Democracy for New Mexico

AP Tally: Obama Has Clinched Nomination

And the Dem presidential primary ends and the general election begins.

2008 NM Primary: Sample Ballots, Polling Places for June 3rd Election, More

See our previous post for information and links for finding your polling place, sample ballot and more. Also check out the links under Voting Info on this blog's left-hand sidebar near the top for voting guides and more. I thought I'd repeat this because I've gotten almost 2000 more than 2100 2300 2985 3525 hits already by the time the counter shifted to another day at midnight GMT time, many of them looking for election info. Yesterday I got 1404 unique visitors and 3265 hits. People are definitely interested in this election.

More stuff:

**New Mexico FBIHOP is from New Mexico voters about their experiences at the polls today. Go share yours after you vote.

**NM-03 Dem candidate Ben Ray Lujan Jr.'s campaign will be live-blogging today about how the voting's going and more at their campaign blog.

**Check the Coming Events calendar on the right-hand sidebar on this page for various election night parties you're welcome to attend, including gatherings hosted by the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Don Wiviott, Ben Ray Lujan, Jr. and Tim Keller.

**Steve Olson and Bryan Barash of Tom Udall's campaign will be live-blogging and webcasting from tonight's Democratic Party of New Mexico election night celebration at the Convention Center in ABQ.

**New Mexico's U.S. Senate and House races are getting heavy attention from the national press and blogs. Take today's Real Clear Politics piece on "Battleground New Mexico," and yesterday's post by the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza reviewing and praising Martin Heinrich's ad, "George Bush Leaves NM Families in the Dust."

Clinton to Concede; Record Turnout for NM Primary? Tonight's the Night ...

... When the results of the last two Dem primaries in South Dakota and Montana come in and Hillary Clinton concedes to Barack Obama. It's now being reported that Clinton will acknowledge tonight that Obama has the delegates needed to secure the nomination, and effectively end her presidential bid. She'll be giving a speech in New York this evening, while Obama holds a huge victory rally in Minneapolis at the arena where the GOP will crown McCain at their convention this summer. His campaign will be revealing groups of endorsements throughout the day from superdelegates.

... When we finally learn whether Rep. Tom Udall will face Rep. Heather Wilson or Rep. Steve Pearce on the Repub ticket in the U.S. Senate race. A just-released SurveyUSA poll shows Pearce-Wilson in a dead heat on the eve of the election. We'll also see if a late endorsement from Sen. Pete Domenici will put Wilson over the top. Wilson would need a huge turnout in the Albuquerque area to win. SurveyUSA still has Udall trouncing Pearce 60% to 35% and Wilson 60% to 36% in November.

... When we see if a recent 11% edge in the polling numbers holds and Martin Heinrich beats out Rebecca Vigil-Giron, Michelle Lujan Grisham and Robert Pidcock to snag the Dem nomination for Congress in NM-01.

... When we discover if Bill McCamley's grassroots-fueled ground game beats Harry Teague's oil money run for the Dem nomination for Congress in NM-02. There's also a highly competitive race with gobs of money being spent on nonstop TV ads on the Repub side in this District. Will the winner be Ed Tinsley (the favorite), Aubrey Dunn, Earl Greer, Monty Newman or Greg Sowards? In a contest with this many candidates, anything can happen.

... When we learn who'll be the new U.S. Rep. in NM-03 in a fiercely fought, down-to-the-wire Dem primary contest between Don Wiviott and Ben Ray Lujan, Jr., with Benny Shendo, Jr. and Harry Montoya also expected to get some significant support. The winner of tonight's primary will undoubtedly win in November in the overwhelmingly Dem district.

... When we discover if clean government, reform-minded Dem challengers in Albuquerque area State Senate and House races can overcome the incumbent clout in races like those that pit Eric Griego vs. Sen. James C. Taylor, Tim Keller vs. Sen. Shannon Robinson and Eleanor Chavez vs. Rep. Dan Silva. And will John Blair snare the Dem nomination vs. Tim Eichenberg?

There are also many other legislative and county contests on the ballot, PRC primaries, and judicial races at the Metro, District and Supreme Court levels. A significant number of them are uncontested.

