The NM Elections Roundup comes out every Tuesday morning through email. The following is an excerpt from this week’s email. To get the full version each week, including a look at the ads on the air, sign up here.

The Associated Press reported that Republican candidate Steve Pearce invested millions of dollars in companies that lease equipment for oil and gas exploration. One of those companies, Trinity Industries, was previously described as renting party equipment. The Michelle Lujan Grisham campaign jumped on the report.

“Steve Pearce has been caught lying again, this time about millions of dollars in income that is actually coming from oil and gas, and not a party rental business he has repeatedly told the media about as recently as last month,” said campaign spokesman James Hallinan.

The Associated Press reported that Trinity Industries was listed as a party equipment rental company in a 2007 financial disclosure.

Democrats are now saying this shows a wider pattern of Peace lying—and renewing calls for Pearce to release five years of his taxes, as Lujan Grisham did. Pearce said he would release one year’s worth of taxes this month.

Democrats gathered in Las Cruces last week to press Pearce on the oil field leasing issue.

While the governor’s race is arguably the most important election this November, there are many other races to watch as Election Day nears—just three weeks away.

• Not elections news, but former State Rep. Larry Larrañaga passed away last week. Larrañaga was a veteran, and well-respected, legislator and a key part of the budget process for as long as I’ve been reporting on politics. He had a rare degenerative brain disorder known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The outpouring of condolences from all parts of the political spectrum showed just how well-liked and respected Larrañaga was from his colleagues and others he worked with.
• Barack Obama. Rand Paul. How much impact will these endorsements have? That’s what Andy Lyman looked at on Tuesday.
• Campaign finance reports were due for federal candidates and they showed big campaign cash leads for Democrats. Including a record-breaking haul for Xochitl Torres Small in the 2nd Congressional District.
• The three candidates for U.S. Senate appeared onstage together at at debate last week. The three exchanged barbs, including this one between U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and former Gov. Gary Johnson.
  “It’s great to see you, by the way,” Johnson said to Heinrich, “because we haven’t seen each other this whole time.”
  Heinrich responded: “Usually when I see you, Gary, it’s on a ski lift.”
  Johnson: “You’ve seen me one time! You’ve seen me one time for two minutes.”
• If you’re looking for a debate in the closely-contested 2nd Congressional DIstrict, don’t hold your breath. According to the Associated Press, Yvette Herrell has not agreed to any debates. The campaign says instead of a televised KOAT-TV debate, she will be meeting with voters.
• The three candidates in the 1st Congressional District gathered for a debate on KOB-TV last night. You can watch the entire debate at KOB’s website.

The NM Elections Roundup newsletter comes out every Tuesday morning through email. To get the full version each week, including a look at the ads on the air, sign up here.

The NM Environment Review, a recap of environment issues across the state and region, comes out every Thursday. Sign up here.