Friday, October 30, 2020Counting All Those Early Votes; Not A Problem Says State Election Expert, Plus: Sen. Candelaria Video Shocker: Berates Cops And Kicks Them Out Of House; Threatens To Call Governor; Election Impact Weighed; Comes With Apology ABQ Dem State Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, technical assistant provider for the state's county clerks and author of much election legislation, updates our understanding of how this large scale counting will go down: First, he says, in-person early votes at the convenience centers and elsewhere are registered (and tabulated) when the voter inserts their completed paper ballot into the voting machine. Tens of thousands of such votes from the state's 33 counties will be ready to be electronically counted quickly Election Night and usually are reported within a half hour of the closing of the polls at 7 p.m. As for all those absentee ballots mailed in (over 300,000) and the fear that we will have incomplete results Election Night because of slow counting, Ivey-Soto says that fear is unfounded: A county that receives 10,000 or more absentee ballot requests (think Bernalillo, Dona Ana and Santa Fe) can begin processing them as early as October 20. This ensures the clerks are able to keep pace. As with the in-person voting, these ballots are fed into the voting machines. When the polls close they are tallied by computer and the results released. The absentees that remain uncounted will be a very small percentage of the total. They will be ballots mainly received very close to the election. While the law provides that the absentee count stop at 11 p.m. to ensure those counting the ballots are not exhausted, the vast majority of absentees will have been counted and released by then. As for votes cast on Election Day, the computer cartridges with those votes are physically delivered to a site selected by the individual county clerks and tabulated. Most of the Election Day votes in the large counties are usually counted by 11 p.m and earlier in the smaller counties. Early voting is convenient and the public has responded warmly to its expansion. One side effect that saddens the political junkies is its impact on delivering any surprises. There are now so many early votes that when they are posted early in the evening very few races are left undecided. Forward thinking by present and past state leadership has prepared us for timely vote counting--even in a pandemic. FINAL WORDS The US senate candidates are coming with their final wave of TV. R Mark Ronchetti released one of his final TV spots, saying: (It's) my vision for more jobs, lower healthcare costs, & safe streets, or @BenRayLujan ’s support of higher taxes, ending private health insurance, & releasing violent criminals. I will always fight for the people of New Mexico. This is Dem Ben Ray Lujan's final TV ad in which he says, "I will always put you and your family first." Lujan also came with an "election memo" about his candidacy laying out why he thinks he deserves the senate seat. NMGOP Chairman Steve Pearce is also making his final pitch to voters and does it in his podcast. JACOB'S FOLLY  Sen. Candelaria came with a statement of apology following release of the video and this report. That statement is below. Sen. Jacob Candelaria berated state cops, threatened to call Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on them, and ordered them to leave his apartment when he didn't like what they had to say about an allegedly threatening phone message Candelaria received over the weekend, the State Police lapel camera of the call shows.
"Please don't talk down to me because I will get the governor, on the phone, or whoever, because I don't understand why this is my problem," Candelaria told the three state police officers who came to his Albuquerque apartment to get more information about the alleged threat. During the three-minute video, he repeatedly told the cops that he was a state senator and that he and his husband were going to leave town because they didn't feel safe after the phone call.
"You may not have respect for me, but I am a member of the Senate," Candelaria told the officers. "I took an oath, to this day, and I don't deserve to have my life threatened." Candelaria complained to the officers that he had reported the threat about 13 hours earlier and was disappointed that it took so long for officers to show up. "I'm Senator Jacob Candeleria. I received a death threat last night at two o'clock in the morning," Candeleria told the officers. "So I got a death threat. My husband and I are leaving the city of Albuquerque right now because we don't feel safe. I don't know what it's going to take. It's been thirteen hours, guys, thirteen hours." At one point an officer asked Candeleria to sit down. Candelaria replied:
"No. I'm a senator. This senator is getting ready and leaving. I was told that you were coming to help us leave town. So Senator Candelaria and his husband are leaving their home. If you want to watch us while we get in our car and go out and tell them to protect our lives." Candelaria originally welcomed the officers into his home, but he got angry when the officers said they were working on finding the man who made the alleged threat.
