I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan lead in the races to win the Democratic nomination in the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts respectively, according to a poll in the Sunday Albuquerque Journal.
But their leads aren’t insurmountable with sizable blocks of undecided voters in both races.
Heinrich carries an 11-point lead over former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron. Former Health Secretary Michelle Lujan Grisham and Albuquerque attorney Robert Pidcock bring up the rear in the 1st Congressional District race. But the 29 percent of undecided voters should keep everyone guessing right up to the June 3 primary, including the candidates.
In the 3rd, Lujan holds a more tenuous lead — six points — over his lead rival in the 3rd, Santa Fe developer Don Wiviott. But an even larger block of undecideds — 33 percent — makes this one so tight and unpredictable that predicting a likely winner requires a crystal ball. Former Indian affairs secretary Benny Shendo Jr., Santa Fe County commissioner Harry Montoya, attorney Jon Adams and attorney Rudy Martin are vying for the 3rd District Democratic nomination.
Both races have been marred by scandal or over-the-top assertions in recent days.
In the 1st District race, the Independent wrote recently about a preliminary federal audit that revealed questionable financial practices involving federal money during Vigil-Giron’s tenure as Secretary of State. The final audit should be released next week, according to the federal Election Assistance Commission.
And in the 3rd District race Lujan’s sexual orientation has become an issue — some say a distraction — after Shendo made public statements implying that Lujan is gay at a candidate forum last week. Lujan’s campaign has said he is straight, has a girlfriend and that should put the matter to rest. But Shendo has continued to push the point, saying in a lengthy letter Wednesday that Lujan and his parents are engaging in a public deception and that Lujan doesn’t have the maturity to be in Congress if he can’t own up to who he is. Shendo refused to back down from his statements again on Friday in a KNME interview with the Independent’s David Alire Garcia.
