Thursday, July 27, 2023Third Congressional District Profiled In Our Final Installment of Exclusive Previews From Almanac of American Politics; District A Bit Less Dem But Still Heart Of El Norte three congressional districts from the forthcoming 2024 edition which details all 435 districts, their members, all governors, campaign finance and much more. Our partnership with the Almanac to present the exclusive previews comes with an added benefit for our readers--15 percent off the latest edition. Just use the code NMPOLITICS15 at checkout to take advantage of this special offer for your copy of the 'bible" of American politics. Our final installment today has all you need to know about the newly redrawn New Mexico Third congressional District. Teresa Leger Fernandez was elected in 2020 to an open seat in northern New Mexico, running on a long record of service on local and national levels, with a well-organized campaign and support from key interest groups. Her victory created what was the largest state all-women delegation in the House. She replaced Democrat Ben Ray Lujan, who won the Senate seat of retiring Sen. Tom Udall.
Born and raised in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Leger Fernandez got her bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a law degree from Stanford. She returned to her home state to work on affordable housing and community development, as well as advocacy for local tribes. With her “social impact” law firm in Santa Fe, she also represented minority businesses, including with litigation. She was a White House fellow for President Bill Clinton and vice chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation during the Obama administration. In her first political campaign, she invoked the theme “Protect What You Love.” Contending that families, communities, democracy and the planet were under attack, she added, “when you care deeply about something, you need to act on it.” She supported the Green New Deal, including the phase-out of coal-fired power plants in part of her district.
The other leading Democratic contenders were first-term state Rep. Joseph Sanchez and Valerie Plame, a former CIA operations officer and book author. Plame, who cited her familiarity with the Los Alamos National Laboratory when she moved to the district after leaving the CIA, had been well-known in Washington. Amid extensive controversy, her covert status was revealed after she and her husband, a U.S. diplomat, publicly criticized the George W. Bush administration for its handling of the war in Iraq. “I want to take that searing life experience and put it to good use for my community,” Plame told the Huffington Post. With her national fundraising base, Plame’s $2.2 million made her the biggest spender in the primary. Leger Fernandez spent $1.4 million in the primary. She was endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and EMILY’s List, which supports Democratic women who support abortion rights. The political action committees of those two groups spent another $800,000 on her behalf. Rep. Tony Cardenas of California said the Hispanic Caucus backed Leger Fernandez because minority candidates from low-income areas often struggle financially against candidates with national support whom he called “opportunists.” Leger Fernandez won the primary with 43 percent of the vote to 25 percent for Plame and 12 percent for Sanchez. She took 13 of the 16 counties in the sprawling district, including each of the eight largest except for rural Rio Arriba County, which was the base for Sanchez. In November, she had no problem with her 59%-41% victory over Republican Alexis Johnson,
an environmental engineer for oil companies. In the House, Leger Fernandez got seats on the Natural Resources and Education and Labor committees, plus the leadership-centered House Administration Committee. In December 2022, Congress completed action on her bill to make it illegal to export Native American cultural items and other artifacts that were illegally obtained. Leger Fernandez took an interest in home-state energy issues, while filing a proposal to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells. With California Rep. Ted Lieu, she filed a bill to create a Federal Writers Project, modeled on a Depression-era program, to assist writers who suffered financially from the pandemic. In her reelection bid, Leger Fernandez had a rematch in the redrawn district that had become less Democratic. She won, 58%-42%. Her 40,000-vote lead in Santa Fe County, which cast one-fourth of the total vote, exceeded her nearly 38,000 vote lead districtwide. In its endorsement of her reelection, the Santa Fe New Mexican described Leger Fernandez as “a
problem solver [who] loves getting down in the weeds” of policy. 3rd District
