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.
U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich
Congressman Martin Heinrich, NM-CD1, won his first bid for re-election tonight. Polls showing his Republican challenger, Jon Barela, pulling ahead in the final weeks added an edge to the race, but Heinrich prevailed in the end. A primary reason, he told supporters during his victory speech, was that he didn’t hide from his record.
“We had the courage of our convictions,” Heinrich said. “Unlike a lot of folks this year, I never shrank from the fact that I was proud to have voted for health care reform.”
That statement elicited a massive eruption of cheers and applause from the late night crowd of Democratic party faithful at the Hotel Andaluz in Downtown Albuquerque.
The race between Heinrich and Barela was notable for the degree to which the two debated the issues, in an election season marked by sharp negativity in the governor’s race and massive amounts of third party dollars pumping negative ads onto the airwaves.
Barela, a former Intel Corporation manager and Albuquerque School Board member, vigorously argued that the country is off track economically. But Heinrich defended the historic legislation passed by Democrats during his first term, including health insurance reform legislation, regulatory reform of the U.S. financial sector, and an economic stimulus package designed to shore up an economy teetering on the edge of economic recovery.
Back in 2008, Martin Heinrich threw his hat in early to challenge Republican Heather Wilson, before she announced she’d give up her seat to run for the Senate seat vacated by long-time New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici. Going up against Republican Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, the political winds were in his favor, with a popularity already established among the constituent base he served as an Albuquerque City Councilor, and a Democratic Party on the rise. Heinrich became the first Democrat to hold the congressional seat that represents Albuquerque, the metropolitan center of the state.
Once elected, Heinrich became part of a Democratic majority that held both Congressional chambers as well as the White House. Just two years later, high unemployment numbers and an intransigent Republican base led the Republican Party to retake control of the U.S. House of Representatives tonight.
A member of the Democratic progressive wing, Heinrich survived the resurgence of the Republican Party tonight despite common wisdom that the reform measures and the stimulus package his party passed are unpopular. Rather than distance himself, he took credit for the votes he cast.
