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Friday, October 31, 2014

Halloween Treats For The Candidates, Final Moves For Susana And Gary, Backlash Over UNM's Guv Kowtow, Maggie's Media Weighed And Udall Puts On A Clinic  

Welcome back as we head into the final weekend of Campaign '14. Those of you seeking to avoid the ongoing barrage of TV ads, feel free to hide under the bed. After all it is Halloween. . .

We're all ready for trick or treating tonight. If Gov. Martinez knocks on our door we have 16 illegal driver's licenses for her that we scarfed up in the neighborhood. If Gary King comes around we have a handful of change for his Halloween bag. That will represent 25% of the money he's raised for the campaign. . .

For Senator Udall we have a framed photo of him and President Obama that he seems to have lost. We forgot to get something for Allen Weh, but he'll probably forgive us by saying "So What!.". . .

No problem if GOP land commission contender Aubrey Dunn drops in. We have a wide selection of delicious apples--the perfect Halloween treat. And for incumbent Dem land commissioner Ray Powell we have a nice new name tag so he can build up his name ID over the weekend. . .

For Dem secretary of state candidate and Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver we made a special effort. We have the original registration form filled out by the dog on TV that votes. And if incumbent GOP Secretary of State Dianna Duran comes around she'll need some really big Halloween bags. For her, we've rounded up 64,000 fraudulent voter registration cards. . .

Dem state House Speaker Kenny Martinez is known to enjoy Halloween. If he shows up, we have two treats for him--a new gavel he can use at the next session of the Legislature and a new gavel that he can give to the next speaker. Just in case. . .

If Dem state auditor candidate Tim Keller knocks on the door, we'll drop a "Balderas for Governor" campaign pin in his bag. And if Dem attorney general candidate Balderas passes through we have a "Keller for Governor" pin for him.

Steve Pearce is a hard guy to buy a Halloween treat for, but we've come up with one for the southern NM GOP Congressman--a pound of raw red meat that he can either eat himself or throw out when he speaks to Lea County Republicans. We won't forget Pearce's Dem challenger Rocky Lara. We have a wonderful CD for her featuring Frank Sinatra singing, "Let Me Try Again." Pretty cool, huh?

FINAL MOVES

Gov. Martinez will be on the hunt again for ABQ South Valley support this final weekend of Campaign '14. She will hold a Saturday 3 p.m. public rally at Coors and Tower SW with musician Darren Cordova Y Calor. The South Valley is one of the most dominant Dem areas in the state, but with her conservative base nailed down, Martinez is free to roam about the building--the one the Dems built.

For Dem Guv hopeful Gary King the final weekend will see him head to the Spanish North to try to get the Dem base excited. He'll stop in Las Vegas, Mora, and Santa Fe on Saturday. Sunday he'll be in Belen for a GOTV rally and then head to ABQ for a vote canvass put on by AFSCME.

THE MISMATCH

The Governor's race has been marked by a tremendous mismatch in finances and it continued into the final hours:

Martinez outspent King nearly 7-to-1 during a critical stretch of New Mexico's race for governor as early voting got underway, according to finance disclosures filed Thursday. Martinez pumped $2.4 million into her re-election bid during the past three weeks. Of that, $1.6 million was spent on television and radio ads, $311,000 went for mailers sent to voters, and $163,500 paid for polling. 

King reported spending $363,245 during the same period — from Oct. 7 through Tuesday. That included $280,000 for TV and radio ads. The governor reported cash reserves in her re-election account of $708,693 as of Tuesday, and King had $10,103 on hand.

Other campaign money reports are here.

UNM BACKLASH

Frank
Is anyone surprised that there is backlash over UNM's decision to kowtow to the Guv in the final week of Campaign '14? The news:

UNM School of Law Professor and activist attorney Maureen Sanders severed ties with the law school over UNM President Bob Frank’s decision to give Gov. Susana Martinez an award for her “critical contributions to the health and well-being of New Mexicans.” Sanders. . .said she cannot continue financial support, or involvement with, the law school because of Frank’s decision to give Martinez a UNM Presidential Distinction Award one week before the Nov. 4 election. . .

President Frank, no one knows better than us how the Guv's political machine will try to bully you into what they want. In your case they have your big budget they can hold over your head. Most political folks know what's going on and empathize with you, but that doesn't mean they aren't disappointed that you caved. They are. And not that Big Bill didn't also engage in using the hammer. . .

MAGGIE MEDIA

Reader Jeffrey Paul responds to criticism that the TV ad for Dem secretary of state candidate Maggie Toulouse Oliver is too "vanilla":

I do love chocolate but many folks love vanilla. Perhaps Maggie's "vanilla" TV ads are trying to appeal to voters sense of politeness and turn off to negative advertising? Certainly if she wanted to chocolate up the airways with negative ads, she'd have plenty of ammunition. Diana Duran has done everything she can think of to single handily disenfranchise as many voters as she can.

And how about that ad Republican Secretary of State Dianna Duran accusing Bernalillo County Clerk Oliver of registering a dog. Kinda cute, but you may recall this was a Republican caper from 2012:

The husband of a campaign staffer for a Republican candidate for Senate in New Mexico (Heather Wilson)  is under investigation for allegedly committing a felony by registering the couple's dog to vote as part of a stunt to show how easy it could be to commit voter registration fraud.

Santa Fe attorney Geno Zamora says he likes the Spanish radio ads Oliver is airing:

She's directly reaching out to old Hispanic families for help. My parents, Matias & Emeline Zamora raised in Mora and Las Vegas, respectively, were just some of the "old timers" asked to help with the Spanish scripts.

The down-to-the-wire, all tied-up Secretary of State race will be tracked wall-to-wall Tuesday night on KANW 89.1 FM. And be sure to join us Monday at 5 p.m. on KANW-FM either on the dial or on the net for our traditional pre-game show with top election experts.

IT'S A CLINIC

We thought Sen. Udall was a bit slow out of the gate this campaign, but now he's putting on a clinic for you would-be campaign managers and consultants.

This exhaustive and devastating Udall campaign analysis about the pre-taped public broadcasting debate he had with his opponent Allen Weh Thursday night shows how it's done. And not that Weh, a tenacious Marine Colonel, is a slouch. He kept the pressure on, hoping to force an error but instead Udall responded with a well-executed full court press. And, kids, that's how you keep a seat in the United States Senate (Weh did not issue a statement about the debate).

MIXED REVIEW

Hands down, the most mixed newspaper endorsement Gov. Martinez has received is from the Farmington Daily Times in San Juan County in heavy GOP territory. For a minute, we thought they were going to retract it in the middle and go for King:

The Daily Times is endorsing Susana Martinez for governor, but not without some reservations. . . We are concerned that Martinez is taking northwest New Mexico voters for granted. . . A key for the future of this area is a connection to the nation's main east-west railway. When asked about state support for such a project, Martinez was vague. . .Other recent decisions by Martinez also give us pause. She approved an economic development bill that eliminated the state's "hold harmless" program. That program was intended to reimburse local governments for not taxing food and medicine. . .Although we think King would have a better relationship with the Legislature, a governor's power only goes so far. It takes a strong personality to sway people and that is what is necessary to fulfill a vision.

Well, with that wishy-washy support no wonder the Guv closed out her Farmington campaign Thursday by bringing in big name Guv Chris Christie to wow the crowds. . .

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2014. Not for reproduction without permission of the author
 
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