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.
A Democratic PAC is sending a mailer to New Mexico voters that appears to urge them not to vote for a little-known write-in candidate because he is too conservative. But it actually appears to be an attempt to convince tea party voters to vote for him instead of Susana Martinez, thereby siphoning voters from Martinez.
Heath Haussamen of NMPolitics.net received the mailer that warns that Kenneth Gomez is “too conservative for New Mexico.” Gomez has received virtually no attention from the media since the Secretary of State said that write-in votes for the tea party candidate would count on the ballot.
There have been no profiles of Gomez and only three stories on Lexis and three stories on Google News mention Gomez’s name. Gomez has raised a scant $1,200 and spent a little more than $1,000 according to campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State’s office, all from Lynette Gomez. His largest expenditure is $387.06 for door magnets.
So why is this mailer opposing Gomez?
Heath Haussamen explains:
The mailer was paid for by Majority Action PAC, which describes itself on its Web site as “a campaign organization aimed at winning elections through aggressive independent expenditure campaigns to help build and protect the Democratic majorities in Congress.”
Is this Democratic group really worried that Gomez might win the governor’s race? No, because he’s simply not a factor in the race. Is the group worried that Gomez might be taking votes away from the Democratic candidate for governor, Diane Denish? Unlikely.
Instead, it appears the group is trying to let conservatives know there is another choice for governor on their side besides Martinez. In telling people not to vote for Gomez, the mailer uses buzz words like “Tea Party” to describe Gomez and lets people know that he’s opposed to abortion, wants to reduce taxes and takes a right-wing stance on immigration.
It seems unlikely that Gomez will gain much traction. There have only been two reported write-in candidates for governor in the state’s history. Combined, the candidates received less than 1,000 votes in the 1990 gubernatorial election.
