Elections

Dems select favorite candidates in state convention

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Delegates for the Democratic Party of New Mexico chose their preferred candidates for statewide and federal races Saturday afternoon at the state pre-primary convention. But before candidates finished their stump speeches, a brief protest and an alliance between two gubernatorial candidates caused some excitement. The Democratic convention showed higher numbers of both the number of candidates and convention attendees than the recent Republican and Libertarian state parties. Six state and federal candidates emerged from contested races as party favorites for the Democratic primary election in June. While he denied rumors that he was dropping out, gubernatorial candidate Peter DeBenedittis used his speech to encourage delegates to cast votes for another candidate in the race, Jeff Apodaca.

Xochitl Torres Small

Water attorney running for Congress in CD2

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Another Democrat is seeking the party’s nomination for the 2nd Congressional District seat. Xochitl Torres Small, a water attorney from Las Cruces, announced Wednesday that she is joining a shrinking field of Democrats. “As the daughter of a teacher and a social worker in Las Cruces, I learned early the values of hard work and having your neighbor’s back – something that seems long forgotten in Washington today,” Torres Small said. “To solve our greatest problems, we need a new crop of leaders ready to bring New Mexicans of all backgrounds together to find common sense solutions. I’m running to expand opportunities for hardworking families and to strengthen our rural communities with better access to healthcare, broadband service and good-paying jobs.”

She also announced a number of endorsements, including Democratic state representatives in the Las Cruces area Doreen Gallegos, Rudy Martinez and Joanne Ferrary.

2018 elections

One GOP candidate drops out of CD2 race, another replaces him

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One Republican candidate announced he would no longer seek the party’s nomination for the 2nd Congressional District race, which covers southern New Mexico. But another candidate quickly took his place. Such is the turmoil in an open seat race, as candidates jostle for the nomination in the state’s most conservative district. Andrew Salas, a New Mexico National Guard brigadier general, announced on Facebook Monday morning he would leave the race because of his military service. “My military service has never stopped during this campaign and recently I received a new assignment that will continue to take me out of New Mexico during the homestretch of the campaign,” Salas said.

2018 elections

First-generation American running for Congress in southern NM district

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A young, first-generation American is throwing his hat in the ring for the open seat congressional race in southern New Mexico. Angel Peña, the Río Bravo Regional Conservation Director for Conservation Lands Foundation, told NM Political Report Thusday that he intends to join the Democratic primary for the seat. Incumbent Steve Pearce is leaving the seat to run for governor. Peña said running for Congress wasn’t on his radar at the start of 2017. But over the year, certain events changed his mind, starting with the inauguration of Donald Trump in January.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

The DCCC is paying (a little bit of) attention to New Mexico

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Some resources from national Democrats are trickling into New Mexico in an attempt to swing the state’s 2nd Congressional District from Republicans to Democrats. The national party is doing that as many predict a “wave” election for Democrats, and a chance to return the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives to Democrats. To do that, Democrats will need to win in traditionally-Republican districts and retain all their own districts. This puts New Mexico on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s radar. Next year’s election will see two New Mexico congressional districts without an incumbent running for reelection.

2nd Congressional District

Dunn announces he’s running for Congress to replace Pearce

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Aubrey Dunn announced he will not run for reelection as state land commissioner and will instead run for congress in the state’s 2nd Congressional District. Dunn, a Republican, made the announcement Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, also a Republican, announced earlier he will forego a run for an eighth term in office and instead run for governor. Dunn is so far the second Republican to announce candidacy for the seat, following state Rep. Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo. Other Republicans have said they are considering a run, including state Sen. Cliff Pirtle of Roswell.

Steve Pearce

Pearce announces he’s running for governor

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce announced Monday that he is running for governor. Pearce becomes the first Republican to announce a run for the position and is taking his third crack at a statewide office after previously losing in two U.S. Senate races.[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The state’s best environmental coverage. [/perfectpullquote]A launch video highlights his time in New Mexico, since a child, and his pledge to help the state recover from its economic problems.

“My commitment is that I’ll work hard every day, bringing jobs back to the state, fixing a broken education system and relieving the poverty that we know is possible to relieve,” Pearce says in the video. Pearce reiterated those points in a press call Monday afternoon. He called it “heartbreaking” that New Mexico is at the bottom of so many lists and asserted that New Mexico has everything it needs to be successful but “we just need to manage it better.”

Management, and his business experience, is something Pearce touched on repeatedly, including when talking about education.

Elections

Four Dems lined up to run for Congress in CD2

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Democrats are lining up to run for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District in 2018. Four have already decided to take a stab at the 2nd Congressional District seat, currently held by Republican Steve Pearce. The district has been held by Republicans for all but two years since New Mexico gained a third seat in 1983. From 2009 to 2011, Democrat Harry Teague held the seat after winning in the Democratic wave election of 2008, when Steve Pearce opted for a Senate run. Pearce again ran for the seat in 2010 and easily defeated Teague.

2018 elections

Dems targeting NM’s 2nd Congressional District

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National Democrats announced Monday they will target New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District in the 2018 elections. The move comes as part of an expansion of 20 more Republican-held House seats targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Already, Democrats announced 59 other seats are in their electoral crosshairs. With this second round of targets, Democrats are targeting nearly one-third of all seats currently held by Republicans. (Four seats are currently vacant.)

Republicans said earlier this year that both of the New Mexico congressional districts held by Democrats are on their list of targets.

Congress & Federal Issues

Pearce Las Cruces office vandalized

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A Las Cruces office for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce was egged this week, according to reports. The Las Cruces Sun-News reported the Las Cruces Police Department said the front door of the office was the only area to be egged. In addition to LCPD, Pearce’s office contacted the U.S. Capitol Police. Pearce denounced the actions in a statement to NM Political Report, saying the “act of vandalism is beyond civil discourse.”

“All of my congressional offices belong to the people of NM-02, and are essential to the everyday operations of assisting people with their social security, veteran benefits, and much more,” Pearce said in the emailed statement. “I thank my Las Cruces staff for cleaning up the mess so that we can resume work as usual for constituents.”

While Pearce’s office said they don’t know who egged the office, the Doña Ana County Republican Party said on Facebook, “This behavior has been a consistent pattern from the Democrat party and their affiliate groups.”

In February, hundreds of people held a protest outside the Las Cruces office and called for Pearce to hold a town hall.