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Wednesday, January 16, 2008
NM-01: Heinrich Pulling Away in Money Race
Wow. I heard from someone close to Martin Heinrich's campaign for Congress in NM-01 that his end-of-year fundraising total will come close to $500,000. That's almost half a million dollars, folks. The Heinrich campaign ended the third quarter last year having raised more than $318,000 since he entered the race in April. To date, he's raised more than $112,000 of his campaign funding online via ActBlue from 664 supporters -- always a good sign.
The others contending for the NM-01 Dem nomination are Michelle Lujan Grisham, who's a former Secretary of the New Mexico Public Health Department, and Albuquerque attorney Robert L. Pidcock, who entered the race this week as a long shot. I don't know how much Grisham has raised to date overall, but she's received a total of $17,850 online at ActBlue from 58 contributors -- well below Heinrich's totals there.
Two other Dems who were in the running in NM-01 have left the field. Attorney Jon Adams withdrew to run instead in NM-03, while teacher and activist Jason Call withdrew when AFSCME unanimously endorsed Heinrich's candidacy.
Despite Heinrich's prodigious fundraising and widespread support in the first district, former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil Giron is reportedly now testing the waters and pondering entering the race. According to an item in today's Santa Fe New Mexican:
Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron said Tuesday that she is considering running for Congress in Albuquerque's 1st Congressional District. Vigil-Giron, a Democrat who left office last year after serving two terms as secretary of state, said, "It's not official. I'm feeling the waters."
... Vigil-Giron applied last year for the job of executive director of the state Democratic Party. She previously said she'll run for lieutenant governor in 2010.
There was an uproar last year when Gov. Bill Richardson said he would appoint her as director of the state Film Museum. Critics said she had no background in film. Richardson put the nomination on hold, and Vigil-Giron later said she was no longer interested.
Given Heinrich's successes and momentum to date, it seems unlikely that Vigil-Giron could raise adequate support or funding for a serious bid this late in the game, with the Dem pre-primary convention set for March 1st. Unless the current law is changed this Legislative Session, candidates will need to garner the votes of at least 20% of delegates to get on the primary ballot. The deadline for filing as a candidate in the race is February 8th, only weeks away.
To read our previous coverage on the 2008 NM-01 Congressional race, visit our archive.
January 16, 2008 at 11:08 AM in NM-01 Congressional Seat 2008 | Permalink
Comments
She won't pull the trigger, she has no support.
Heinrich will receive all the progressive Heights delegates and Lujan Grisham will get all the Valley and Westside delegates.
She needs to stop fishing for government handouts and look towards getting a real job.
Posted by: She Won't | Jan 16, 2008 2:06:38 PM
Why is it that so many Hispanics will only vote for candidates with a Spanish last name? Just asking. Heinrich is by far the best and strongest candidate yet you predict Lujan Grisham will get "all the Valley and Westside delegates." Why?
Posted by: Just Asking | Jan 16, 2008 2:25:33 PM
Oooh. I'd forgotten about the film museum thing. That was so crazy! Was she the one who said that the fact that she'd watched movies made her qualified for the job? Ouch.
Posted by: kitson | Jan 16, 2008 3:32:16 PM
What are thoughts on who stands a better chance of defeating Darren White, the probable GOP nominee? White's numbers in early polling were pretty big going up against Heinrich. Don't know of any White/Lujan Grisham numbers. Also, has the White/Heinrich polling changed at all? Anyone know?
Posted by: Jim Scarantino | Jan 16, 2008 10:02:12 PM
I think Heinrich stands a better chance because he has earned so much respect on the city council. Of course, I think any decent candidate will beat White in a year like this, when the Bush administration has soured so many to Republicans. White ran the Bush campaign here and even accompanied Bush to the podium at the last national Republican convention in recognition of how loyal he is to the Bush cause. White is tainted and has never had to run a competitive race.
Posted by: politico | Jan 17, 2008 11:05:54 AM
That poll only showed name recognition for both candidates. Many people know Darren because he is a former reporter and has been a sheriff, which is a non-partisan position. Once a candidate enters a partisan race it is a whole other story. For example, Patricia Madrid took Torrance County as AG with a higher margin than Bill Richardson. When Madrid ran for Congress, a very partisan race, she was trampled in Torrance County. Once the general public finds out that Darren was Chair of the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign, poll numbers will change dramatically. At this early stage, name recognition counts for a lot because voters don't associate either candidate with this very partisan race. Because of Martin's impeccable background without the baggage that other candidates in this race have, he will be the best and will defeat White.
Posted by: Northwest Voter | Jan 17, 2008 11:26:06 AM
Actually, Northwest Voter, I think Sheriff of Bernalillo County is a partisan position, and Darren White ran as a Republican. (There are Primaries to whittle the number of candidates down to one for each party.) His Democratic opponent last time hardly ran a campaign. Albuquerque City Council, on the other hand, is non-partisan. Martin Heinrich ran against several other Progressive candidates and a conservative one, and got over 40% of the vote, so no run-off was needed.
Posted by: Michelle Meaders | Jan 20, 2008 10:01:30 PM
Jim Scarantino,
I believe that you should reassess your view of Darren White as the
"probable GOP nominee" in the First District congressional race. Though White got an early jump on State Senator Joe Carraro, due to inside information from Domenici's chief of staff, Steve Bell, that Pete would retire, White hasn't been raising much money lately. His quick initial funds raised ($75,000), from state Republican kingmaker -- Mickey Barnett -- who has recently signed the socialist George Soros as a client, are not an indicator of strength.
White has several serious weaknesses that Joe Carraro will be able to exploit, such as 1) management problems in most of White's professional positions, eg, he lost a vote of no confidence from the state police while overseeing that group in former Gov. Gary Johnson's cabinet; 2) the fact that he is a Giuliani Republican, and was in fact his state chairman prior to his congressional announcement; 3) his severe personality/insecurity disorder, a temperament not atypical with law-enforcement types, that causes him to resent being challenged; 4) that he is completely devoid of knowledge about any public policy issue, other than law enforcement; and 5) that crime has increased during his tenure as sheriff.
Politico, you are right that White is tainted in that he lost Bernalillo County for President Bush in 2004, which smart Republicans will consider, and that he has never had to run a competitive race.
Both Northwest Voter and Ms. Meaders are right with regard to the partisan nature of the sheriff position. Ms. Meaders is technically right in that the post is a partisan one with regard to party affiliation being noted on the ballot. But NV is right that most voters do not think of the sheriff post as partisan -- it is a law enforcement office, not a policy office.
Where NV gets tripped up is that, as most smart Dems know, Joe Carraro is the man to beat, and the one feared by Dems. Carraro has represented an overwhelmingly Democrat Senate district for 20 years. He appeals to pro-life Democrats and others because he puts the people first -- not Party or business interests. The GOP primary is Carraro's hurdle -- taking on a corrupt Republican Cabal that has tens of millions of dollars of contracts at stake. This is why the Republican establishment supports White -- and fears Carraro -- because it knows that Carraro will not be their puppet. But White will be.
Posted by: | Feb 4, 2008 12:18:55 PM
