June 1, 2018 • Regional News
This week in New Mexico
Dem gubernatorial candidates spend big as election day nears
NM Political Report
As last-minute attacks swirl and campaigns shift efforts to get voters to the polls, candidates filed their final campaign finance reports before the Tuesday primary election.
U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham once again led the way in fundraising, and she also spent the most money out of all four gubernatorial candidates in the most recent campaign finance period, which spanned from May 8 to May 29. She raised over $215,000, more than twice her two Democratic opponents combined, and spent nearly $710,000. She finished May with nearly $1.1 million cash on hand.
State Sen. Joe Cervantes spent nearly $575,000, and finished with nearly as much campaign cash in his coffers as Lujan Grisham.
Former media executive Jeff Apodaca spent over $250,000 and had just over $80,000 cash on hand. His fundraising included $12,500 in loans.
Cervantes has largely self-funded his run for governor, loaning his campaign over $2 million, while Apodaca has loaned his campaign over $460,000.
Steve Pearce, the lone Republican in the race, spent less than the Democrats, but still hit six figures with $106,000 in spending. He will have the cash on hand lead headed into the general election, as he ended the campaign finance period with $1.9 million in the bank.
Special interests still flock to incumbents in heated House primary races
New Mexico In Depth
Incumbents in four state House races that will likely be decided in next week’s primary show significant special interest support in Thursday’s final campaign reports, which reflect their contributions for most of May.
If money tells anything about a political race, the reports also show two of the incumbents are being given a solid run for their seats. And while a third has an outsized bank account, her challenger has scooped up a lot more cash from individuals.
New Mexico In Depth previously looked at the financial advantage incumbents have due to special interest support in the four Democratic state house races:
District 41: State Rep. Debbie Rodella versus Susan Herrera
District 46: State Rep. Carl Trujillo versus Andrea Romero
District 13: State Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero versus Robert Atencio
District 34: State Rep. Bealquin Gomez versus Raymundo Lara
Rivals ramp up criticism of Lujan Grisham
Albuquerque Journal
With just five days left until New Mexico’s primary election, Michelle Lujan Grisham’s rivals for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination intensified their criticism of her on Thursday, accusing her of profiting from ties to a company that has a state contract to help run New Mexico’s high-risk insurance pool and exerting her political influence to keep the pool in operation.
Lujan Grisham, in turn, defended her work with the company, Delta Consulting, as a critical way to help New Mexicans who had been denied health care coverage.
And she released her income tax returns going back for the past five years to the public as a show of transparency.
The tumultuous day in New Mexico’s race for governor started with one candidate, Jeff Apodaca, calling on the front-runner, Lujan Grisham, to withdraw from the campaign altogether.
He described her as a politician “profiting off New Mexicans” and questioned whether the high-risk insurance pool is even necessary now that the Affordable Care Act is in place.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1179188/rivals-pressure-lujan-grisham.html
Sole GOP candidate for governor has big cash advantage
Albuquerque Journal
Republican Steve Pearce appears poised to enter the general election cycle with a hefty cash advantage in New Mexico’s open gubernatorial race, as the three Democrats have continued to spend big money on TV campaign ads and mailers in the run up to next week’s primary election.
Pearce, who is the lone GOP candidate running for governor, has received hefty donations from oil industry executives and reported Thursday having more than $1.9 million in his campaign war chest.
That’s nearly twice as much as his closest potential November opponent, as the three Democrats seeking the party’s nomination – Michelle Lujan Grisham, Joseph Cervantes and Jeff Apodaca – each reported spending big on campaign ads during a roughly three-week period that ended earlier this week.
Republican Steve Pearce appears poised to enter the general election cycle with a hefty cash advantage in New Mexico’s open gubernatorial race, as the three Democrats have continued to spend big money on TV campaign ads and mailers in the run up to next week’s primary election.
Pearce, who is the lone GOP candidate running for governor, has received hefty donations from oil industry executives and reported Thursday having more than $1.9 million in his campaign war chest.
That’s nearly twice as much as his closest potential November opponent, as the three Democrats seeking the party’s nomination – Michelle Lujan Grisham, Joseph Cervantes and Jeff Apodaca – each reported spending big on campaign ads during a roughly three-week period that ended earlier this week.
GOP-tied PACs back Democrat for state land commissioner
The New Mexican
A few conservative political action committees have a message for Democrats.
That’s right. Democrats.
At least three groups linked to Republicans are taking sides in the Democratic Party primary election for state land commissioner, attacking one candidate — Garrett VeneKlasen — and promoting another — state Sen. George Muñoz.
