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.
Washington Post political report Chris Cillizza reported Wednesday that the Republican Governors Association worked behind the scenes on behalf of Martinez during the Republican primary. Cillizza reported that the RGA “helped steer hundreds of thousands of dollars to her campaign and orchestrated an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.”
The nugget came from a blog post on the “winners” and “losers” of the primary elections on Tuesday throughout the nation. In addition to New Mexico, Alabama and Mississippi held their primaries Tuesday.
Cillizza wrote of the RGA being “winners”:
The RGA knew it wanted Dona Ana District Attorney Susana Martinez as its nominee in the New Mexico open seat race. They also knew that a Washington-based organization endorsing her might not be a recipe for success in this anti-establishment year. So, they helped steer hundreds of thousands of dollars to her campaign and orchestrated an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Both moves provided Martinez a significant boost and led to her easy win last night that not only gives Republicans a fighting chance in the Democratic-leaning Land of Enchantment but also gives the party a Hispanic female face to push back against the “old, white guy” image the GOP is currently battling.
Martinez was endorsed by Palin on May 13.
While it is nearly impossible to know the internal dynamics of a campaign, the ties between Texas developer and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth financier Bob Perry and the RGA are undeniable. Perry donated $2.5 million to the RGA.
According to campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State’s office, Perry and his wife Doylene each made $100,000 donations to Martinez on May 4. On the 13th, the day of Palin’s appearance, Perry donated another $100,000 to Martinez’s campaign. Perry made a final six-digit donation to Martinez’s campaign on May 25.
These out-of-state donations accounted for nearly two-thirds of the money that Martinez raised in the final few weeks of the primary election.
In the final run-up to the race, New Mexico Republican Party chairman Harvey Yates controversially got involved in the race saying in an e-mail replease to reporters, “Mr. Weh’s recent radio and TV ads are misleading.”
“The chairman’s biased interference in a primary contest is harmful to the Republican Party and wrong for our state,” Weh campaign manager Whitney Cheshire said in a news release.
Fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Turner criticized Yates for getting involved.
“For Chairman Harvey Yates to take sides in a negative ad war is inappropriate and it betrayed the neutrality to which GOP officials must adhere,” said Turner. “Party officials must trust the wisdom of the GOP electorate to do what’s right and not intervene in a way that supports one candidate over another.
But it seems it wasn’t the state party wasn’t the entity that the other candidates had to worry about — it was help from a national group.
