2010 Elections

New Mexico First and New Mexico Public Broadcasters will be holding a series of town hall debates in October. Groups of about 50 citizens in each congressional district will get together to come up with questions for the candidates; the next day they’ll put those questions to the candidates on live TV.
Oh, and Sam Donaldson [...]

Since June, Martinez has attempted to tie Denish in the public’s mind to Richardson and his administration’s numerous scandals, from pay-to-play allegations, federal criminal inquiries and charges of cronyism. The question is, with two months to go before the November election, does another headline-grabbing scandal strengthen the Martinez campaign’s efforts?

At a forum in Taylor Ranch Wednesday night, Albuquerque’s two congressional candidates met in a community center packed with cheering supporters, but few sparks flew. The two candidates didn’t even directly address each other.

Freshman Democrat Martin Heinrich leads Jon Barela, his Republican challenger, by 49-42 percent, according to a poll of 400 voters released today by the conservative group American Action Forum. The poll (pdf) was conducted from August 23-26 and August 29, with a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent.
The poll also shows that a Democrat leads [...]

A major national poll revealed on Monday that right now, Republicans have a major national advantage over Democrats. According to the Gallup “generic ballot” poll asks respondents if they would rather vote for an unnamed Democrat or Republican for Congress. The latest results, released Monday, showed that Republicans lead by 51 to 41 percent. That [...]

Republican candidate for governor Susana Martinez today released a set of principles she said would restore fiscal responsibility to the state budget. It’s a sort of best-practices list that includes many standard Republican ideals, including limited government, low taxes and a business-friendly environment, but not too many specifics. The whole thing is pasted below.

Democratic incumbent Gary King leads his Republican challenger Matt Chandler by a wide margin more than two months before November’s election, according to Albuquerque Journal Poll results released today.
Nearly half of the voters — 48 percent — favored the first-term incumbent King over Chandler, who polled at 33 percent, according to the poll. A whopping [...]

Republican Susana Martinez has said she would work to repeal New Mexico’s medical marijuana program if she’s elected governor. But undoing the state’s three-year-old medical marijuana law would represent a major undertaking. There are only two routes — through the Legislature or voter referendum — and neither would be easy.

Former state elections director A.J. Salazar tells Heath Haussamen over at NMpolitics.net today that he doesn’t share his attorney’s sentiment that New Mexico Attorney General Gary King is playing election-year politics.
On  Thursday, Salazar’s attorney, Rudy Martin of Española, told The Independent that Salazar spoke to the FBI two weeks ago after turning over telephone [...]

First-term Democratic congressman Harry Teague is polling slightly ahead of Republican challenger — and former congressman — Steve Pearce in the closely watched 2nd Congressional District race, according to results released today from the Albuquerque Journal Poll.
Teague, who won the 2nd Congressional District seat in 2008, got the nod from 45 percent of all district voters [...]

First-term Democratic Congressman Martin Heinrich led Republican challenger Jon Barela by six percentage points, according to the Albuquerque Journal Poll.
Heinrich, who won the 1st Congressional District in 2008, polled support from 47 percent of those surveyed while Barela got the nod from 41 percent of those polled, the Journal reported. Meanwhile 12 percent of likely [...]

Democrat Diane Denish and Republican Susana Martinez promise not to cut spending on education at the same time they will not raise your taxes if elected governor. But the economic realities that will confront the winner of the governor’s race likely will make confetti of those promises.
The Associated Press has an analysis out today of the [...]

Susana Martinez has pledged to sell New Mexico’s state jet if elected—but she told The Independent she would not sell two other aircraft that cost almost as much to operate. Martinez would use the other planes for “emergency situations or official state business that is a priority,” according to her campaign. Flying the jet—a Cessna Citation Bravo—costs $2,852 per hour, compared to $2,346 per hour for the state’s King Air and $2,347 for an older Turbo Commander.

With just over two months before the November election, Republican Susana Martinez leads Democrat Diane Denish by 6 percentage points in the race for governor, according to an Albuquerque Journal poll.
The poll results, released today, reveal the first comprehensive local survey of voter sentiment in New Mexico heading into the traditional election season, which begins after [...]

The Democratic Governors Association has released a new ad attacking Republican nominee for governor Susana Martinez for using taxpayer money to give bonuses to her staff and not using that money to protect the border. Most of that money for salary bonuses came from a federal program called Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative.
Martinez, whose home county [...]

The Independent’s Trip Jennings spoke with KUNM’s Sarah Gustavus Thursday about New Mexico’s two candidates for attorney general and their differing stances on giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. Jennings also talked about the governor’s race and both Susana Martinez and Diane Denish agree the state auditor’s office needs more resources to combat waste, fraud [...]

Attorney General Gary King attempted to cover up allegations of wrongdoing by Secretary of State Mary Herrera to protect Democrats during an election year, an Española attorney charged Thursday. A spokesman for King said the charges amount to election-year mudslinging and are a product of the attorney’s imagination.

Republican Susana Martinez leads Democrat Diane Denish by five points — 48 percent to 43 percent — among likely voters, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday.
The results reflect a positive movement for Martinez, the Dona Ana County District Attorney, who was tied with Denish, the state’s current Lieutenant Governor, in May and June [...]

New Mexico should create two types of drivers’ licenses – one for American citizens and another for non-citizens, Attorney General Gary King said Wednesday. King’s Republican opponent, Matt Chandler, the district attorney in the 9th Judicial District, says the law creates a breeding ground for crime and he’d work to repeal it if elected.

If he were a state lawmaker, New Mexico Attorney General Gary King said Wednesday, he would not vote for legislation that would give state driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
“Under the current situation, where we are concerned about illegal immigrants, including, who knows whether they might be anarchists, or terrorists, or criminals or whatever, I probably [...]