Candelaria played the voice message for the officers. It said, in part: "You don't know what it means to be an American. You're a stupid motherfucker, and we're going to get you out one way or another. Fuck you."
After playing the message for the officers, Candelaria asked them, "So is that a threat gentlemen?"
When an officer replied, "Sir, that's how it can be interpreted," Candelaria kicked them out of his house.
"Leave my house. You are asked to leave," Candelaria said. You don't have a warrant. You don't have the authority to be here. Get out."
Candelaria may have dodged the immediate political consequences of a possible defeat or close race at the polls Tuesday, but his standing in the Senate is going to take a hit, according to Alligators weighing the impact. One of them comes with this: This tape will take the heat off Senate Majority Leader Wirth who Candelaria has clashed with. Wirth can now ignore Candelaria whose chances to chair the Senate Finance Committee have gone up in smoke. Maybe if Candelaria apologized right away and explained his behavior it might help, but it's always difficult to reverse such a damaging image. MLG could be asked to weigh in on Candelaria's comments threatening to call her and report the responding officers. That will be a quick Operation Separation, for sure. And Republican businessman Lardizabal will do all he can, one supposes, to push out Candelaria's embarrassing behavior between now and Tuesday. Candelaria, who has a reputation as one of the brightest state senators, often diving into complex legislation, is also the first openly gay Senator and has a following in the LGBQT community. An ABQ native, attorney and graduate of Princeton University, he was one of the youngest state senators when he was first elected in 2012. Today he is only 33 but unless he can somehow dig himself out of this hole his political career could be a goner. Ironically, Candelaria has been one of the leading legislative advocates for mandating video lapel cameras for all state law enforcement agencies. CANDELARIA APOLOGIZES Between midnight and 1 a.m. on October 25, my family received three anonymous phone calls at our home in quick succession, threatening violence against my family and me because of my political views, my race, and my sexual orientation. I reported the calls to law enforcement immediately.
We deemed one of the callers, who threatened to “take” me “out one way or another,” to be quite serious.
As it turns out, at about 10:00 am, a cursory background check done by my law firm’s private investigator yielded strong evidence that the caller who made the most direct threat had a history of violence and an open warrant for his arrest. My private investigator, who is a former member of the United States Secret Service, advised us at that time that the threat level was escalated and that the caller needed to be found, without delay.
I immediately again called the police because I was terrified for the safety of my new husband and myself. If you’ve felt that visceral fear for your family, I am so sorry because I do not wish that upon anyone. In the hours that followed, I was not going to stop until my family was safe. I would and will always do anything to protect the man I love. When the state police arrived later that afternoon, I simply did not treat the officers who came to our house with the necessary respect or decorum.
Let me be clear, I was wrong to redirect the terror and frustration we were experiencing on those individual officers.
I apologize fully and unequivocally to each of the officers who were carrying out their duties professionally and who put their safety on the line every day. As I did later that same night, I thank them for their ongoing committed service to this state.
Moving forward, we all need to hold those accountable who are quick to resort to violence toward those who have differing political views, or on the basis of their race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Our state, nor our country, can progress without a commitment to civil discourse. I commit here and now to actively doing my part. GOP REACTS State Republicans came with this reaction to the Candelaria video: This is the kind of hypocritical behavior that makes voters lose faith in their elected leaders, who are supposed to serve them—not serve themselves,” said Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce. “All law enforcers must receive respect—period. They are here to serve and protect. No one is above the law in New Mexico. Senator Candeleria’s childish and self-important behavior is unbecoming of the New Mexico Senate—a body meant to be mature and deliberative. He doesn’t deserve the honor of serving in any office of public trust. Senator Candeleria doesn’t deserve your vote on Tuesday to return to the Roundhouse.” This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.
