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.

Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson’s ‘What is Aleppo?’ gaffe goes viral

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Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson received a lot of attention in the past two days for his longshot presidential bid as a Libertarian—but not all of the publicity was good publicity. Yesterday, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney tweeted he would like to see Gary Johnson in the presidential debates alongside Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and current Republican candidate Donald Trump. He also said he would like to see Johnson’s running mate Bill Weld in the Vice Presidential debate alongside Clinton running mate Tim Kaine and Trump running mate Mike Pence. https://twitter.com/MittRomney/status/773631092570062850

Romney has not endorsed Trump and, indeed, is one of the most-outspoken Republican critics of Trump. Still, Romney has yet to endorse Johnson, despite rumors a few months ago he was considering it.

Community Voices

With campaigns coming to NM, 2016 looking like 2008

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After months of largely being ignored for other, more relevant states in the presidential election process, New Mexico will spend a few days being essentially ground zero for presidential politics. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders brings his campaign to New Mexico today in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and heads south down I-25 to Vado on Saturday. Sanders is down in the polls, but hopes large victories in the remaining states will lead to enough superdelegates changing their allegiances from Clinton to Sanders. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump will also appear in New Mexico—in fact at the same venue as Sanders—on Tuesday. The Republican candidate has drawn large rallies in cities throughout the country, sometimes with protests on a similar scale.

Susana Martinez

Martinez will attend Trump’s RNC

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Gov. Susana Martinez is still quiet on if she will support presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, but she will attend the convention dedicated to him this summer. Martinez said, as the head of the Republican Governor’s Association, she would attend this year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland. She was answering a question from an Associated Press reporter on Monday. The video is available at the bottom of this post. “It is my responsibility to also be part of the Republican convention,” she said.

Elections

Bush 41, 43 have no plans to endorse Trump

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For the first time since his own presidency, George H.W. Bush is planning to stay silent in the race for the Oval Office — and the younger former president Bush plans to stay silent as well. Bush 41, who enthusiastically endorsed every Republican nominee for the last five election cycles, will stay out of the campaign process this time. He does not have plans to endorse presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, spokesman Jim McGrath told The Texas Tribune. “At age 91, President Bush is retired from politics,” McGrath wrote in an email Wednesday. “He came out of retirement to do a few things for Jeb, but those were the exceptions that proved the rule.” His son Jeb Bush dropped out of the GOP presidential race in February.

2016 elections

Here are the key legislative races to watch

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Today is the day that candidates for state House and Senate file to say that they are, indeed, running. As candidates file their intention to run for public office, we decided to take a look forward a few months to what districts the two parties will be focusing on come November and the general elections. The top of the ticket matters. Two years ago, Republicans took the state House of Representatives for the first time in a half-century. That same election saw Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, trounce Democratic opponent Gary King by more than 14 points statewide.

Quick Reads

Richardson: Trump ‘addicted to attention’; says Clinton will be nominee

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Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson appeared on a conservative cable TV show and said that the leading Republican presidential candidate’s remarks about immigrants and Mexicans won’t help in the general election. “He is addicted to attention,” Richardson said of businessman Donald Trump. Richardson said Trump was getting this attention from “outrageous positions like repealing the 14th amendment.” Richardson made the comments while appearing on the Steve Malberg Show on Newsmax TV, a politically conservative cable TV network. In particular, Richardson objected to Trump’s use of the term “anchor babies.”

News

Trump, Martinez on Spanish speaking in NM

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The governor of New Mexico and a Republican presidential candidate each weighed in on how speaking Spanish would impact job prospects in New Mexico. The Albuquerque Journal wrote about the needs for qualified bilingual workers, especially as New Mexico becomes a bigger target for call center companies. Martinez said how “border spanish” wasn’t necessarily useful when seeking jobs. From the Journal:
“Border Spanish” was the descriptive term Martinez used, recounting her own experience in losing what was her first language as a child to institutional prejudices at parochial school and pressure from her parents to assimilate into the mainstream English-speaking culture. The unschooled Spanish spoken by many bilingual residents, often passed down from generation to generation, evidently lacks the sophisticated fluency needed in an increasingly international business world, particularly in terms of call center work.

Elections

New Mexico a top historical ‘bellwether’ state for president

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New Mexico has been one of the states that is happiest with the president who is elected, having voted for the winning candidate nearly every time in state history. Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball, named after the director of the University of Virginia Center of Politics which publishes the website, says that New Mexico and Ohio are two states to keep an eye on when determining which candidate will become the next president if the past is any indication. These are known as bellwethers. Ohio narrowly edges New Mexico. Both have successfully voted for the winning candidate in all but two elections.

Congress & Federal Issues

Martinez campaign vet to run Jeb Bush’s campaign

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A campaign strategist that worked on both successful Susana Martinez gubernatorial campaigns will head a Republican presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the shakeup that has Danny Diaz as the campaign manager for Jeb Bush. The change took place even before the former Florida governor officially launches his presidential campaign. Bush is expected to join the crowded field seeking the Republican nomination soon. This isn’t the first or only connection between Bush and Martinez.