Santa Fe:  Along the back roads in Rio Arriba and Taos counties, one can find a religion that mixes Catholicism with adaptations of Indian festivals, buildings not that much different from the old pueblos, and a standard of living reminiscent of the Indian past. Concentrated in and around the Navajo reservation in the west (and outside of Santa Fe), many of the district’s Indians live in abject poverty. It’s quite a contrast with the ski lodges in the Taos Valley, the high-security research facilities of Los Alamos, which has the second-highest median income of any city in the nation (behind Washington D.C.) and has among the most Ph.D.s per capita, thanks to the National Laboratory, and the affluent lifestyles of modern-day Santa Fe. The 3rd District of New Mexico contains most of the state’s historic Spanish-speaking and Indian regions. This district runs from the High Plains along the Texas border, past the haunting Sangre de Cristo Mountains, through the vast ridges and isolated buttes in the center, to the windy and dusty desert-like plateau in the west. Santa Fe, which has the most museums of any city in the nation except New York, remains the lively and dominant center. The local economy has remained strong, with a “gray” growth as the number of residents 65 and older has come close to surpassing those 18 and younger. Continuing wildfires in the mountains led the Federal Emergency Management to pay $2.5 billion to compensate the victims of botched prescribed burns extending back to 2000. In the 2022 redistricting, the 3rd lost to the 1st District Rio Rancho, which had been the most populous city in the 3rd. Its rural southeast corner scooped up the area from Clovis to Hobbs; which had been part of the 2nd District. The changes decreased Joe Biden’s win from 58%-40% to 54%-44%. We hoped you enjoyed the series as we prep for the first defense of the new congressional districts in 2024. Again, for your 15 percent discount to the Almanac just enter the code NMPOLITICS15 at checkout. 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 2023 Wednesday, July 26, 2023The New Southern NM District Under The Scope As State Awaits Vasquez And Herrell Rematch; Exclusive 2024 Almanac Of American Politics Preview Of Redistricting Impact So without further ado let's check in with the "bible" of American politics for an exclusive and detailed look at our state's new southern congressional district. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, who defeated first-term Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell, had experience in Democratic politics and with liberal interest groups. He and Greg Landsman of Ohio were the only two successful House Democratic challengers in 2022. In his slender victory, Vasquez got a big boost from redistricting, which added a Democratic portion of Albuquerque to what had been a Republican-leaning district. The outcome was the third
consecutive election in which the district switched partisan control. Born in El Paso Texas and raised across the Rio Grande in Ciudad Juarez Mexico, he saw the cross-border connections of families and businesses. Vasquez got a bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University and after graduation, he joined the Las Cruces Bulletin, where he became business editor. He served as executive director of the Las Cruces Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce. For two years, he was a field representative for Sen. Martin Heinrich. In 2015, Vasquez became vice president of communications for First Focus, a Washington based advocacy group for children. He then had stints in New Mexico with three environmental groups: the Wildlife Federation, the Wilderness Society and the Western Conservation Foundation. He focused on the threats that climate change posed to New Mexico, including catastrophic floods.  Herrell, who tied herself closely to President Donald Trump, in 2020 defeated Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in a rematch, 54%-46%; in an open-seat contest two years earlier, Herrell lost, 51%-49%. She was the first Native American woman elected to Congress as a Republican. But redistricting jeopardized Herrell’s reelection prospects by reversing Trump’s 2020 win in the district. In their October debate, Vasquez spoke in Spanish several times and noted his family’s history as immigrants. He cited “the American dream” in pressing the need for affordable healthcare, fair wages and abortion rights. Herrell said that illegal immigration remained a problem that needed to be solved. “We can’t afford more of the same,” she said. Herrell cited criticisms that Vasquez had made about the oil and gas industry and said that she sought to “unleash American energy.” Vasquez responded that he “favors unlocking the renewable energy potential” and that oil and gas companies need to be held “accountable.” Each candidate spent more than $3 million on the contest. National Republicans spent $2 million on behalf of Herrell, more than twice the amount Democrats spent for Vasquez. In his narrow victory, Vasquez led Herrell by nearly 10,000 votes in each of the two population centers: Las Cruces-based Dona Ana County and Albuquerque-based Bernalillo. He took 4 of the other 13 counties. 2nd District Las Cruces:
