do the right thing, not wait for the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Watch the candidates<\/span><\/p>\n

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

I shot video of the opening statements made by each candidate. Here they are. I apologize for the poor video quality on the McCamley video. He wasn\u2019t standing under the spotlight, but the audio is still good.<\/p>\n

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

Joseph Cervantes<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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

Al Kissling<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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

Bill McCamley<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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

Frank McKinnon<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/param><\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This article has been updated to clarify McKinnon\u2019s platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joseph Cervantes and Bill McCamley both gave strong performances during the first forum for Democratic candidates for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce. Al Kissling also did well \u2013 a sign that he\u2019s come a long way from his failed 2006 run against Pearce. A prior commitment kept Harry Teague from […]<\/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-2579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579","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=2579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}