There's a lot of discontent over the presidential choices being offered up this year by both political parties. It's captured nicely in this political cartoon from Derrick Lee, a student at the ABQ branch of the the Southwest University of Visual Arts.

Derrick's caption is "We picked them?" as he wonders how voters could have picked this Final Four.

The cartoon also reminds us that the choices offered this presidential cycle could mean lower turnout from dissatisfied voters. ABQ pollster Bruce Donisthorpe is already predicting that NM turnout in November is likely to fall below the level of the 2012 election. How much lower he says will become more clear closer to the election.

Thanks for sending that in, Derrick. We have a feeling we'll be seeing more of your work in the future.

ECON BEAT

Is it possible that NM has more payday loan stores than it does fast food chain restaurants? We have plenty of both but a group arguing for a rate cap on loans the payday industry can charge says payday loaners do indeed outnumber McDonalds and the rest of them. They say the interest rates charged--mainly to low income consumers--can soar to as much as 2,700 percent. That doesn't leave much left over for a Big Mac. Rate cap legislation has yet to take hold in Santa Fe.

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TRAIL DUST

The June 7th NM primary is sneaking up on us and activity is starting to pick up. From Los Lunas:

On Friday, April 29th at 3:00PM, the NM Federation of Labor’s 2nd Annual Gracias Bus Tour will make its third stop, in Los Lunas, for a 2016 Election Public Forum. The goal of the five day, five city tour is to host thank you events for legislators who stopped bad bills for working families and educate voters on the importance of the 2016 election. Attendees will be able to register to vote, talk about issues and meet local political leaders. The Community Ice Cream Social and Election Forum will be at Smith’s Grocery, 2580 Main Street, Los Lunas. More information can be found at NM Working Families.

TWO RUNS

House Majority Leader Nate Gentry is off and running--but not just for re-election to his ABQ NE Heights State House seat:

Gentry swapped loafers for running shoes earlier this month when he took part in the prestigious Boston Marathon. Gentry finished the 26.2-mile race on April 18 with a time of just over 3 hours and 16 minutes. He said Tuesday hot and humid conditions weren’t ideal for him and other New Mexico-based runners. “I didn’t run as quickly as I’d hoped, but it was a cool experience,” Gentry said.

Republican Gentry's Boston Marathon run remained us of 1978 when then-NM Democratic Gov. Jerry Apodaca entered and finished the grueling race. Like Nate, Jerry was not happy with his performance and said he "barely" finished. Gentry is about 40 and Apodaca was about 43 when he made the run,

We don't know how this year's election will turn out, but when it comes to the Boston Marathon, it took a while but the state's R's have finally tied the D's.

Thanks for stopping by this week.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2016