Albuquerque Journal

Poll: Dems lead in two key statewide races

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Democrats are ahead in two of New Mexico’s most important races, according to an Albuquerque Journal poll. The poll’s results, released Sunday, showed 50 percent of likely voters would support Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham and 43 percent for Republican Steve Pearce. The two are looking to replace Susana Martinez, a Republican who is term-limited and cannot run for a third consecutive term. Both Lujan Grisham and Pearce are U.S. representatives, leaving their positions for the statewide run. Pollster Brian Sanderoff told the Albuquerque Journal that Pearce needs more support in the Albuquerque metro area, which holds a large percentage of the state’s population, if he wants to close the gap.

2017 Albuquerque City Council election

Could Democratic victories in ABQ, Las Cruces preview 2018?

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The recent Albuquerque and Las Cruces municipal elections, along with other races nationwide, could signal a warning  for Republicans in the 2018 elections. The pendulum looks to be swinging from Republican gains during the Barack Obama years to Democratic gains in response to Donald Trump, according to Brian Sanderoff, the president of the Albuquerque-based Research & Polling, Inc.

“I think the political mood right now benefits Democrats,” he said. “And I think part of that is due to the fact that a Republican is in the White House, has lower approval ratings and all the dynamics that go with that.”

In New Mexico, 2018 will be an important election year with the governor’s race, a U.S. Senate seat, three U.S. congressional districts and a number of  other statewide positions up for grabs. Locally, Tim Keller’s comprehensive victory in Albuquerque for mayor, the flipping of a previously Republican-held Albuquerque city council seat and the progressive sweep of the Las Cruces city council  show how national shifts are reflected in New Mexico politics. “That’s American politics, du jour, that it goes back and forth,” University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson said.

Al Gore

Poll: Clinton leads Trump narrowly in NM, Johnson polling well

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A new poll shows Hillary Clinton has a narrow lead over Donald Trump in New Mexico in the race for president—and that Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson has an impressive showing. The poll, conducted by Research and Polling, Inc. for the Albuquerque Journal, shows Democratic nominee Clinton holds a 35 percent to 31 percent lead over Republican nominee Trump among likely voters in New Mexico. Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, brings in 24 percent. This appears to be the best showing by Johnson in any state poll so far. Green Party nominee Jill Stein, meanwhile, gets the support of just two percent of likely voters.

Marijuana

New poll shows wide support for NM pot legalization

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Sixty-one percent of adults in New Mexico support legalizing and regulating recreational marijuana, according to a poll released Thursday by Research & Polling. When coupled with restrictions on where marijuana can be produced and requirements that sales revenue go toward health and drug rehab programs, that number supporting legalization jumps to 69
percent. Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said the poll is evidence that the state is ready to join Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Arizona as states with legalized recreational marijuana. “What it shows is that New Mexicans support legalization,” he said. “Not just ex-hippies in Taos, not just people who read The Nation in Santa Fe, not just [University of New Mexico] students in Albuquerque, but people in every part of this state support legalization.”

Ortiz y Pino is proposing an amendment to the state constitution that would let voters decide whether to legalize in the general election this fall.

Community Voices

NM business leaders support campaign finance & transparency reform | by the Committee for Economic Development

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[box type=”info” style=”rounded”]THE COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization. [/box]

A new poll of New Mexico business leaders released today shows serious concern about the lack of transparency in New Mexico’s government and campaign finance system. The poll shows overwhelming support for reform amid worries from the business community about the lopsided influence of political donors compared to every day voters. The poll was commissioned by the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board (CED), a nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization, and conducted by Research & Polling, Inc.

A sample of 307 New Mexico business leaders was interviewed by telephone. All interviews were conducted between February 2nd, 2015 and February 18th, 2015. The statewide sample of business leaders included the board members of 11 Chambers of Commerce throughout the state, the largest private sector employers in New Mexico, the largest employers within various business sectors, Albuquerque Economic Forum members, Albuquerque Economic Development (AED) members, and members of the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Association (MVEDA).

News

Poll finds business community support lobbying cooldown

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A poll of members of the business community in New Mexico finds that they support a ban on legislators working as lobbyists for two years after they leave their position in government. The results came from a poll conducted by Research and Polling, Inc. for the Committee for Economic Development. The poll was conducted last month and surveyed over 300 business leaders in the state, according to a press release announcing the poll and spoke about issues with lobbying and political donors and their effect on legislators and other elected officials. The full results of the poll are available here and are embedded below. CED is a non-profit group that describes itself as “a nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization.”

2015 Legislative Session

Q&A with the president of Research and Polling Inc.

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In the past couple of weeks, the Albuquerque Journal has published some poll results regarding hot-button topics from this legislative session. The surveys, conducted by New Mexican company Research and Polling Inc., asked registered voters about right-to-work, minimum wage increases, driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants and third-grade retention legislation. Some have used the results to support their causes, while others have called the questions flawed. New Mexico Political Report spoke with the company’s president Brian Sanderoff about how his company’s polling questions are written and how he strives for well-balanced questions. Sanderoff started working in polling after he graduated from the University of New Mexico.