Dow, of T or C, came with a fiery opinion piece that blasted MLG for getting away with a "double standard" in the case of former campaign aide James Hallinan who accused her of throwing water on his crotch, grabbing it and all the while laughing. The Guv's campaign recently paid Hallinan $62,500 to settle the sexual mistreatment case. That brought this Dow scorching:
The governor has continuously denied these accusations, yet she still felt compelled to pay off this former employee anyway in order to “avoid a costly court case.” This astonishing turn of events has received almost no critical comments from New Mexico’s political pundits. . .This deafening silence is a classic example of the double standard applied to some powerful people. . .The governor has been calling her accuser. . .a liar but what does that say about her own judgement and character if she hired “a liar” to help communicate her campaign message and win an election?. . .
Women in powerful positions should be held to the same standard as men when it comes to inappropriate behavior. . . This whole incident reeks of corruption and abuse of position.
Dow is going for the jugular, where she has to go to win the primary because according to the chair of the Dona Ana County GOP, Sanchez is nearly all in for the race:
John Sanchez was hosted at the Grapevine and we look forward to his formal declaration for the Governor’s race. It looks as if we had approximately 90 people attend and the event was a success.
John Sanchez came with this rejoinder in response to that statement from Chair Kim Skaggs who is also executive director of the NMGOP:
You should go to the source and not from a county chairs quote who by the way I just met today.
Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block is the sole GOP candidate officially in the contest, but he might want to enjoy the standing while it lasts.
DEBATING AND DANCING
Three of the four major candidates for the open ABQ congressional seat in the June 1 special election will have an hour long debate at 6 tonight on KOB-TV.
Missing from the event will be independent and former NM state land commissioner Aubrey Dunn, who KOB (as well as KRQE) do not consider a "qualified" candidate because he is not a member of a major political party.
But KOB did do a lengthy profile of Dunn, along with the other candidates, raising the question of why they would put Dunn on equal footing for the profiles but not the debate. Excluding him is an obviously poor journalistic decision and KOB's owners, Hubbard Broadcasting, have been around long enough to know better.
Nevertheless, Dem Melanie Stansbury, Republican Mark Moores and Libertarian Chris Manning will be there to field relevant questions. Meanwhile. . .
The Journal questionnaire for the ABQ congressional candidates had Republican Mark Moores and Dem Melanie Stansbury getting a bit evasive as they tried not to alienate voters.
For Stansbury the sticky issue was whether she supports President Biden's moratorium on oil and gas leases on federal lands in New Mexico. Royalties and taxes from the industry provide upwards of 40 percent of state revenue.
The Biden administration has issued a temporary moratorium on issuing new oil and gas leases on federal lands. Where do you stand on the issue?
We must diversify our economy, invest in new technologies and renewable energy and tackle climate change. I support a reevaluation of federal energy policies to examine how to best achieve our climate and energy goals. I’m running for Congress to work with the Administration to build a more resilient economy.
So does "reevaluating" federal polices mean she supports the moratorium? Stansbury left wiggle room.
For Moores, a sticky issue is how to appeal to supporters of Biden in the heavy Democratic district. His dance around a key question went like this:
What is your opinion of the coronavirus response packages, including the American Rescue Plan, which was signed by President Biden? Is there anything you would have done differently?
I was on the front lines battling COVID-19, having personally collected thousands of COVID tests during the pandemic. I supported the state coronavirus response bills, including payments for essential workers, loan programs for small businesses and waiver of fees for restaurants and bars that were shut down due to the pandemic.
Clearly, Moores is not fan of the Biden packages but didn't say that as he went for crossover support by backing MLG's response to Covid.
Independent Aubrey Dunn and Libertarian Chris Manning also answered the questionnaire.
Early in-person voting for the congressional contest begins today at the BernCo Clerk's Annex.
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 2021
(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2021