The eastern part of this region—places like Lovington and Hobbs—speaks with a Texas twang rather than a northern New Mexico lilt. Surrounding Lea County, where the population grew 20 percent from 2010 to 2020, accounts for more than half of the oil production of New Mexico, which in 2021 passed North Dakota to become the second-largest state producer in the nation. Farther west is White Sands National Park, with its immaculate gypsum dunes and specially evolved animals with white coloration that allows them to elude predators in the harsh environment. Virgin Galactic, a company started by billionaire Richard Branson, leased land near White Sands to build the nation’s first commercial spaceport (called Spaceport America). Despite initial setbacks, the $218 million facility has grown more active, with several dozen rocket launches. NASA has tested several new technologies, as have the Italian Space Agency and several American aerospace companies. . . Las Cruces, New Mexico’s second-largest city, has grown at rates well above the statewide average, thanks to migrants from Mexico coming up the Rio Grande. For decades, Anglo and Mexican ranchers across the border spoke “the common language of cattle,” and communities frequently shared public services with their cross-border neighbors, not hindered by a wall or other major barrier. This largely empty 150-mile section of the U.S.-Mexico border remains sleepier than elsewhere. A long-term concern is that reduced water levels in the Upper Basin of the Rio Grande jeopardize farming and nearby communities, according to a report card by the World Wildlife Fund in 2022. The contrast is stark in Albuquerque, where growth is moving west of the city. In 2018, Bernalillo County approved the first phase of Santolina, a planned 22-square-mile development that within a few decades might house 90,000 residents and create 75,000 jobs, its promoters project. Critics continued to voice multiple concerns, including scant water resources and conflicts of interest by county officials. In March 2022, the developers suffered a setback when the county planning commission rejected their plan to speed up their timetable. The 2nd District of New Mexico has typically covered the southern part of the state, reaching to Albuquerque’s southern suburbs. In 2020, the district voted for President Donald Trump, 55%-43%, a wider margin than the GOP wins in the two previous presidential elections. Democratic-controlled redistricting in 2022 changed those dynamics in a swap with the 1st District that added the western portion of Albuquerque and removed much of the southeastern quadrant of the state. Under the new map, Joe Biden won, 52%-46%. In the portion of Bernalillo that is new and takes in 27 percent of the district, Biden led, 62%-36%. He took Las Cruces-based Dona Ana County, which is 31 percent of the district, 58%-40%. The district grew to 60 percent Hispanic. Next up: New Mexico's Third Congressional District. 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 2023 Tuesday, July 25, 2023Becoming Blue: New Mexico's Switch From Moderate Swing State To Reliably Democratic Examined; Series Of Articles Also Notes Other Western States Where GOP Once Reigned But Now Lags, Plus: MLG Honors Apodaca Now veteran political reporter and columnist Mark Z. Barabak of the Los Angeles Times, who has specialized for years in Western politics and has visited and reported often on New Mexico, comes with a detailed summation of key reasons for the switch. His take on New Mexico is one of a series focusing on how the West, formerly solid or lean Republican, has shifted to the Dems. The entire series is here. The New Mexico report is here and what follows are extensive excerpts from the New Mexico report: For five long weeks, the White House hung in the balance as one of the closest, most wrenching presidential campaigns in history went deep into overtime. It all came down to Florida, where Republican George W. Bush was finally declared the winner, by Supreme Court decree. The official margin was 537 votes. But in 2000, one state was even closer. Lost amid Florida’s tumult and all the legal gladiating was Al Gore’s victory here in New Mexico, where the Democrat prevailed by a mere 366 votes. The outcome may have lacked urgency; Florida’s 25 electoral votes decided the contest. But the result established New Mexico as one of the country’s foremost presidential battlegrounds, a status reaffirmed in Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign when he won the state by less than a percentage point. Since then, it’s been one Democratic victory after another — none of them close. “We’re not purple,” said Joe Monahan, a blogger who has chronicled New Mexico politics for decades. “We’re blue. Very blue.” REMAKING THE WEST The change is part of a pattern that has remade the West. . . To a large extent, it’s a story of movement. People relocating from more liberal climes, like California.
Newcomers filling up cities and suburbs, as rural areas recede.
Latino influence expanding.
