Pete Domenici

Well, it's that time of the campaign when the old warhorses come out. Here's former GOP US Senator Pete Domenici before the microphone recording a robo call message for the Goal West PAC in support of Republican legislative candidates.

Pete, 84, looks as though he's saying something like, "Yikes! You want me to say that??" It's been one of those kind of years.

Domenici, an ABQ native, left the Senate in 2009 after a 36 year run. He lives back East these days but still has his annual Domenici policy conference at NMSU.

Meantime, a current US Senator, Dem Martin Heinrich, has been spotted knocking on doors in the final stretch of the campaign in ABQ House District 15. That contest is hotter than a Tucumcari parking lot in July. Heinrich is working to get his former staffer Ane Romero in the seat. Her race against Republican incumbent State Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes is going down to the wire.

This one seems so close that we wonder if we'll be able to call it on Election Night on KANW-FM when the early vote comes in, even though that vote could make up well over 65 percent of all votes cast.

ELECTION NIGHT PARTIES

State Democrats will party at the Hotel Andaluz in downtown ABQ on Election Night as they hope for the best. For the Republicans it will be the downtown ABQ Convention Center. Hey, they are so close to each other that it will be easy for them to shake hands and congratulate the opposite party's winners. Uh. Don't bet on it.

MONEY REPORTS

The last money campaign money reports before the election were filed with the secretary of sate for all the state and local and reporter Dan Boyd tells us what Jay has been up to with his Super PAC this past month.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Here's truly a sign of the times. A "Trump Republican" sign shadows one for ABQ GOP state senate hopeful Candace Gould in the city's North Valley. She's in what is believed to be a tight race with Dem Dave Simon.

The Dem consultants responsible for the Trump Republican sign are also placing it next to the signs of other GOP legislative hopefuls.

 Will the not so subtle reminder sway any voters before Tuesday? Well, the Dems better hope the sign doesn't help Candace pick up as many R's and independents as she loses in the D column. The seat she and Simon are seeking is held by Republican John Ryan who is retiring. Democratic performance in the district is 46 percent so Gould is the slight favorite.

NON ELECTION MATH

Here's some simple non election math: $300,000 is not $600,000:

The Pit’s $600,000 question has been answered — at least in part. WisePies Pizza & Salad has forked over half of the first major payment it owes University of New Mexico for the naming rights to the school’s basketball arena. WisePies’ owner Steve Chavez said he wrote a $300,000 check this week and plans to pay another $300,000 to fulfill the balance before the official Dec. 31 due date.

Assuming the first check doesn't bounce from the financially ailing WisePies, what are the odds of the second check coming in on time?

THE HELLACIOUS CAMPAIGN

This has been a hellacious presidential campaign and we've seen plenty of them. In 1960 when we were a first grader we thought it was pretty nasty that a rumor was spread that Richardson Nixon was going to make us go to school tear round and we should tell our parent to vote for Kennedy. Today that is literally child's play. Out in the open character assassination is now routine in the campaigns.  Making it worse is the constant repetition of the charges because of the ungodly sums of money going into the races. Whatever the case, we join with our friends and neighbors in exclaiming, "I can't wait until it's over!"
THE FINAL DAYS

Joe Monahan

If you have the chance, visit with us in these final hectic days of Campaign '16. Sunday at 11 a.m. we'll be at the Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe to discuss this wild election. Monday at 8:30 a.m. we'll go over the contests on KVSF 101.5 FM Santa Fe with veteran talk show host Richard Eeds.

Monday at 5 p.m. we'll have our live Election Eve special on KANW 89.1 FM public radio with our team of experts reviewing all the key races on the ballot. On Election Night we'll begin our wall-to-wall-coverage on KANW at 6:30 p.m. for our 28th consecutive year of anchoring state election results. It will also be streamed at KANW.COM. We'll post our special election results blog here on NM Politics with Joe Monahan following that broadcast.

November 20th at 11 a.m. the New Mexican's Steve Terrell will join me at Congregation Albert in ABQ to review and field questions about the election. Hopefully by then we'll have things figured out.

I look forward to being part of your election schedule and thank you for your continued interest and support.

Thanks for stopping by this week.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2016