Wednesday, April 30, 2008Free Ride Shaping Up In Big ABQ State Senate District, Plus: Pearce's New Nuke, And: Some Bottom Lines For A NM Wednesday![]() .Rue has served on the Albuquerque Open Space Advisory Board and is currently a member of Albuquerque’s Board of Ethics. Rue, 54, has previously run for ABQ city council and state rep. He lost both. He was also campaign manager for the '05 mayoral bid of City Councilor Brad Winter. He also lost that. But now it appears the perseverance of the pharmaceutical salesman has finally paid off. As for Pyne, saying nothing sometimes says everything. Hasta La Vista, David. TO AND FRO Who would have thunk it? Heather Wilson is a liberal! Only in a GOP primary would you hear that. The charge comes from Steve Pearce in this new TV spot as the back and forth in the intense race for the GOP US Senate nomination continues. THIRD CD MUSINGS A Democratic politico has some interesting analysis on the battle for the northern Dem congressional nomination where frontrunner Ben Ray Lujan is trying to fend off a stiff and well-financed challenged from Santa Fe developer Don Wiviott. He says our supposition that most of Wiviott's appeal among Santa Fe Anglo liberals is on the mark, but there is more to consider. "A lot of folks in Clovis and other East side communities are not happy with Santa Fe politicians. Wiviott may be tapping into Anglo support there, too." Lujan's father is NM House Speaker Ben Lujan. The race has flatlined in recent days. The crowd awaits a more aggressive comparative phase between the top two contenders. Harry Montoya, Benny Shendo, Jon Adams and Rudy Martin are also in this one. BILL'S A GAS ![]() FOLLOWING THE MONEY ABQ Dem congressional contender Rebecca Vigil-Giron was given a hard time by our Alligators when she listed on her report a cash balance of minus some $9,000. There is no such thing as a minus cash balance. Vigil-Giron says her report has been revised. It shows she had a cash balance at the end of March of about $1600 and a debt on her American Express card of $15,000. STILL BIG Think the Iraq war won't be a big issue in the fall? Only if the New Mexican electorate isn't heartbroken by this kind of news: Senator Bingaman joined in cosponsoring legislation to help prevent suicide among active duty members of the military. The Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act would direct the Department of Defense (DoD) to create a comprehensive suicide prevention program within all branches of the military, including National Guard and Reserves. The program includes annual training for soldiers... CBS news recently reported on the armed forces suicide epidemic among soldiers who have served in Iraq. THE BOTTOM LINES ![]() Also on hand was ABQ GOP State Rep. Jimmie Hall, who has one of those infectious personalities that has made him friends on both sides of the aisle. He has no GOP primary opposition. Democratic Secretary of State Mary Herrera was one of the presenters. We both wondered aloud about how low-key the campaign has been compared to what we expected at this stage, but neither of us were backing off our predictions of a record turnout in November. E-mail your news and comments. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2008 Not for reproduction without permission of the author |
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