{"id":3048,"date":"2008-04-01T12:10:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-01T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/04\/rnc-chairman-says-gop-is-optimistic-about-n-m\/"},"modified":"2008-04-01T12:10:00","modified_gmt":"2008-04-01T18:10:00","slug":"rnc-chairman-says-gop-is-optimistic-about-n-m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/04\/rnc-chairman-says-gop-is-optimistic-about-n-m\/","title":{"rendered":"RNC chairman says GOP is optimistic about N.M."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Republican National Committee<\/a> is confident that the GOP can successfully defend three seats in Congress from New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> this year without incumbents and that John McCain<\/a> can win the state\u2019s five electoral votes in the presidential race. <\/p>\n

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

That was the message delivered today by Mike Duncan<\/a>, the RNC chairman, in an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI think we\u2019re very well lined up this fall,\u201d Duncan<\/st1:city> said, speaking by phone from the 2008 state chairmen\u2019s meeting being held this week in Northern New Mexico<\/st1:place>. \u201cWe have to work for it. Obviously, New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> is competitive, but we\u2019ve got the candidates and we\u2019ve got the issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

This is the first time Republican state party chairs from around the nation have come to New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> for the annual meeting. Duncan<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said that is \u201cno accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cNew Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> is extremely important for us. We\u2019ve got good candidates up and down the ballot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Republicans currently hold two of three of New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>\u2019s seats in the U.S. House and one of two seats in the Senate, but U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici\u2019s<\/a> coming retirement has led to the GOP having to defend all of those seats this year without incumbents. Duncan<\/st1:city> said that, on top of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s status as a swing state in the presidential election, makes the state a top target for the GOP.<\/p>\n

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

Duncan<\/st1:city> said McCain\u2019s strengths \u2013 which he listed as a commitment to lower taxes, less government and increased personal responsibility and a knowledge of land- and water-use issues \u2013 will play well in Western states including New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt\u2019s no accident that Sen. McCain ran his first ad here,\u201d Duncan<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said, referring to the television ad McCain began airing statewide<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n

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

It was the first general-election ad McCain has run in any state.<\/p>\n

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

Praise for Pearce, Wilson, White<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Duncan<\/st1:city> had nothing but praise for Steve Pearce<\/a> and Heather Wilson<\/a>, New Mexico<\/st1:state>\u2019s two Republican U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> representatives who are both seeking Domenici\u2019s Senate seat.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cObviously we have an embarrassment of riches here. We have two wonderful candidates,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 Either of them will be able to beat Tom Udall<\/a> this fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Referring to some of the more heated exchanges that have characterized the Senate primary, Duncan<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said it\u2019s been a \u201cspirited campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

And he said the RNC is pleased to support Darren White<\/a> in his bid to replace Wilson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> in the House. Though Joe Carraro<\/a> is also running in the Republican primary, RNC rules allow the party to back a candidate when all three RNC members from the state endorse him \u2013 as all three have done in this instance for White.<\/p>\n

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

That makes the road ahead very difficult for Carraro. Duncan<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> noted that White received 85 percent of the vote at the March 15 preprimary nominating convention. He said White has a \u201ccompelling story\u201d as a law-enforcement officer that will play well with voters in the First Congressional District.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe\u2019re extremely pleased that Darren White is doing extremely well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Duncan<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said he didn\u2019t want to comment specifically on the other congressional races because the RNC is not officially involved in those primaries like it is in CD1. But he did say that, in general, he\u2019s optimistic about Republicans\u2019 chances in House races in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> despite the fact that they have to defend two of them without incumbents.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cUp and down the ballot we think we\u2019re going to do extremely well,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think the Democrats should get overjoyed about this because not only do we have good candidates, but the issues are with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Duncan<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> was elected chairman of the RNC in January 2007. He has worked in Republican politics for 30 years at the local, state and national level and has served on the campaigns of five presidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Republican National Committee is confident that the GOP can successfully defend three seats in Congress from New Mexico this year without incumbents and that John McCain can win the state\u2019s five electoral votes in the presidential race. That was the message delivered today by Mike Duncan, the RNC chairman, in an exclusive interview. \u201cI […]<\/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-3048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3048","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=3048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}