{"id":8566,"date":"2009-10-27T15:49:29","date_gmt":"2009-10-27T21:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=8566"},"modified":"2009-10-28T15:10:25","modified_gmt":"2009-10-28T21:10:25","slug":"teaguepearce-contest-remains-a-%e2%80%98slugfest%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/10\/teaguepearce-contest-remains-a-%e2%80%98slugfest%e2%80%99\/","title":{"rendered":"Money aside, 2nd District race remains a \u2018slugfest\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Steve

Steve Pearce, left, and Harry Teague (Photos by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Both candidates will be well funded, analyst says, so the Teague\/Pearce matchup is about ideas, not cash<\/h4>\n

When he recently announced his third-quarter fundraising, U.S. Rep. Harry Teague<\/a>, D-N.M., was quick to point out that he had about $300,000 more cash on hand at the end of September than his challenger, former U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M.<\/p>\n

Pearce, on the other hand, was quick to point out that he raised about twice as much as Teague from July to September \u2013 his first fundraising quarter in the race.<\/p>\n

The reality is that both campaigns will be well funded in what\u2019s expected to be one of the top U.S. House contests in the nation next year, political analyst Jose Z. Garcia said. Because of that, it\u2019s important to not try to read too much into the fundraising numbers from one quarter, regardless of how either campaign spins them.<\/p>\n

Both candidates have high name recognition and \u201cexceptional capacities between now and a year from now to raise money,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf one of them falls a little bit behind in money, they\u2019re going to race to their respective parties and have some more fundraisers, and the leadership of both parties are going to help them because it\u2019s a critical race,\u201d said Garcia, a Democrat and government professor at New Mexico State University. \u201cBoth of them are going to have lots and lots of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of that, Garcia said the 2nd District race will be more about whose ideas resonate with voters than who has more money.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are going to be listening very carefully to Teague and his explanation of his votes, and Pearce and his criticism of those votes, so it\u2019s going to boil down to who\u2019s more persuasive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Still, Garcia acknowledged that there is some interesting information that can be learned from the candidates\u2019 finance reports.<\/p>\n

Teague, according to his report<\/a>, had $257,248.93 in total receipts from July to September. That included $133,491.50 from individuals, $119,550 from political action committees and $4,200 transferred from a joint fundraising committee for all three Democratic U.S. House members from New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Teague has been raising money for re-election all year, and he ended the quarter with $757,376.90 on hand.<\/p>\n

Pearce, according to his report<\/a>, had $507,865.06 in total receipts from July to September \u2013 his first fundraising quarter in the race. That included $452,395.06 from individuals and $55,450 from political committees.<\/p>\n

Pearce ended the quarter with $459,612.80 on hand.<\/p>\n

PAC contributions<\/h3>\n

In a news release, the Pearce campaign was quick to point out that 89 percent of Pearce\u2019s fundraising during the quarter came from individual contributions, and 80 percent came from New Mexico residents. By contrast, the Pearce campaign said, about half of Teague\u2019s contributions came from \u201cDemocrat colleagues and out-of-state special interest groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am humbled by the outpouring of support I have received from New Mexicans who share my vision to create jobs and to put an end to reckless government spending,\u201d Pearce said in the release.<\/p>\n

Andrew Stone, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, had a different take.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that professional politician Steve Pearce was able to put together a good quarter is hardly a surprise,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter six years as a Washington insider, helping to create our current economic crisis by growing the federal debt by $2.3 trillion and developing a longstanding reputation for boundless hypocrisy, Pearce knew a few people he could call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh Geise, executive director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, said Pearce shouldn\u2019t criticize Teague for taking money from political committees and congressional leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cPearce\u2019s accusations are a dog that just isn’t going to hunt. He\u2019s accepted over $2.8 million<\/a> in PAC and leadership contributions over the years, so he must not think they are that bad,\u201d Geise said. \u201cWe\u2019re not surprised by the political double talk from a career politician.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia said he doesn\u2019t see Pearce\u2019s attacking Teague for taking PAC money as \u201ca very strong argument.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s purely a matter of the incumbency. When you\u2019re an incumbent you can pick up the phone and call PACs and get money,\u201d he said, adding that Pearce did it too when he was the incumbent.<\/p>\n

The Las Cruces\/Hobbs money<\/h3>\n

Also noteworthy: Teague raised more money than Pearce in Las Cruces, the most populous city in the district, but Pearce outraised Teague in Hobbs, the hometown of both candidates. Hobbs is the center of the oil and gas Mecca on the east side of the district and critical to the 2nd District race, but Las Cruces has become a Democratic stronghold in recent years and has the potential to deliver a lot of votes.<\/p>\n

The fact that Pearce was more successful during the quarter in the Hobbs area may not be a surprise. Many in the oil and gas industry are unhappy with Teague, whose support of controversial cap-and-trade legislation was instrumental in helping it pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarry Teague\u2019s lackluster fundraising in Hobbs is yet another signal of the growing dissatisfaction with his performance in Washington,\u201d Pearce spokesman Paul Ciaramitaro said. \u201cThe voters in his hometown don\u2019t appreciate his support of job-killing policies and excessive government spending.\u00a0 And many can\u2019t stomach the way in which he\u2019s faithfully served his liberal Democrat leaders like Nancy Pelosi.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Republican Party spokeswoman Janel Causey added this:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a tough sell to ask New Mexicans to contribute to your campaign when you have just voted to increase their taxes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As for Teague\u2019s fundraising advantage in the Las Cruces area, Ciaramitaro said the Pearce campaign \u201chas not yet begun our full fundraising push there,\u201d having held \u201conly one small donor event in Las Cruces that was a big success.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democrats interviewed for this article didn\u2019t specifically discuss the Las Cruces and Hobbs money. But Teague spokeswoman Sara Schreiber said of Teague\u2019s overall fundraising that the congressman remains focused on \u201cconstituents that need help and people to represent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still she said, \u201cCongressman Teague has said that he is committed to raising the necessary resources to continue representing the people of the 2nd congressional district.\u00a0 \u2026 As with many of the other achievements in his life, Congressman Teague has always done the work to get the job done. The 2010 election cycle will be no different.\u201d<\/p>\n

What analysts are saying<\/h3>\n

Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report<\/a>, recently listed Teague as one of the Democratic House members who is \u201cat greatest risk\u201d of being defeated next year. And CQ Politics<\/a> recently changed its analysis of the 2010 race from \u201cLeans Democratic\u201d to \u201cTossup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPearce\u2019s $500,000 fundraising tally in the year\u2019s third quarter just underscores what a slugfest the 2nd District race is shaping up to be ,\u201d the CQ article states. \u201c\u2026 Teague is working hard to prove that he is that rare breed of conservative-style Democrat who fits his Republican-leaning district, but the GOP is not going to make it easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia said Teague\u2019s greatest strength is that, because he\u2019s a Democrat and Democrats control Washington, \u201che has a better chance of bringing the bucks back home\u201d \u2013 an argument that has historically resonated with voters in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Pearce, by contrast, is able to argue that he \u201cis more in tune with the conservative vibrations in the district and can do a better job representing those conservative interests,\u201d Garcia said. So Pearce can energize those who are upset with President Barack Obama, cap and trade and health-care reform.<\/p>\n

The bottom line?<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect it to be a very close race,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because both candidates in the 2nd Congressional District race will be well funded, political analyst Jose Garcia says the race will be more about whose ideas resonate with voters than who has more money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,116],"class_list":["post-8566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8566","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=8566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}