Every Tuesday, NM Political Report sends out an elections roundup email. Here’s a portion of this week’s email. To sign up for the full version, sign up here.
The Albuquerque Journal released its first round of polling on some big races.
The short story: Democratic incumbent Martin Heinrich leads by a lot in the U.S. Senate race (Gary Johnson is in third), while Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham leads Republican Steve Pearce by 7 percentage points in the race for governor.
The poll, conducted by Research and Polling, Inc., also looked at congressional races. Democrat Deb Haaland leads Janice Arnold-Jones by 8 percentage points in the race to replace Lujan Grisham in the 1st Congressional District, while Republican Yvette Herrell leads Democrat Xochitl Torres Small by 7 percentage points in the race to replace Steve Pearce.
The New York Times is also polling the 2nd Congressional District race. The poll showed Torres Small with a one percentage point lead.
Times election writer Nate Cohn had one explanation for why the difference in results: It all comes down to the sample the two polls used.
- The state Supreme Court ruled that the Secretary of State can’t impose straight-ticket voting on her own. The change, the court ruled, would need legislative action first. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver sought to make the change, but was sued by a coalition of political parties and candidates.
- The ad wars are beginning in the 2nd Congressional District. Not only are both candidates on the air, but key national groups are also putting resources in to the district.
Last week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began airing an ad targeting Republican nominee Yvette Herrell, over her failure to report money her real estate company made in state contracts. After being called out for it, she amended her disclosure to include the income. According to the FEC, this is a $200,000 ad buy. The ads are in the Albuquerque market, which covers much of the district, but not Doña Ana County, which is in the El Paso media market.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, meanwhile, began airing a coordinated ad with Herrell.
- Xochitl Torres-Small, meanwhile, was part of a fundraiser headlined by Hillary Clinton for first-time woman candidates.
The New York City fundraiser, slated for Sept. 12, will benefit five women viewed as some of the most compelling congressional candidates in competitive races this fall: Lauren Underwood of Illinois, Gina Ortiz Jones of Texas, Liuba Grechen Shirley of New York, Haley Stevens of Michigan, and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico.
The Republican Party of New Mexico said it showed Torres Small is “a puppet for Nancy Pelosi and Washington, D.C. liberal elitists by attending a private, high-dollar fundraiser with Hillary Clinton yesterday evening.”
- Andy Lyman spent some time with Martin Heinrich on the campaign, and hiking, trail.
At least twice, unsuspecting hikers recognized the affable sportsman who has worked in Washington, D.C. since 2009. One family hiking towards the top of the trail passed the Heinrich entourage on its way back to the trail head. As the two groups converged, one woman looked at Heinrich and asked, “Is it really you?
“It’s really me,” Heinrich responded.
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