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.
Arizona political candidates who opt into the state’s public financing system lost a key weapon this week to keep pace with opponents who are heavily outspending them.
The nation’s top court issued a temporary emergency order Tuesday preventing candidates and…
The mayoral transition in Albuquerque continues to shake out news that top executives under Mayor Martin Chavez moved to lower positions in city government in the waning days of his administration while keeping the salaries they had as political appointees…
Albuquerque’s municipal elections are supposed to be non-partisan, but in this year’s mayoral race the Republican Party has been quite active in support of one particular candidate, two-term State Rep. Richard Berry–who is a Republican. The party has helped Berry with canvassing and volunteer labor, and Berry has used telephone lines and a copy machine at the state party headquarters. In addition, the Republican Party funded a poll, late in 2008, that included questions about the Albuquerque mayoral race.
The penny-ante larceny of which Jerome Block, Jr., is accused is small potatoes when compared with the great, hulking pork roast that is the public financing of campaigns. New Mexico currently extracts millions of dollars — with perfect legality — from taxpayers to fund candidates like Block in elections all over the state. That is the theft we should be angry about.
Two of Albuquerque’s three ballot-qualified mayoral candidates say recent City of Albuquerque official television ads featuring Mayor Martin Chavez are essentially campaign ads, and that he should use his pot of public campaign money for such ads instead. The mayor’s spokeswoman counters that the ads are perfectly legal and that the three-term mayor has always been outspoken and highly visible.
It’s final — three candidates have qualified for public financing in Albuquerque’s 2009 mayor’s race.
State Rep. Richard Berry — the only Republican in the field of candidates — qualified for the funds yesterday, which was the deadline for…
Former state Senate President Pro Tem Richard Romero has turned in enough $5 qualifying contributions to receive public funds for his candidacy in the Albuquerque mayoral race this year, the city clerk confirmed to his campaign today.
When it comes to gathering enough $5 contributions to qualify for public financing in the Albuquerque mayor’s race this year, a nail-biter of an effort by two candidates is about to come to an end.
The deadline for turning in…
The news that Albuquerque City Councilors Debbie O’Malley and Michael Cadigan both were dropping out of the city’s mayoral race caused many to wonder if state Rep. Richard Berry, R-Albuquerque, was having similar difficulty.
Unlike other candidates,…
Former state Senate President Pro Tem Richard Romero turned in another stack of $5 contributions today to Albuquerque’s city clerk, in order to qualify for public financing in the city’s mayoral race.
The deadline for gathering the contributions from…
Albuquerque City Councilor Debbie O’Malley announced today that she is withdrawing from the Albuquerque mayor’s race.
“This process was a difficult undertaking, and I am grateful to so many people — supporters, volunteers, friends, my campaign staff and family,”…
The Albuquerque City Clerk’s Office is painstakingly verifying the $5 contributions being turned in by mayoral candidates seeking to qualify for public financing in the Oct. 6 election.
Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez hasn’t announced his (expected) bid for reelection yet, but he’s already gathered the $5 contributions he needs to qualify for public financing. He turned them in today — which is the first day to report…
The condition of Albuquerque’s fund for publicly financed elections is not as dire as recent speculation in the mainstream media might suggest. And City Councilor Rey Garduño has already pledged to seek more money for the fund if crowded fields of qualifying candidates make the Oct. 6 ballot.
The business of showing Albuquerque who has the determination to be mayor gets seriously underway today — the first day to pick up donation booklets from the city clerk.
Candidates who want to qualify for public financing have to…
The public financing bill sponsored by Sen. Eric Griego, SB 165, “sits in committee” as the Senate Rules Committee ended this morning’s meeting.
Albuquerque’s public financing rules, combined with a new law that bans campaign contributions from businesses, make it likely that any candidate who isn’t independently wealthy will need to hit the ground running on February 17.
Former New Mexico Senate President Pro Tem Richard Romero has formed an “exploratory committee” to raise funds for a possible run for mayor of Albuquerque. The Albuquerque Democrat, however, intends to run a publicly financed campaign.
He’ll have to…