E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020 Thursday, October 29, 2020 Dems Growing More Bullish As Biden Polling Improves In Battlegrounds And Big NM Turnout Continues, Plus: Party Poopers; Political Parties Cancel Traditional Election Night Events; Offer Virtual Replacements, And: More On Our KANW-FM Election Night Coverage Early voter turnout--in person and absentee--reached 622,000 through Tuesday so achieving 900,000 or more--an all time high--is in sight. Dems like it, saying that in some legislative districts the early vote is fast approaching all votes cast in 2016. (Complete county-by-county breakdown of all early votes cast thus far as compiled by the SOS). The D's say that the R's have yet to step on the gas in big BernCo, where 226,000 early votes have been cast but where the R percentage is 30 percent of that while their registration here is about 28 percent. That's not much of a performance yet and bodes well for their majority party, argue the Dems, while the R's say they still have time to boost the numbers. But election pro Steve Cabiedes believes there is another problem: Trump urged his followers to not vote early but wait until Election Day, but that's not the usual Republican pattern. They have always voted earlier more than Dems. Now that’s reversed. The problem they now face is that Republicans are older. Will they be geared up to go out and vote and maybe stand in line and endure the other stresses during Covid? I have my doubts. Most of the major races are forgone conclusions, with Biden poised for a substantial win as are Dem US Senate candidate Ben Ray Lujan, ABQ Dem Rep. Deb Haaland and northern congressional hopeful Teresa Leger Fernandez, And with the over-the-top turnout some of the Alligators and political wizards are starting to think Dem Rep. Xochitl Torres Small's effort to retain her southern congressional seat may be a bit easier even as she battles R Yvette Herrell down to the wire. ABQ attorney and Dem insider Israel Chavez opines: This turnout is off the charts and being driven by voters wanting to send a message about Trump. The election is going to be a steamroller for the Dems in Bernalillo County and I think it goes statewide with Torres Small winning re-election without too much trouble. Well, Chavez has the boldness of youth on his side. Others perhaps are thinking the same but are biting their tongues. Too many dreams have been broken for the older Dem set to presume one is coming true. ELECTION NIGHT 2020 We began broadcasting election results on KANW 89.1 FM in 1988 and have covered every major election there since, so we've missed out on all the election night parties. This year we're going to have a whole lot of company. State Dems and R's say that because of Covid they will not have traditional party central election night locations at the big ABQ hotels. Instead the Dems will have a virtual gathering featuring elected officials and party leaders. It kicks off at 8 p.m. Tuesday night and you can join the event here. That might actually be fun given that State Auditor Brian Colón, New Mexico's Happy Warrior, will be the emcee. Security, however, will be tight. APD has approved overtime pay for two cops to keep an eye on things. Ha. The R's invite the party faithful to monitor their Facebook and Twitter accounts Tuesday night as well as the GOP home page. It will be a low-key night for the GOP but they might pull off a few key legislative wins that gets things moving. If so, we may get to see Steve Pearce dance around the room with a lamp shade on his head. Always wondered what that would look like.
