{"id":7105,"date":"2009-09-30T14:00:37","date_gmt":"2009-09-30T20:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=7105"},"modified":"2009-10-01T08:58:56","modified_gmt":"2009-10-01T14:58:56","slug":"weh-isn%e2%80%99t-the-only-business-owner-in-the-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/09\/weh-isn%e2%80%99t-the-only-business-owner-in-the-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Weh isn\u2019t the only business owner in the race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Allen

Allen Weh<\/p><\/div>\n

Weh claimed last week to be the only gubernatorial candidate who has run a business, but a check of the facts reveals that at least three others have, too<\/h4>\n

Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh<\/a> is backing off a statement he made last week about being the only business owner in the 2010 race.<\/p>\n

In response to a spike in the state’s unemployment rate<\/a>, Weh claimed last week that, \u201cAs the only candidate who has run a business, I know what it will take to create jobs, cover a payroll and balance a budget during tough times.\u201d<\/p>\n

NMPolitics.net asked every campaign about their candidate\u2019s business ownership and found out that Weh’s statement isn’t true at all. Republican soon-to-be candidate Doug Turner<\/a> owns a business. Republican candidate Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> and Democratic candidate Diane Denish<\/a> have owned businesses in the past.<\/p>\n

Asked about those facts, Weh campaign spokesman Christopher Sanchez told NMPolitics.net that last week\u2019s statement was a mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat (Weh) tells people on the road, while campaigning, is that he\u2019s the only candidate that owns and operates a multi-million dollar company,\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n

Weh\u2019s Albuquerque-based aviation company<\/a> generated nearly $100 million in revenue last fiscal year, according to Sanchez.<\/p>\n

The other current and past business owners<\/h3>\n

Turner, who said he plans to announce his candidacy after the Albuquerque municipal election, said Weh knows that he founded D.W. Turner<\/a>, a public relations firm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have grown the company from one to 24 employees,\u201d Turner said. \u201cWe operate not only in New Mexico, but nationally and internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner said his experience in business gives him the knowledge to lead the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, small businesses create jobs and drive our economy,\u201d Turner said. \u201cAs a business owner, I feel the brunt of government regulations and unnecessary taxation. Businesses are forced to wade through complicated bureaucracies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denish\u2019s campaign manager, Oren Shur, said the lieutenant governor owned her own company for 12 years. He said Denish has been a champion for 1,600 small businesses in the state both with start-ups and expansions through the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe knows that the private sector drives our economy and believes that government should help create a climate that allows for that economic growth,\u201d Shur said. \u201cLt. Gov. Denish was raised in a family of New Mexico small business owners, so one could say that the entrepreneurial spirit runs through her veins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shur said Denish\u2019s \u201crural roots, her small business experience and her record of accomplishment in public office have uniquely prepared her to lead New Mexico during these challenging economic times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones, who manages a technical services company in Albuquerque, did not respond to a request for an interview before publication, but she has stated in the past that she once owned a video production company in Southern California.<\/p>\n

Update, 7:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s worth noting that Sanchez said Weh’s original statement shouldn’t be interpreted as referring to Turner “because he’s not a candidate.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED: Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh claimed last week that he\u2019s the \u201conly candidate who has run a business.\u201d A check of the facts reveals that Weh\u2019s statement isn\u2019t true at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,118,107],"class_list":["post-7105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-economy","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7105","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\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}