{"id":3540,"date":"2008-08-06T14:54:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-06T20:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/is-ben-r-lujan-ducking-forums\/"},"modified":"2008-08-06T14:54:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-06T20:54:00","slug":"is-ben-r-lujan-ducking-forums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/is-ben-r-lujan-ducking-forums\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Ben R. Luj\u00e1n ducking forums?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Is 3rd Congressional District Democratic candidate Ben R. Luj\u00e1n<\/a> ducking forums? That\u2019s what two of his opponents are saying. And Luj\u00e1n isn\u2019t responding. <\/p>\n

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

The 3rd District candidates had been scheduled to participate in a forum this evening in Clovis<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, but it was canceled on Tuesday after Luj\u00e1n backed out. His withdrawal came the day after he, Republican candidate Dan East<\/a> and independent candidates Carol Miller<\/a> and Ron Simmons<\/a> participated in a forum in Santa Fe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Both forums were sponsored by the Association of Commerce and Industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

A news release from East said Luj\u00e1n cited a scheduling conflict in backing out of today\u2019s forum, even though he confirmed his attendance at the forum at least a month ago. East has repeatedly accused Luj\u00e1n of ducking debates throughout the campaign.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI want to know if he is scared to face me, or if he is scared of his constituents,\u201d East said. \u201cHe showed up last night in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> for the ACI forum, but that was \u2018safe\u2019 territory for him: A third of the audience was his family or staff. His handlers are afraid to let him get outside of the Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> area.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Miller agreed in a news release, saying that Luj\u00e1n put on a \u201cpoor performance\u201d in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> despite \u201creading prepared statements.\u201d Because of that, she said, \u201cit is no surprise he backed out of the forum in Clovis<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> at the last possible moment. It is disappointing that the other candidates were not given the opportunity to participate as scheduled at the agreed upon time and place.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Luj\u00e1n spokesman Mark Nicastre said he had no comment but pointed to a news release<\/a> from the campaign stating that Luj\u00e1n \u201cshowed knowledge, a willingness to address tough issues and the ability to stand up for New Mexico\u201d at the Santa Fe forum.<\/p>\n

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

Miller sent a letter to ACI criticizing its decision to cancel the forum, a decision she said was made \u201cto accommodate a single candidate without consultation with the remaining candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThere were plenty of opportunities for Mr. Luj\u00e1n to inform you that he had yet another of his famous \u2018scheduling conflicts,\u2019\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

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

Beverlee McClure, president of ACI, said in a statement released by her office that the Curry County Chamber of Commerce decided the forum should be rescheduled because Luj\u00e1n and the two U.S. Senate candidates could not attend.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe chamber believes a later date that could accommodate more of the candidates\u2019 schedules was in the best interest of the community,\u201d she said. \u201cThe new date has not yet been set.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Miller said she\u2019s eager for more forums.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe people deserve as many chances as possible to see all of the candidates together so they can make an informed decision as to who will best represent them in Congress, not who can read a script,\u201d she said. \u201cWe pick up supporters at every event because it is clear that the voters want a well-informed candidate known for integrity, experience and commitment to the people and communities of the 3rd Congressional District.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

East said Luj\u00e1n\u2019s refusal to attend the forum is \u201coutrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cHow are the people of Clovis<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> supposed to know who he is or what he stands for if he refuses to tell them? How can the people of northern New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> trust him to represent them if he doesn\u2019t show up? It\u2019s outrageous that he denied the voters the right to learn about the candidates in this race because of his selfish pride and his fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

\n

Luj\u00e1n campaign manager Carlos Trujillo said in an interview conducted after this article was originally published that Luj\u00e1n isn\u2019t ducking forums. He said Luj\u00e1n participated in \u201cmultiple forums and debates\u201d during the primary and will do so during the general election.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI quite frankly find it rather absurd that our opponents are accusing us of ducking these joint appearances, because we just did one on Monday,\u201d Trujillo said, adding that a \u201clegitimate scheduling conflict\u201d with a \u201clongstanding event\u201d forced Luj\u00e1n to back out of today\u2019s forum.<\/p>\n

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

He said Luj\u00e1n will participate in another forum next Friday in Clovis<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> sponsored by the New Mexico Municipal League.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThere\u2019s no one more accessible in the 3rd Congressional District race than Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n,\u201d Trujillo<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is 3rd Congressional District Democratic candidate Ben R. Luj\u00e1n ducking forums? That\u2019s what two of his opponents are saying. And Luj\u00e1n isn\u2019t responding. The 3rd District candidates had been scheduled to participate in a forum this evening in Clovis, but it was canceled on Tuesday after Luj\u00e1n backed out. His withdrawal came the day after […]<\/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-3540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540","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=3540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}