{"id":3249,"date":"2008-05-20T07:50:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-20T13:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/05\/two-area-legislators-face-credible-primary-challenges\/"},"modified":"2008-05-20T07:50:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-20T13:50:00","slug":"two-area-legislators-face-credible-primary-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/05\/two-area-legislators-face-credible-primary-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Two area legislators face credible primary challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

The question in both Democratic state legislative primaries in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename> appears to be whether voters think the incumbents are successfully working for them or have become Santa Fe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> insiders who have lost touch with their needs. <\/p>\n

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

Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Oscar V\u00e1squez Butler<\/a> is challenging Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia<\/a>, D-Do\u00f1a Ana, on June 3. Mesilla Mayor Pro Tem Jesus Caro<\/a> is challenging Rep. Joni Gutierrez<\/a>, D-Mesilla. Butle<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>r<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, using the campaign slogan \u201cTime for a change,\u201d argues that Garcia has served too long, has lost touch with her constituents and isn\u2019t as effective as she once was. Caro, whose slogan is \u201cSharing our values,\u201d says Gutierrez is out of touch with the rural communities in the district she represents.<\/p>\n

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

New Mexico State University government professor Jose Z. Garcia<\/a>, who is supporting Butler and Caro, said there\u2019s a perception that both incumbents have been \u201cvery helpful to leadership\u201d in Santa Fe on issues not supported by their constituents. The professor, who isn\u2019t related to the state senator, mentioned the controversial tax increase to help fund Spaceport America<\/a> as an example.<\/p>\n

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

It was largely rural voters who, with a grassroots effort to combat an expensive media campaign by tax supporters, nearly defeated the tax proposal in April 2007. Gutierrez and Sen. Garcia supported the tax.<\/p>\n

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

Gutierrez\u2019s House District 33<\/a> includes part of the west side of Las Cruces<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>, but also encompasses Mesilla and other rural communities in the south valley. Garcia\u2019s Senate District 36<\/a> includes part of the north side of Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and all rural communities in the northwestern corner of the county.<\/p>\n

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

The rural-urban split in both districts makes the races interesting, several people interviewed for this article said. So does the fact that Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and Caro are both elected officials who have name recognition and experience campaigning. Both incumbents said in interviews that they\u2019re taking the challenges seriously and are working hard.<\/p>\n

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

The incumbents<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Gutierrez said she has been campaigning continuously.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019m optimistic. I feel good about it, but I am not going to quit. I\u2019m not taking anything for granted. We\u2019re trying to go door-to-door and hit these people up and talk to them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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

Sen. Garcia said she\u2019s also spending a great deal of time in the communities across the district.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019m very optimistic. Everywhere I go people are so, so supportive of me,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026 Most people, when I go talk to them, they already know me and they know the things I\u2019ve done, and they\u2019re thanking me for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Butler<\/st1:city> and Caro are wrong to say that the two incumbents are out of touch with constituents, said Mary Gail Gwaltney, the Democratic national committeewoman for New Mexico<\/st1:state> and a Las Cruces<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> resident who is supporting Sen. Garcia and Gutierrez. Gwaltney said she is confident that both will be re-elected.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThey do good work in Santa Fe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> and both do good work here and they keep in touch with their constituents,\u201d Gwaltney said. \u201cPeople like them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Sen. Garcia is spending a lot of time touting legislative accomplishments \u2013 including bills to criminalize human trafficking, strengthen penalties for child abuse resulting in death and ban cockfighting \u2013 and awards she has received for sponsoring those high-profile bills. Gutierrez\u2019s strength, according to Gwaltney, is her seat on the House Appropriations Committee, an influential position that helps her get her bills passed and signed. Gutierrez is also touting the endorsements of several unions and lobbying groups. <\/p>\n

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

Gwaltney said both work well with leadership in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. She said that helps them get things done that benefit their constituents. Both incumbents have the support of Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a>, whose political committee has given $2,500 to Gutierrez\u2019s re-election campaign and $1,000 to Sen. Garcia\u2019s.<\/p>\n

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

The challengers<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and Caro sound similarly optimistic about their campaigns.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019ve got plenty of support, people that have really been positive. I\u2019ve been going door-to-door. I\u2019ve been getting good vibes,\u201d Caro said.<\/p>\n

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

Butler<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>, whose county commission district overlaps much of Garcia\u2019s Senate district, said he spoke with about 70 voters who live in both districts before deciding to run. Only two or three discouraged him from running, he said, while the others said something to the effect of, \u201cIt\u2019s about time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI agree with them. It\u2019s time for a change,\u201d Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cHowever, the signs, the positive comments, they\u2019re all good and dandy as far as support, but we\u2019ve got to get out the vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Jose Garcia said he thinks Caro will win, in part because Gutierrez supported the spaceport tax many of the district\u2019s residents opposed. He said Caro \u201creflects the conservative cultural values that are in that district much more so than Joni Gutierrez does, and so, when push comes to shove, I think voters are going to identify with him and his values rather than with Joni.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

He said he\u2019s less familiar with Sen. Garcia\u2019s district, so he doesn\u2019t have a prediction about who will win.<\/p>\n

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

Arturo Uribe, a resident of Mesquite<\/st1:city> and one of the organizers whose work nearly led to the defeat of the spaceport tax, has been intimately involved in helping Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and Caro. He said both challengers will probably win but, even if they don\u2019t, the experience of helping credible challengers will be good for rural residents who are trying to increase their influence in the political process.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI really respect Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and Caro for standing up and representing their constituents and I think, win or lose, it\u2019s been a great experience for all of us,\u201d Uribe said. \u201cI just think it\u2019s time for a change. We need people who share our values.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Turnout will be key<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Jose Garcia agreed with Butler<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s statement that turnout will be key. He said, because there\u2019s no presidential or gubernatorial race at the top of the ticket, turnout could be low. That means it will be up to the legislative candidates to get their supporters out to vote, and while he said he believes Caro will win, he acknowledged that it\u2019s only a prediction.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt really all hinges on that turnout, and I have no idea what kind of organizational structure each campaign has to get that turnout. So, in that sense, anything can happen in these races,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Gwaltney agreed that turnout will be the deciding factor in both races even while expressing confidence that the incumbents will be re-elected.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI think it\u2019s really important for everybody to vote. If people feel strongly about a candidate, they really need to support those candidates,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The question in both Democratic state legislative primaries in Do\u00f1a Ana County appears to be whether voters think the incumbents are successfully working for them or have become Santa Fe insiders who have lost touch with their needs. Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Oscar V\u00e1squez Butler is challenging Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Do\u00f1a Ana, […]<\/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-3249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3249","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=3249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}