THE BROADCAST
Doug Antoon, ABQ attorney, longtime GOP consultant and onetime political director for the NMGOP, will be on hand. He says win or lose he's prepared to explain the real Donald Trump. Geez, Doug, we thought this time we might wrap up the broadcast early. Doug will be joined by Santa Fe lawyer Cliff Rees, a mainstay at legislative sessions who has staffed Lt. Governor Howie Morales among others and has helped draft major legislation such as the Public Health Law that has been invoked during the Covid crisis. Cliff is a dyed-in-the-wool Dem, so much so that he only drinks Blue Sky soda. Attorney David Buchholtz is known far and wide as perhaps the state's foremost authority on municipal finance. He also happens to be a first-rate political junkie--when not toiling for the legendary Rodey Law Firm. David will suit up and bring his full-on New York accent to the table. Interpreters will be provided upon request. Middle of the road Dem consultant Sisto Abeyta, a veteran of the political wars, will again join us. The virtual broadcast means he saves money on buying the pizza. Darn. On primary night Sisto had a hard time giving up the ghost for his beloved contenders as they were swept away in a progressive sweep. Now he says of this Election Night, "only the votes talk, everything else walks." Yep. La Politica is a winner take all game and we're just hours away from finding out who those winners are. Back tomorrow with special Friday blogging as we bring this one home. Reporting from Albuquerque, I'm Joe Monahan and this. . . . is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020 Wednesday, October 28, 2020Two SW State Senate Seats Provide Thrills And Spills In Final Campaign Days; Neomi Vs. Crystal And Siah Vs. Jimbo, Plus: Prepping For Our Election Night Coverage
Both contenders are breathing fire as the too-close-to-call struggle edges close to something like hand-to-hand-combat. The latest is Diamond firing off a fund-raising letter berating outside progressive groups for interfering in the race and preceded by condemnations of Martinez-Parra as a "radical." Now comes longtime political hand Robert Lara with rebuttal from Martinez-Parra's campaign: I am not surprised by Crystal Diamond’s comments. Setting the bar early for her defeat and blaming outside groups has always been her go-to stance. Families here care about access to healthcare and opportunities for their children. Neomi Martinez-Parra has a proven record for serving our communities, as a special education teacher and an activist for southwestern New Mexico. . . As far as the “special interest groups” complained about, Neomi just received the endorsement of the Las Cruces Fraternal Order of Police and her campaign is proud to get their support. Right now, Neomi is focused on helping voters get to the polls and vote safely in the last days of this election. However, Mrs. Diamond is focused on who’s to blame for her failure to connect with the people of New Mexico, and as usual, it is not her. If we're on the air until 2 in the morning Election Night, we'll probably be talking about Crystal and Neomi. It could be that close. SIAH AND JIMBO
Dem educator Siah Correa Hemphill and Republican rancher James "Jimbo" Williams are vying to replace conservative Dem Sen. Gabe Ramos who progressive-backed Siah ousted in the June primary in this SW district (#28) once held by Lt. Gov. Howie Morales. The race started with Hemphill in front and she still appears to be, but southern rural races like to tighten toward the end. That's one reason why the Hemphill camp was celebrating their endorsement from the Silver City Press which thinks Jimbo's attacks on Siah may have have fallen flat:
Jimbo Williams, put out a ham-handed campaign accusing Correa Hemphill of defrauding the Silver Schools by taking an unpaid family medical leave to care for her children. While the backlash was swift, Williams refused to back off the quickly debunked accusation — and in the Daily Press candidate forum this month, flat-out ignored the opportunity to address it. Williams is part of a slate of candidates running on a platform of “respect,” but the misleading attack on his sympathetic opponent undermined that promise almost immediately. The dueling duo are not far apart on every issue. Siah says she is for legalizing recreational marijuana while Jimbo describes himself as "open" toward the proposal. ELECTION NIGHT 2020
