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 one week left in an increasingly negative primary campaign for governor, New Mexico GOP Chairman Harvey E. Yates has defended Susana Martinez against attack ads from her opponent Allen Weh that claimed she didn’t pay taxes — however, he said Martinez’s attack ads against Weh on illegal immigration were fair.
Yates called a committee of himself and two party leaders to examine the ads after complaints of negativity. In a news release sent from his personal e-mail, Yates said:
In Mr. Weh’s ad he suggests that Ms. Martinez has not paid her taxes. No support for that was found in the documents. Mr. Weh’s ads imply that Ms. Martinez has misused public funds in a variety of ways. Yet, an examination of the documents not only did not substantiate that claim, the examination results suggest that Ms. Martinez has handled public funds properly. In short, the effort undertaken revealed that Mr. Weh’s recent radio and TV ads are misleading.
Though Weh posted several ads on his campaign’s YouTube channel, the ad in question was not among them. This news clip shows a short section of the ad, accusing auditors of catching her “red handed” and spending taxpayer money on “extravagant dinners, luxury hotels, dinner at Hooters – even iPods.” (This news clip shows the ad with about 1:00 to go.)
While condemning Weh’s ad, the committee found Martinez’s attack ads accusing Weh of supporting “amnesty” to be “reasonably supported” by the evidence.
Here’s that ad:
Not happy about Yates’ statement, Weh told reporters, “His statement was full of inconsistencies, it was prejudiced, and it was patently dishonest.” He continued, “Who are they to anoint an nominee. How dare they? That’s what elections are for.”
After Weh released the ad questioning her tax records, Martinez interrupted a live Weh interview with Stuart Dyson of KOB-TV at a candidates’ forum last Thursday, challenging him on the ads. Martinez approached Weh, who was being interviewed, and said, “I’m happy to show my taxes any day to prove that I pay them, if you’re willing to present yours in an honest way by close of business tomorrow.” He responded, “Sue, I work in the private sector and there’ll be an appropriate time to present our taxes but I don’t think that’s germane at the moment.” She responded, “I just don’t want to be accused of not paying my taxes and I’ve got them ready tomorrow if you want to see them by close of business.” Martinez then left the set.
Here the video:
It’s clear that the gloves are off in the GOP primary with a week to go and no candidate with a clear lead. A recent Albuquerque Journal poll showed Weh with a statistically insignificant one-point lead. In any event, the New Mexico Independent will be live-blogging the results on Tuesday.
