Democratic Party of New Mexico

State GOP (and a handful of Sanders supporters) call on state Democratic Party chair to resign

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The Republican Party of New Mexico says the chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico should step down because of her actions at the Democratic pre-primary convention earlier this year. The state Republicans say that the cancellation of a non-binding presidential preference poll at the pre-primary convention in March shows the state party had bias toward Hillary Clinton. The party previously criticized Haaland for supporting Clinton after she defeated Bernie Sanders in the New Mexico Democratic primary, saying it was against Democratic party rules. “Much like Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC, Haaland’s and the DPNM establishment’s bias toward Clinton was clear throughout the primary,” RPNM spokesman Tucker Keene said. “Haaland broke party rules to shelter her favored candidate from the embarrassment of losing a straw poll.

Bernie Sanders

Poll shows approval ratings for Heinrich, Udall

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Both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senators are relatively popular, though a large amount of the state voters don’t have an opinion about them either way, according to a poll by online polling firm Morning Consult.

The poll, which looked at the approval rating of all 100 U.S. Senators, showed New Mexico Senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, both Democrats, in the middle of the pack when it came to popularity. Morning Consult’s poll found 54 percent of New Mexican voters approve of the way Tom Udall is doing his job, compared 27 percent who disapprove. For Heinrich, 46 percent approve while 29 percent disapprove. The rest said they didn’t know or had no opinion about either senator. The numbers are slightly down for both from April, where Udall had a 57 percent approval rating (and 23 percent who disapproved), while Heinrich had a 49 percent approval rating (to 24 percent who disapproved).

Tim Canova

Ex-UNM prof hopes to ride Bernie wave to win in Florida

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The man taking on controversial former Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz in an unusually high-profile Democratic congressional primary used to teach at the University of New Mexico. Tim Canova has been running as the more progressive option in the race against the incumbent, hoping to benefit from disgruntled Bernie Sanders supporters who feel the DNC under Wasserman-Schultz helped “rig” the Democratic presidential primary for Hillary Clinton. Today is primary election day in Florida, and polls will close at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The Daily Lobo, a student newspaper at UNM, spoke to Canova. Canova said the experience of being a professor at UNM and elsewhere, and teaching a range of subjects related to public policy issues, has been great preparation for running for Congress.

Elections

NM voters moving towards political parties in election year

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The months leading up to the general election show an increasing number of voters in New Mexico aligning themselves with a political party in the state rather than registering as independents. Democrats account for roughly half of registered voters, according to data from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office. The other half splits among Republicans, minor parties and those who decline to state an affiliation. But since January the number of registered Democrats spiked by about five percentage points and the number of registered Republicans increased by roughly 4 percentage points. Minor parties also saw an increase in voter registration since the beginning of the year.

Elections

Here’s what NM DNC, RNC delegations bragged about

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If you watched the roll call at each the recent Democratic and Republican National Conventions waiting for New Mexico to come up, you probably noticed each state bragging about certain attributes of their state before they announced the vote totals. For example, Idaho’s Republicans bragged about the “world-famous potatoes” that are grown there. Both Democratic and Republican delegations in Minnesota mentioned Prince. New Mexico’s delegation was not immune to the braggadocio that comes with wearing silly hats and waving signs promoting your party’s preferred candidate at these conventions. At the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last week, Gov. Susana Martinez took the mic to talk about New Mexico.

Democratic National Convention

Udall, Haaland announce New Mexico delegation’s votes at DNC

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U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and Democratic Party of New Mexico chairman Deb Haaland teamed up to cast the state’s votes for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as Clinton clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. New Mexico cast 27 votes for Clinton and 16 votes for Sanders. The votes came as a result of a June primary, which Clinton narrowly won, and the votes of super-delegates, who unanimously supported Clinton. Clinton ultimately was nominated by acclamation, at the request of Sanders himself who has fought throughout the convention to unify Democrats against Donald Trump, even as some of his supporters insist they will not back Clinton. Those speaking to announce the votes and the state, however, are firmly on Hillary’s team.

Democratic National Convention

Lujan Grisham scheduled to speak at DNC

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U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham is expected to speak at next week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The Democratic National Convention Committee released a partial list of scheduled speakers and that list included Lujan Grisham, who represents the Albuquerque area in New Mexico. She is the only New Mexican included on the list. NM Political Report reached out to Lujan Grisham’s office and will add a response when we receive one. Every Democratic member of the congressional delegation endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.

Bernie Sanders

Sanders supporters chant ‘Bernie or bust!’ at state Dem convention

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Democrats in  New Mexico still have some way to go if they want complete party unity, at least if the party’s post-primary convention is any indication. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez and other party leaders received a less-than-warm welcome from supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at the Democratic Party of New Mexico’s gathering. The newspaper reported that Sanders supporters chanted, “Bernie or bust!” while Sanchez spoke. This is the chant of those who say they will only support Bernie Sanders and not Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee. Clinton is the presumptive nominee and Sanders has taken steps toward himself supporting Clinton against Donald Trump this November.

fundraising

Trump fundraising woes in New Mexico mirror national scene

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New Mexicans donated only a little more than $11,000 to Donald Trump’s campaign in May. And it’s unclear who donated how much – if anything – at a publicized $10,000 per person fundraiser with the presumptive GOP presidential nominee in conjunction with his May 24 Albuquerque rally. This piece originally appeared at New Mexico In Depth and is reused with permission. Two joint fundraising committees affiliated with the RNC and Trump’s campaign won’t file reports until July 15. It’s possible those committees haven’t distributed money to the Trump campaign or the Republican National Committee, which must file monthly reports.

Elections

Clean sweep: Final NM superdelegate goes for Clinton

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All of New Mexico’s superdelegates announced they will support Hillary Clinton next month at the Democratic National Convention. Democratic Party of New Mexico Vice-Chair Juan Sanchez III, the youngest superdelegate in the nation, announced via Snapchat (ask your kids what it is) Friday that he will cast his delegate vote for Clinton in November. Sanchez is the ninth and final superdelegate from the state to announce support for Clinton. Shortly after the Democratic primary, Democratic Party of New Mexico Chair Debra Haaland announced she would support Clinton based on the results of the primary. .“After serious consideration and celebrating record turnout in New Mexico’s primary, I’m proud to say I’m with her and pledge my delegate support to Hillary Clinton,” Sanchez said on his Snapchat video.