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.
With a volley of attacks and more spin going into the final three weeks, the campaign for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District shows no signs of cooling off, even after news last week that national Republicans had severely curtailed GOP candidate Darren White’s advertising budget.
The flurry began Thursday when Democrat Martin Heinrich’s campaign discovered that the Republican National Campaign Committee (RNCC) had canceled two-thirds of its CD1 ad buy. The White campaign said not to worry, it had enough resources to keep going.
The White staff then launched a new ad late Friday that says Democrat Martin Heinrich broke a promise to taxpayers over a $270 million Albuquerque streetcar project during his time on the Albuquerque City Council. The trolley system was to have run from downtown to Heinrich’s Nob Hill district and was to have been paid for by extending the city’s quarter-cent gross receipts tax — without voter approval.
While the council eventually realized voter approval was necessary, the White campaign ad focuses on the initial dispute. “At a time of economic crisis, the last thing we need to do is to send another promise-breaking politician like Martin Heinrich to Washington,” campaign spokesman Stephen Schatz said in a release.
Heinrich hit back with an announcement today that his campaign had raised around $750,000 in the past three months, and noting with glee the NRCC’s cut, which it estimates at $500,000.
“These numbers make clear that voters are rejecting Darren White’s support of eight years of failed Republican policies, and saying yes to a new direction for our country,” Heinrich said in a release.
The latest figures on file with the Federal Election Commission show that through June 30, Heinrich led White in total fund-raising, $1.2 million to $953,000, but that White had nearly twice as much cash on hand, $634,000 to Heinrich’s $352,000. The third-quarter totals must be filed with the FEC on Wednesday.
Both campaigns are struggling to eke out a substantial lead, to no avail. The most recent poll, conducted by The Albuquerque Journal, found Heinrich ahead, 43 percent to 41 percent, but with 16 percent still undecided. A poll taken during the Democratic National Convention by the Washington, D.C., newspaper Roll Call had Heinrich with 51 percent to White’s 46, just outside the 4-point margin of error.