And, not least, Republicans shifting dramatically rightward — especially on issues such as immigration and abortion — antagonizing that burgeoning Latino population and butting up against wary Westerners bridling at those telling them how they should live their lives. "They don’t like government interference,” said New Mexico’s Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham. “What I mean by that is: Don’t make healthcare decisions for me. Don’t talk to me about what you deem to be equality. Don’t tell me what books I can or cannot read. Don’t tell me who I can marry.” In sum, she said, “Don’t tell me what to do.” After more than a decade in Los Angeles, Tarra Day was ready for a change. The Hollywood makeup artist decided to return home to New Mexico, where she grew up and her father still lived. It was, she said, “a leap of faith.”. . . It was 2005 and Gov. Bill Richardson was working to diversify New Mexico’s tepid economy through tax rebates and other incentives aimed at making the state a hub of movie and TV production. The industry boomed. Day found plenty of work and bought a ranch-style home amid the cottonwoods and adobes of Santa Fe. . . A Republican who became a Democrat when Bill Clinton was president, Day, 61, is part of New Mexico’s two-decade political transformation. (“I wanted a party that would be open to gay rights, women’s rights,” she said of her switch from the GOP.) . . .New Mexico’s population, about 2.1 million residents, is not a whole lot more than it was in 2000. With the exception of the thriving southeast oil patch called “Little Texas,” most of the meager growth has been in and around its largest cities.
That’s boosted the strength and influence of Democratic-leaning Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe at the expense of New Mexico’s rural areas, which tend to vote Republican. New Mexico has become a hub of TV and film production, drawing an influx of newcomers, including many who relocated from California. WESTERN MYTHOLOGY The same political and demographic shift has happened throughout the region.
There is a mythology of the West, a romantic notion of wide-open spaces and rugged individuals spread far beneath the big, open sky.
Although those people and places certainly exist, as anyone who’s driven the empty high-desert expanse between Albuquerque and Santa Fe can attest, most Westerners live in cities. In fact, a greater percentage of residents are urban dwellers — 90%— than anywhere in the country.
Most of them favor Democrats, like Stacy Skinner, 58, another Hollywood migrant, who does hairstyling as well as celebrity makeup. . . “Republicans,” Skinner said, “have become the party of crazy.”. . . David Damore, a political scientist at the University of Nevada suggested Republicans haven’t done themselves much good attacking cities, opposing diversity and adopting “a very old-timey message” intimating things were better when the West had fewer people, most of them were white and the economy was ruled by ranching and industries such as mining and logging.
Essentially the GOP “has become a party that’s anti-urban,” said Damore. . . HISPANIC FACTOR
As a result, there isn’t nearly the same degree of animosity toward Mexico and immigrants that fires much of the Republican Party. . . “There is just a natural inclination in the state, first and foremost, to view things through a multicultural lens,” said Dan Sena, a Democratic strategist. . .But it’s not just the bellicosity of build-a-wall Republicans that puts off many New Mexico voters. It’s also the GOP’s messengers. . . As the Hispanic population expands — the proportion increases about 2% every five years, according to the state’s leading pollster and demographer, Brian Sanderoff — Hispanic clout has grown along with it. Today, New Mexico has more elected Hispanic officials than any state, most of them Democrats.
That’s made the party’s candidates more relatable and appealing to voters. . . THE BOTTOM LINE Today, the five-member congressional delegation is entirely Democratic. The party holds all seven statewide offices and controls the Supreme Court and both houses of the Legislature by significant margins. Biden is a strong favorite to carry New Mexico in 2024 after beating President Trump by 10 percentage points in 2020.
