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Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Herrell Vs. Newman Turns Into A Battle For The Love Of Trump, Plus: Silence Over Monica, Muñoz Fights Back In Land Office Battle And Keller's Questions 

Rep. Herrell
Monty Newman
The race for the southern GOP congressional nomination is being described by insiders as "tight" but with State Rep. Yvette Herrell having an edge over her chief rival Monty Newman, the former mayor of Hobbs.

The final two week stretch starts today and Herrell will kick it off with a new TV ad that highlights her endorsement by the NRA, but spends most of the time reinforcing her theme that she is the only true blue conservative in the race, a jab at Newman who is nowhere near as enthusiastic about Trump as she. Some of the script:

Tired of dirty politicians lying about being conservative?. . . Yvette is a proven Trump conservative, the only candidate to support President Trump from day one of his campaign.

Liberal jaws in ABQ are dropping as they hear someone so adamantly embracing Trump, but the 40,000 or so GOP voters who will cast primary ballots in the district are among his biggest fans.

Meanwhile, Newman is staying away from hot button social issues like guns and abortion which Herrell is pounding hard. In his latest ad he works to get closer to Trump on illegal immigration, saying he opposes amnesty and sanctuary cities.

Immigration polls very high in the district so Newman has picked the right target to keep pace with Herrell, but her red meat themes may drive more turnout her way.

SILENCE OVER MONICA

The talk is how there is no talk from any politico about the aggravated DWI arrest of ABQ GOP State Rep. Monica Youngblood. To our knowledge not one lawmaker--either R or D--has made a public pronouncement regarding the weekend incident in which Youngblood, a fave of Gov. Martinez, refused to take a breath test, failed field sobriety tests and was booked and released from the BernCo jail.

Not even the new chair of the NM Dem Party, Marg Elliston, seems interested in going there. Imagine if this were Texas or California. The politicos would be all over it. But New Mexico likes to keep its dysfunction quiet, part of the reason it is so dysfunctional.

Democrats are probably savoring the moment and don't want to say anything in the hope that Youngblood will not abandon her Westside legislative seat, setting it up for a Dem pick up.

Still, no comment from anyone on Youngblood's refusal to take a breath test when she sponsored legislation that would have forced anyone who refused the test to post bail or else wait and see a judge before they were let out of jail? Lucky for her it didn't pass and she was out of the pokey a mere thirty minutes after being booked.

What does Gov. Martinez think of the arrest? GOP Guv candidate Steve Pearce? House Minority Leader Gentry? Their party is fond of taking the moral high ground but not so much in this case--at least not yet.

MUNOZ PERKS UP 

State senator and Dem land commissioner hopeful George Muñoz has been taking a clubbing on the airwaves thanks to third party environmental money. In addition, his main foe--Garrett VeneKlasen--has been up with TV ads for weeks with one of them featuring an endorsement from Senator Martin Heinrich. But Muñoz has now hit the airwaves with a clever spot.

Instead of pounding on Trump, as VeneKlasen and many other Dem hopefuls are, Muñoz opts to aim his firepower at someone who is equally unpopular in Democratic circles but has flown under the radar until now. His spot says:

He stood up for our kids and took on Gov, Martinez when she tried to cut school funding. 

That's the only reference to the outgoing Governor we've seen on the primary airwaves but it could work for Muñoz. He is the more conservative of the three Dems in the race and has appeal in the rural areas of the state where Trump's support is strongest. He does not want to alienate those rural voters. But Martinez is unpopular across the board with Democrats, sporting an approval rating in the low 30's so he uses her as his foil.

By sparing Trump but emphasizing the Republican Governor Muñoz is able to show his Dem loyalty. And he needs to. At the party's March preprimary convention he managed only 17 percent delegate support, losing big to VeneKlasen and Stephanie Garcia Richard.

However, the businessman senator has put over $200,000 of personal money into the race and will have a hefty TV buy. And if he chooses he can have a sharp comeback to those attacks on him for being anti-enviro and a pal of the oil and gas industry. It's not lost on him that VeneKlasen was a Republican until June of 2015 when he registered as a Democrat. Will VeneKlasen's newfound Dem loyalty prove his undoing or will Muñoz fall to the progressive fever? Look for a close contest for this one June 5.

LIGHT GUV CHASE

State Senator and Dem Lt. Governor candidate Howie Morales is out with a bio  TV ad which will get a light buy given the modest amount of cash in his campaign coffers. Former ABQ Dem State Rep. Rick Miera and Dona Ana County Commissioner Billy Garrett are the other two contenders.

SIX MONTH UPDATE

Mayor Keller has been in office almost half a year and he gave this update to a local biz group. He cited the challenges the city faces, including crime, poverty and drug addiction. However, the speech was given prior to the scandal over a 7 year old ABQ girl being peddled for prostitution by her parents.

Interim APD Chief Mike Geier was seen as a shoo-in for the permanent position prior to the revelation that APD did not take into custody underwear of the 7 year old that could have been a key piece of evidence. Now the national search that Keller has launched for a chief takes on more meaning.

The questions for Keller is whether Geier's credibility has been irreparably damaged and whether appointing him would simply mean a continuation of the damaged culture that brought APD under the thumb of the Justice Department.

 THE BOTTOM LINES 

Two weeks to go in Primary ‘18 in what is commonly known as the “final stretch.” You might say it’s not what it used to be but it’s still pretty darn exciting. We will increase our blogging here and on Facebook to keep you up-to-date with late breaking news. And on Election Night, June 5, we will bring all the election results to you on public radio KANW 89.1 FM and kanw.com.

As usual, I have a bunch of great people helping me and making me look smarter than I really am. To alleviate my guilt over that, I will examine obscure campaign-finance reports into the wee morning hours accompanied by copious amounts of Starbucks and a Sinatra soundtrack. Hey, it’s the life we chose. Thanks for being with us for another final stretch.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018
 
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