That's just what we did and are pleased to welcome Marianna Anaya to the public radio broadcast next Tuesday. Not only is she deputy director of the liberal advocacy group ProgressNow NM but she is also president of Emerge NM which has a lengthy and enviable record of recruiting women candidates and getting them elected. Anaya, a NM native, is monitoring and strategizing over every key Senate and House race every day until the election. It keeps her up late and we think she'll do the same for you come Election Night. And if you happen to be one of the millions interested in perhaps the most fiery, impassioned congressional race in the USA playing out in southern NM between R Yvette Herrell and D Xochitl Torres Small, we've got you covered. No one knows that sprawling mainly rural district better than veteran GOP political consultant Bob Cornelius who grew up in metropolitan Tatum--you know, on some days a population of less than 50. He also has roots in Austin so who better to keep tabs on the "Little Texas" counties so critical to this contest. Bob says of this too-hot-to-handle battle: "When it comes to a race like this, I'm a long distance runner and an all-day hunter." And an all night hunter too--on Election Night 2020. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020 Tuesday, October 27, 2020Early Voting Surge Continues: We Break Down The Impact, Plus: More Senate Sparring, A Southwest Senate Showdown Heats Up And Legislative Debate Action In Las Cruces It's hard to see how this influx of voters--many of them first-timers--do not reshape New Mexican politics and send it further away from the center, the direction it has been going the last few cycles. This mammoth turnout means that there will be many more voters of color, apartment dwellers and lower income citizens casting ballots--and they invariably vote more Democratic. The turnout gap between the D's and R's is starting to close as GOP voters who have shunned absentee balloting take part in the early voting and prepare for election day voting. Still, statewide the Dem turnout stands at 50.6 of the early vote to the R's 34.6 percent. Independent turnout is at 13.5%. Registration in the state is 45.4 percent D, 30.2 percent R and 22.4% Independent. That's quite a performance gap for the GOP and the conservative leaning Indys to make up with the election now just a week away. The early polling--which probably does not account for the historic turnout--already had Biden trouncing Trump and Ben Ray Lujan handily beating Republican Mark Ronchetti in the Senate race. There's going to have to be some unexpected ticket splitting in order for the laggards to sprint from here. The open question of course is if a Dem turnout surge makes the difference in the toss-up southern congressional race. The most suspenseful aspect of Campaign 2020--the outcome of the state Senate and how much it could move away from center-right dominance--could deliver a surprise, if the R's fail to saddle up and respond to what is taking place in the early voting. It appears there will be very late polling with the ABQ Journal coming with its second and final poll of the election on Sunday. That could be dangerous. It's true that Republicans are the most reliable voters but could polling that shows key contests far out of reach make them less enthusiastic to vote on Election Day? ELECTION NIGHT 2020
By the way, the turnout numbers in big Bernalillo County have the early vote so far at about 200,000 with 55.3% of that coming from Dems; 29.6% from R's and 14.9% from Indys. BernCo registration is 46.6% Dem; 27.7% R and 23.7% Indy. Three of the most important Senate seats are at stake in the county and that turnout number is encouraging to a wide range of Democratic consultants and Alligators. We'll keep you posted. SENATE SPARRING  In the US Senate race Republican Ronchetti, facing a daunting task, is trying to grind out votes with anything he can. Campaign manager Jeff Glassburn comes with this: The Senate Majority PAC bought over $100,000 in airtime in the New Mexico Senate race in an attempt to save Ben Ray Lujan’s faltering campaign.
“It’s a strong statement that national Democrats feel the need to try to rescue Ben Ray Lujan in the final week of the election. It’s no surprise that the DC Super PAC is trying to bail out the DC-first candidate. Mark has run a campaign built on putting the people of New Mexico first, and that message has resonated. . . Unfortunately for the Lujan campaign, New Mexicans are smart enough to see through Lujan’s phony TV ads and know he’s a candidate who will always put DC politics first.” Said Glassburner. As usual the Lujan campaign was hot on Ronchetti's trail with manager Travis Brimm delivering this rejoinder: “While our campaign appreciates this show of support, it’s clear Ben Ray was already in a strong position to win on November 3rd. The Luján campaign has powerful momentum: Ben Ray is leading Mark Ronchetti by 10 points according to the latest polling, is running his own multi-million dollar ad campaign that will run through Election Day, is coming off dominant debate performances, and has outraised Ronchetti by nearly five million dollars during the course of the campaign. One week from Election Day, we're confident that New Mexicans across the state are showing up and already voting for Ben Ray and his positive vision for New Mexico." SOUTHWEST SHOWDOWN The race to replace outgoing state Senate Democratic conservative powerhouse John Arthur Smith of Deming is the most expensive legislative race of the campaign but Republican Crystal Diamond, the money leader, says in a fund-raising pitch things aren't what they seem: Although I top the legislative fundraising list, I am being outspent by out-of-district special interest groups who have flooded hundreds of thousands of dollars into attack ads in an effort to buy this seat.
