{"id":737,"date":"2006-10-18T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-18T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/10\/house-candidates-square-off-at-forum\/"},"modified":"2006-10-18T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-10-18T17:00:00","slug":"house-candidates-square-off-at-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/10\/house-candidates-square-off-at-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"House candidates square off at forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Candidates for state representative seats in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename> shared their views during a League of Women Voters forum Tuesday in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. <\/p>\n

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

There are four contested races, and three representatives running unopposed.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>In the District 53 race<\/span>, Democrat Nate Cote said voters should oust his opponent, 12-year Republican Rep. Terry Marquardt.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI believe the people of District 53 deserve better than they are now getting,\u201d he said. \u201cI sincerely believe I can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Marquardt said he\u2019s providing leadership as the House Minority Whip that gives voters in his district a unique opportunity.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cEvery time there are negotiations at the leadership level, Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> is represented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Marquardt touted tax cuts pushed by the governor that he supported, and water projects he has pushed. Cote<\/st1:place> said his district needs better roads and drainage systems, and said the region needs more clean-industry companies that pay higher wages.<\/p>\n

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

Cote<\/st1:place> said his top issues are education reform, including moving funding from administration to classrooms and \u201cimproving the quality of life\u201d so children, and ethics reform. He said he considers three questions when making a decision:<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 Would I want to be treated this way?<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 Is it legal?<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 What is the right thing to do?<\/p>\n

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

Marquardt said his top priorities are improving streets and drainage on the East Mesa<\/st1:place> and water projects, including an intra-state pipeline that would carry water from places that have plenty to other areas where water is scarce.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>In the District 37 race<\/span>, Republican Scott Witt said he plans to focus on better education, lower taxes and stronger families.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI want to take these values to Santa Fe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> and work for you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Witt said Gov. Bill Richardson claims to be moving New Mexico<\/st1:state> forward, but it\u2019s time to stop what Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is doing.<\/p>\n

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

Democrat Jeff Steinborn, who like Witt is vying to replace the retiring Rep. Ed Boykin, disagreed.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>\u201cI think we\u2019ve accomplished lots in the last four years,\u201d Steinborn said.<\/p>\n

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

Steinborn said he favors raising the minimum wage and will push for health care reform, support of public education and the lottery scholarship, and management of growth and water.<\/p>\n

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

But Steinborn said his top priorities are support for the mentally ill and border security and immigration.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe do need to secure our borders, but we desperately need a guest worker program in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Witt listed education and ethics as his top priorities. He said New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> needs to cut education administration, lengthen the school year and provide an alternative licensure system for those with lots of practical experience.<\/p>\n

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

He said the proposed ethics commission would deal with problems that already exist, instead of preventing them.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIf you want better ethics, elect better people,\u201d Witt said.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>In the District 36 race<\/span>, Republican challenger Isaac Chavez praised his opponent, incumbent Democrat Andy Nu\u00f1ez, for more than 40 years of service to the community as an educator and legislator, but said it\u2019s time for Nu\u00f1ez to move on.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThere comes a time when we have to pass on the baton of leadership to a new generation,\u201d Chavez said.<\/p>\n

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

He said he wants to put child sex predators in jail for life, build a Level 1 trauma center in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, and support the development of the commercial space industry.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Nu\u00f1ez said Chavez was right to praise his service.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI have served three terms, and I\u2019m going to be serving a fourth come Nov. 7,\u201d he said. \u201cThank you, Isaac, for the plug.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Nu\u00f1ez listed his top priorities as agriculture and education. He said the recent work of the governor\u2019s ethics task force isn\u2019t worthy of being one of his top priorities.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI think what they came out with was really no good,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t put enough teeth into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Chavez listed education as his top priority, saying it\u2019s time to cut administrative positions and expand college scholarship programs.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>In the District 35 race<\/span>, Democratic incumbent Antonio Lujan said he supports health care and education reform and \u201ca livable wage \u2013 which is more than a minimum wage.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019m committed to universal health care. I really believe in that,\u201d Lujan said.<\/p>\n

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

His opponent, Republican challenger Lawrence Joy, said he is focused on combating partisan politics. He encouraged people to not vote straight ticket, but to instead consider individual candidates.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get straight party ticket removed from the ballot,\u201d Joy said.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Joy also said he will focus on improving education.<\/p>\n

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

He said he will make ethics reform a priority, and pointed out that he is the only House candidate in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place> who does not accept money from political action committees.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019m the only candidate that is bought and sold by the voters,\u201d Joy said.<\/p>\n

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

Lujan listed support of the space industry and ethics reform as his top priorities. He said it\u2019s time to consider paying legislators, because the current system \u201cleaves the door wide open for special interest groups to have more than their fair share of influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

State reps. Joseph Cervantes of District 52, Mary Helen Garcia of District 34 and Joni Gutierrez of District 33, all Democrats, are unopposed this year. They attended the forum and were given time to introduce themselves, but weren\u2019t allowed to answer the questions asked of other candidates because of time constraints. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Candidates for state representative seats in Do\u00f1a Ana County shared their views during a League of Women Voters forum Tuesday in Las Cruces. There are four contested races, and three representatives running unopposed. In the District 53 race, Democrat Nate Cote said voters should oust his opponent, 12-year Republican Rep. Terry Marquardt. \u201cI believe the […]<\/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-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737","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=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}