Once a bellwether, the state no longer swings with the national mood. It’s become Democratic bedrock, part of a politically crucial base in the reconstituted West. Good stuff as the impact of the big switch continues to play out in the policies and laws New Mexicans live under. HONORING APODACA  Said Jeff Apodaca:  It was a Rose of Sharon planted in honor of Apodaca, who died in April at the age of 88 and served as Governor from 1975 to 1979. Apodaca's grandchildren took part in the planting of the rose, crating a lasting memory for them and a warm moment of unity in a sometimes fractious Democratic Party. 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 2023 Monday, July 24, 2023Dateline New Mexico: Your Blog Partners With The "Bible" of American Politics To Bring You New In-Depth Reviews Of State Politics; ABQ Area District Is First On Tap, Plus: Political Consultant James Hallinan Is Dead At 40; Conspiracy Theories Follow His Passing It is must reading for those seeking a complete understanding of politics here and as a special bonus readers of NM Politics with Joe Monahan (joemonahan.com) will get 15 percent off the cover price when ordering the Almanac here and entering the code "NMPolitics15". This 51st edition of the Almanac covers it all with the nation's top political reporters leading the way. Topics include narrative descriptions of all 50 states and 435 House districts and how they have been changed by redistricting; brand new profiles of every Member of Congress and every governor; analysis of the 2022 national elections; campaign finance data and much more featuring the expert analysis the Almanac is prized for. So without further ado let's start our exclusive coverage with this excellent Almanac review of New Mexico's 1st Congressional district: 1st District
Democrat Melanie Stansbury won a special election in June 2021, to fill the vacancy left when Rep. Deb Haaland resigned after being confirmed as secretary of Interior. Stansbury defeated Republican Mark Moores, 60%-36%, in a metro-Albuquerque district that elected Republican Heather Wilson as recently as 2006. Stansbury had a big advantage in campaign spending, and the two national parties largely stayed out of the contest. Both candidates had experience as state legislators. Haaland is the first Native American to run the Interior Department, whose Bureau of Indian Affairs has wide influence over tribal lives. That gave her nomination by President Joe Biden added significance among Native Americans and others
in the civil rights community. Stansbury, a native of Albuquerque, earned her bachelor’s degree in human ecology and natural science from Saint Mary’s College of California and a Master of Science in sociology from Cornell University, where she focused on water rights for Native American tribes. She taught science classes in New Mexico schools and later settled in Washington. As an aide at the Office of Management and Budget in the Obama White House, she worked on water rights and settlements for Native Americans. Later, as an aide to Sen. Maria Cantwell at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, she helped to craft water legislation for the Pacific Northwest. Stansbury was elected to the state House in 2018 in an east Albuquerque district by
defeating a seven-term Republican incumbent. She was vice chair of the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
In the general-election campaign, Moores focused heavily on increased crime, which had been an effective issue for Republicans among Latino voters in the 2020 election. He cited Stansbury’s endorsement of the Breathe Act, a proposal from the Movement for Black Lives that would redirect federal law enforcement grants to social services, the Washington
Post reported. A Moores campaign ad called the proposal “the most dangerous legislation in America.” In response, Stansbury ran ads in which police officers and prosecutors vouched for her support for law enforcement. Although Democrats did not spend money on her behalf, White House spouses—Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris—made campaign appearances with Stansbury. In this district, that was enough for Stansbury’s 60%-36% victory. The outcome encouraged Democrats in New Mexico to use redistricting to switch Democratic voters to the neighboring 2nd District, which they captured in November 2022. In an interview with Roll Call a month after taking office, Stansbury recounted her experience as a Senate aide, where Energy Committee aides were told that Republicans barred them from referring to “climate change” in legislation. As one of her first legislative actions in the House, Stansbury—the self-described “water nerd”—secured in the House-passed budget reconciliation bill $200 million in climate resilience funding for New Mexico Pueblos, whose water infrastructure required significant upgrades, E&E News reported. But the provision was dropped from the final version of the legislation.
