In a sign of just how unpopular the two presidential candidates for major parties are, both Secretary of State candidates are fielding attacks for supporting their own party’s nominee.
The Democratic Party of New Mexico hammered Republican Secretary of State candidate Nora Espinoza for speaking at rallies headlined by Trump running mate Mike Pence.
“Nora Espinoza’s embracing Donald Trump’s misguided values will do nothing to restore integrity to the secretary of state’s office or to help implement the reforms New Mexico needs,” DPNM Vice-Chair Juan Sanchez III said in a statement earlier this week.
Related: Poll: Clinton leads Trump in NM, Toulouse Oliver leads SOS race
Friday, the Republican Party of New Mexico responded by saying Democratic candidate Maggie Toulouse Oliver’s support of Hillary Clinton was problematic.
“Toulouse Oliver cannot credibly campaign on an ethics platform if she thinks Hillary Clinton should be president despite her long history of dishonesty and crooked dealings,” RPNM spokesman Tucker Keene said in a statement. “Toulouse Oliver needs to answer for her support of Clinton, which runs contrary to everything she claims to support in her campaign for Secretary of State. Is Maggie Toulouse Oliver for putting Hillary Clinton and her pay-to-play politics in the White House, or is she tough on ethics?”
The push to tie politicians to unpopular leaders in their own party is nothing new, of course.
Seeing ads of Democratic members of Congress next to Nancy Pelosi was a biennial tradition for years. When George W. Bush’s approval rating took a nosedive at the end of his presidency, Democrats did the same with any Republican they can find.
Now, however, both parties have someone they can point to as being an example of why their opponent is out of touch.