Why are they investing so heavily into this seat? Because it is the most likely to flip Senate seat and I’ve put up a fight to remind them that our Senate vote is not for sale.
Our race is the #1 pick up opportunity for the State Senate this year and make no mistake, we are fully invested to win. I’ve been humbled by the outpouring of support we’ve received. Now we are down to the wire, and I need your help. Those special interest groups Diamond mentions are of the progressive variety who were instrumental in ousting John Arthur Smith in the Dem primary by supporting Neomi Martinez-Parra. What can we say about this one, expect that it is both a barn burner and a nail biter. We'll be on it like white on rice when the votes get counted. SOUTHERN ACTION
One of the lighter moments came in the Steinborn-Scroggs face-off when she was asked an obscure and complex question about water rights. She tilted her head back and said something on the order of: "Oh, boy. I'm going to defer to Jeff on that one." Steinborn responded to the effect of: "Well, I don't know what that question means either, but of course I will try to answer it anyway." Good Stuff. The debates each run about an hour. Thanks to Arturo for the send. VOTING INFO Today is the last day that election officials advise voters casting absentee ballots to mail them. After today the postal service is not guaranteeing ballots will arrive by 7 p.m. Election Night, Nov. 3. Ballots received after that time will not be counted. BernCo Clerk Linda Stover says voters can drop off their absentees at any of the 18 early vote centers that are now open and can do so through Oct. 31. Voters in other counties can do the same at their early sites. As for the best time to early vote in BernCo, Stover says: Early voting wait times have been highest between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. There has been little to no wait at most early voting convenience centers from 1 to 5 p.m. and from 6 to 7 p.m. The Clerk’s Office is tweeting wait time updates on Twitter (@BernCoClerk). It's an understatement to say that in this election voters can hardly wait to vote--and are willing to wait to do so. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com)Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020 Monday, October 26, 2020Monster Mailers Arrive, Biden's Gift To Herrell Goes Unopened, High Profile Senate Endorsements And Gaming State Senate Outcome The massive piece was perfectly folded and arrives appearing as a little book. Not cheap, but the National Association of Realtors PAC is sparing no expense in their effort to push Dem US Senate candidate Ben Ray Lujan over the top. But pity the poor trees that gave their lives for all that literature. . . As expected in the final days of a major election, the campaign trail is jammed. Off we go. . It took no time at all for President Trump to get a TV ad up in Pennsylvania excoriating Joe Biden for his anti-fracking views at Thursday's presidential debate. But where is southern GOP congressional contender Yvette Herrell? Herrell posted an ad on Facebook about Biden's oil blooper but did not jump all over it as Trump did with TV ads and conference calls. There are numerous PAC ads running excoriating Dem Rep. Xochitl Torres Small for supposedly having anti-energy positions but having Biden getting tripped up on a crucial southern NM issue was a gift left unopened on Herrell's doorstep. Meanwhile, Biden's reiteration of his pledge to ban oil fracking on federal lands--like those in the oil rich Permian basin in SE NM--forced Torres Small to part company with him, even saying his comments "demonize" the oil industry. Her supporters on the left, submissively quiet throughout the campaign as she increasingly veered to the right to woo Republicans, finally had had enough and retaliated on Twitter for the XTS abandonment of Biden. A nice opportunity you would think for Herrell to sow division on both the left and right, but the campaign did not act when the iron was hot--as Trump did. This one is still rated toss-up and should provide for some fun watching next Tuesday. Herrell has consistency going for her--she is what she says she is. Torres Small has dogged work in the rearview mirror that benefits her now. CASH WATCH Cash on hand for GOP US Senate hopeful Mark Ronchetti is down considerably from the $1.528 million on Sept. 30 to $686,000 on Oct. 14, according to the latest