The push may be one of the stranger twists of the election season, with a PAC connected to prominent GOP lawmakers and the oil industry calling on voters to nominate a “lifelong Democrat” and a candidate who is “pro-environment.”
The entry of Republican groups into the Democratic primary will nonetheless add to what already has been an intense internecine race. VeneKlasen’s supporters have argued Muñoz is too conservative. And backers of another Democrat in the race, state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard, have bashed VeneKlasen for having been a Republican until just a few years ago.
It might all be too much to keep straight in the contest for what is usually a low-key office. But the land commissioner has broad powers over 9 million surface acres of state land, swathes of grazing areas and a lucrative piece of New Mexico’s oil production, landing the race in the sights of special interests on both sides.
Gubernatorial candidate Lujan Grisham releases tax returns
Albuquerque Journal
U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday released five years of her state and federal income tax returns for the time she’s spent in Congress after previously opting to provide a less detailed congressional disclosure.
The Democratic candidate for governor provided the tax returns from 2013 to 2017 as she has fended off criticism from her two Democratic opponents for not releasing her tax returns and for her ties to a company that helps operate New Mexico’s high risk insurance pool.
“She’s not making millions,” said Dominic Gabello, who is Lujan Grisham’s campaign manager. “She’s not a millionaire.”
https://www.abqjournal.com/1179189/gubernatorial-candidate-lujan-grisham-releases-tax-returns.html
Turnout high in early voting for primary
Albuquerque Journal
Hotly contested Democratic primary races for an open Albuquerque-area congressional seat and governor appear to be boosting early voting figures – especially in Bernalillo County.
Already, a total of 19,159 Democratic voters had cast ballots via early and absentee voting in New Mexico’s most populous county as of Wednesday, according to the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office.
That’s more than the number of Democrats – a total of 16,476 – who ended up voting early or absentee for governor in Bernalillo County in the primary election in 2014, when the state held its most recent election for governor.
And there’s still three more days before early voting for this year’s primary election ends on June 2.
“This really shows how competitive campaigns mobilize people,” University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson said. “A good fight is always interesting.”
However, she cautioned that brisk early voting figures are not a guarantee of high overall voter turnout, as an increasing share of voters in recent years have been casting their ballots before Election Day.
Two of New Mexico’s three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are open this year, as incumbents Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, and Steve Pearce, a Republican, are both forgoing re-election bids to run for governor.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1178509/turnout-high-in-early-voting-for-primary.html
Incumbent, private lawyer contest seat
Albuquerque Journal
Many voters, or at least court watchers, may be familiar with the names on the Democratic primary ballot for the state District Court judgeship that oversees felony cases in Rio Arriba County.
Both Jason Lidyard and Matthew E. Jackson applied for the Division V seat in the 1st Judicial District – which includes Santa Fe and Los Alamos counties, as well as Rio Arriba – when Jennifer Attrep, who had held the position, was named to the state Court of Appeals in January.
Lidyard, who spent the past seven years as a prosecutor in the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office, was recommended by the judicial district’s Judicial Nomination Commission and later appointed to the seat by Gov. Susana Martinez. He’s been on the bench for about four weeks.
Ute Park Fire at 8,000 acres; Cimarron under a mandatory evacuation order
Officials in the village of Cimarron in Northeast New Mexico said on Friday morning their community is under mandatory evacuation orders as the Ute Park Fire rips through the area, The Taos News reported.
“We are confirmed for mandatory evacuations in Cimarron,” said Lorrie Zamora, Cimarron Town Hall utility clerk, told The News.
Cimarron is a community of about 900 people on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristos, about 150 miles from Santa Fe.
The fire, burning on private land, is at 8,000 acres since it was first reported Thursday. It also burned 12 unoccupied, non-residential structures at the Philmont Scout Ranch, state forestry officials said Friday.
The fire is moving through grass and ponderosa pine. A variety of state and federal crews are on the scene, including air tankers and four helicopters, officials said. A Type 1 Incident Management Team is expected to arrive later Friday to take over the firefighting efforts.
Ringside Seat: Hold your nose and vote in state’s ugliest race
The New Mexican
This could be the most successful year for women running for office since 1992, when female newcomers won election to Congress in record numbers.
The big issue then was sexual harassment. Men who dominated the U.S. Senate had confirmed Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court while he stood accused of sexually harassing a female colleague years earlier.
Sexual harassment is the critical issue today, too. But even if women sweep into office this year, that doesn’t mean they see the world and sexual harassment charges through the same lens. Not by a long shot.
A good example of how different people view an identical set of known facts is on display in the state’s ugliest primary election. The combatants, state Rep. Carl Trujillo and challenger Andrea Romero, are competing in House District 46 in Santa Fe County.
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