In Stansbury’s 2022 campaign for a full term, Republican challenger Michelle Garcia Holmes, a former Albuquerque police officer and the unsuccessful GOP nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018, was not initially viewed as a credible threat. But, the Albuquerque Journal
reported that Stansbury warned supporters in the closing days of the campaign, “Our down-ballot races are tightening all across the state.” During the final two weeks, Reps. Katherine Clark and Jamie Raskin made separate campaign appearances with Stansbury in her district. Stansbury won 56%-44%. She took 60 percent of the vote in Albuquerque-based Bernalillo County, which cast two-thirds of the vote, and a bare 50 percent in suburban Sandoval County, with one-fifth of the vote. Garcia Holmes took six of the eight remaining counties. 1st District
Albuquerque Area:  The University of New Mexico has become a magnet for biotechnology, with more than a dozen local startups working to commercialize UNM’s biomedical discoveries. At Sandia Labs, which had 13,000 employees in Albuquerque in 2021, leaders say that they are “pushing the envelope for global scientific discovery and innovation.” The city’s prosperous neighborhoods have climbed the gently rising heights to the east; poorer residents have spread north and south along the Rio Grande. In the Old Town centered on the plaza, some of the adobe buildings date to the 18th century. Every October, Albuquerque hosts the International Balloon Fiesta, which features more than 500 hot-air balloons and many resident balloonists. The annual Gathering of Nations typically attracts more than 700 tribes, along with 100,000 participants and spectators. The 1st District of New Mexico for decades included almost all of Albuquerque and some of its suburbs. That changed with the Democratic-controlled redistricting in 2022, when the western side of Albuquerque—from Paradise Hills to South Valley, nearly adjacent to the airport—shifted to the 2nd to make that Republican-held district more competitive. To compensate for that loss of population, the 1st gained a large chunk of rural southeast New Mexico—from Santa Rose and Fort Sumner south nearly to Roswell, the site of a supposed flying saucer landing in 1947 and now home of the International UFO Museum and Research Center. In Little Texas, as much as this expansive area is known, oil has been the economic mainstay. Cattle ranching is common, and cotton is grown on irrigated land. Also new to the 1st is fast-growing Rio Rancho, which began as a suburban retirement community in the 1960s and has become the home of a large Intel plant plus large broadband providers; the city is the center of Sandoval County, which is 18 percent of the district. After Hillary Clinton took Bernalillo County by 17 percentage points, Joe Biden increased the Democratic margin to 24 points. The redistricting changes reduced his win in the 1st from 60%-37% to 56%-42%. Wowza. That's some coverage and you can get much more in the 2024 edition of the Almanac of American Politics available here and with a 15 percent discount for our blog readers. Just enter the code "NMPOLITICS15 when ordering. Tomorrow an in-depth look at the 2nd Congressional District. JAMES HALLINAN  Hallinan's sex harassment lawsuit against Governor Lujan Grisham in 2019 led her to eventually settle the case, with her campaign making payments of $150,000 to Hallinan. The sensational charges (aka Crotchgate) were made a central issue by the GOP in her 2022 re-election effort. She won but the charges may have derailed any national political ambitions she harbored. Hallinan, an openly gay man, was serving as MLG's campaign communications director in 2018 when he charged that the then gubernatorial candidate had thrown a bottle of water on his crotch and grabbed him there, all the while laughing. Hallinan, a conservative Democrat, was deeply entrenched in state politics having worked for then Attorney General Hector Balderas, politico and former State Auditor Brian Colon and conservative Dem ABQ City Councilor Louie Sanchez. He also counted among his clients Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy and Connecticut Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman. When he died he he was running his own PR business. The consultant was known for his volatile temperament which he frequently displayed on social media where he went after the progressives who have come to dominate politics here. In one of his final tweets days before his passing, he said: The level of corruption and abuse is at an all-time high in New Mexico. I'm still shocked, but I guess I shouldn't be at this point. In the aftermath of his death conspiracy theories were spread on social media about how Hallinan may have died. Prominent Republican Brett Kokinadis summed up the theories with this tweet: Waiting for confirmation, but James Hallinan is rumored to be deceased. Did you have anything to do with it Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham? I sure hope not! Last October Hallinan phoned the State Police saying he had received death threats on social media from a woman named Angel but an officer said he was “agitated and speaking in a manner which made it difficult to decipher exactly what he was trying to get across." Hallinan's sister, in posting about his death, did not mention a cause. Marisa Hallinan: With much sadness we share that our beloved and brilliant brother and son James Hallinan died on Thursday, July 20, 2023. At this time of deep sadness and mourning we thank you for your conveyed sentiments and support. In lieu of a formal ceremony, we ask that those who knew him spend time celebrating his life in a way that honors the joyous times you spent with him. Hallinan was a founding member of the conservative nonprofit Southwest Public Policy Institute. The group mourned his passing: Hallinan played an instrumental role in shaping the organization’s mission to promote public policy research, development, and advocacy. His insight, passion, and commitment to creating positive change have been pivotal in the Institute’s endeavors to address critical issues facing our society. THE BOTTOM LINES He's a Swonger not a Swinger. One of those typos that tickles the funny bone occurred on the Thursday blog when we reported on Democrat Matthias Swonger and his run next year for BernCo District Attorney. In one reference we dubbed him Matthias Swinger. We apologize Mr. Swonger--and also to the real Swingers out there. 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 2023 |
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