FEC reports. That number is being watched by R's to see if Ronchetti--the underdog in the Senate derby--stashes away some dough that could be used for a future run. Or maybe he goes all-in in the final days in hopes of exceeding expectations and trimming Lujan's winning margin. That would be a boost that could draw future cash. Lujan reported over $1 million in cash on hand. Both Lujan and Ronchetti are closing strong with their best TV ads. Ronchetti has Sam Vigil, widow of Jackie Vigil, the mother of two state police officers who was murdered in her ABQ driveway, endorsing him. Lujan has a retired police detective delivering the counterpunch. WEATHER GUY  They come out of the woodwork in the final days. And so it is with this eyebrow raiser from Republican and former KOAT-TV general manager Mary Lynn Roper who is endorsing Democrat Lujan over former TV meteorologist Ronchetti:I voted for Ben Ray Lujan. It was an easy choice. I hired Mark Ronchetti from Grand Junction in the late 90’s. He’s a fine weather guy. He, and what he stands for, is not what New Mexico needs. We deserve better. This seat was held by Senator Pete Domenici for 36 years. . . What Domenici did for NM is truly amazing and too numerous to list!. . . Ben Ray Lujan will have New Mexico’s best interest at heart. He always has! New Mexico has been good to Ronchetti, but what has Ronchetti ever done for New Mexico? As a weather guy, you can get the forecast wrong many, many times, and still get paid! We can’t afford to get this wrong with our precious US Senate seat! Hey, maybe Mark can get the general manager of KRQE-TV--where he had his last gig--to offset Mary Lynn and endorse his candidacy. SANTA FE STUNNER Off the campaign trail, we get this sad news about former Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales: The nagging throb — and the need for daytime naps — wouldn’t go away, so Gonzales took a trip to the doctor, which led to blood tests, which led to scans, which led to … The diagnosis. Stage 4 cancer — a tumor lurking near one of Gonzales’ kidneys; a mass that had metastasized to his pelvic area. “Unless a person has gone through it, and so many people have, it’s hard to understand. There’s really that moment, that state of shock and confusion. And then very quickly trying to assess what it means for you and certainly what it means for your family.” Gonzales said. Gonzales, 54, was hired last week as the the head of the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation. TAXING ATTACK The father of Dem state senate candidate Harold Pope, Jr. had tax problems that Pope says are now being unfairly used against him by a Republican PAC in his race against ABQ Westside GOP Sen. Sander Rue. That race has become hotter than a Tucumcari parking lot in mid-July. Pope, who would be the state's first Black state Senator, took to Facebook to tell the PAC to back off and stop using his dad as an issue because family should be off limits. Well, probably true, Harold. But in these anything goes days a candidate's dead cat could be an issue. WHERE IT STANDS  If there's a blue tsunami the Dems stand to pick up as many as five Senate seats. If the R's mix it up that gain could be zero or even a loss of a seat. It breaks this way: A huge D turnout could push Dem contenders Pope, Duhigg and Hickey to victory in their respective BernCo senate districts. A tsunami could also turn outgoing GOP Sen. White's east mountain seat Blue and Democrat Paul Baca could oust Valencia County GOP Sen. Greg Baca. That's your five seat gain for the Dems. A big R night would be keeping all of the above seats and putting the SW seat that Dem John Arthur Smith is leaving into the Red column. That would net them a net pick up of one seat. If you had a very unlikely Red tsunami the R's would also take the Dem senate seat being vacated by Clemente Sanchez as well as the Sandoval County seat being vacated by Dem John Sapien. That would be an R pick up of three. The Dem Senate majority is currently 26-16. All of that and more will be covered in-depth and all night long on Election Night on KANW 89.1 FM and kanw.com starting at 6:30 p.m. Our many, many guest experts will include ABQ Dem State Rep. Moe Maestas who, if pressed, might give you odds on that state Senate outcome. This is the home of New Mexico politics.
E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020 |
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