Where to Track Results
The polls in New Mexico close at 7:00 PM tonight. If the Secretary of State's website is, by chance, functioning correctly tonight, we should be able to track results there. Many county clerk websites will have county race results. Various New Mexico newspapers, radio stations and TV news outlets will also be providing comprehensive results on the air and on websites. I'll be linking to some of them later today when the results start coming in.

Record Turnout Expected in NM?
According to an article in today's Albuquerque Journal,

In the state's 2006 primary election, fewer than 181,000 Republicans and Democrats voted in the top-tier contests— a figure that represented less than 21 percent of eligible voters. Secretary of State Mary Herrera predicted Monday that the four open congressional seats this year will help drive a record turnout today.

"Voter turnout should be in the high 30s," Herrera said, referring to the percentage of registered voters expected to cast ballots today. "I'm expecting the highest turnout in history for a primary."

In Bernalillo County:

Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver said turnout is up significantly this year, based on early voting. Absentee balloting is about twice as heavy as usual, and the number of ballots cast at early-voting locations was up by about one-third, Toulouse Oliver said.

"Turnout is significantly higher for early and absentee (voters) compared to the 2004 and 2006 primary elections," she said.

Bernalillo County, the state's most populous, has mailed out roughly 22,000 absentee ballots— about 15,900 of which have been returned. About 7,500 are from Democrats, and about 8,400 from Republicans. About 17,200 people cast ballots at early-voting locations in Bernalillo County. Democrats totaled about 9,300 of the votes and Republicans about 7,900.

Update 3:00 PM: The reports coming in from precincts are mostly saying otherwise, describing light turnouts in many areas of the state. If true, it's a depressing development given what's at stake in this primary. Maybe we should start requiring people to pass a civics test before they can get a driver's license.

SD 17: Tim Keller Hosts Election Night Party

State Senate District 17 candidate Tim Keller is hosting an election night party tonight, Tuesday, June 3, at Tim’s House/Campaign Headquarters, 11023 Vistazo PL SE, in Albuquerque, from 7 to 8:30 PM. Click for FLYER (pdf). Let's hope it's a VICTORY party! Go Tim!

Join Lt. Gov. Diane Denish for Working America Health Care Rally

Join Working America's Health Care We Can Count on rally:

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Lt. Gov. Diane Denish
WHAT: Working America Rally
WHEN: Wednesday, June 4, 2:00 PM
WHERE: AFT Building, 8100 Mountain Road Place NE, ABQ
1 block north, 1 block east of Pennsylvania & Lomas
Click for FLYER

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NM-03: Wiviott Hosts Election Night Party

Democrat Don Wiviott, running for Congressin NM-03, is hosting an election night party that begins at 7 PM at his Campaign HQ, 1964 Cerrillos Road, in Santa Fe. All are welcome!

NM-03: Ben Ray Luján Election Night Celebration

Democratic Congressional candidate Ben Ray Luján will hold an election night celebration on Tuesday, June 3, at 7:00 PM at the Hotel Santa Fe, 1501 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM. All are welcome.

Back a Local Blogger for DFA Scholarship to Netroots Nation

Prez candidates at last year's blogger convention

Democracy for America is offering scholarships for folks to attend the Netroots Nation blogger convention to be held in Austin, TX on July 17-21, 2008. Netroots Nation is the new name of the event known as YearlyKos for its first two years. Mary Ellen and I attended YK last year in Chicago and it provided unparalled opportunities to meet bloggers from across the nation, participate in well-run, thought-provoking workshops, hear top-notch speakers and interact with politicos from all over who are supportive of the progressive netroots. It was also a gas.

We're going to this year's Netroots Nation too, and we want to urge you to support one of our favorite local bloggers for a scholarship so he can go too.

Click to support Matt of New Mexico FBIHOP

I'm sure most all of you are familiar with New Mexico FBIHOP , which is run by Matthew Reichbach of Rio Rancho. Matt is also now writing for the New Mexico Independent, a non-profit, online newspaper which recently launched and is already providing top-notch political reporting every single day.

Mingling at last year's blogger convention

Matt, only 23, started his blog a couple of years ago and -- in that short time -- has made it one of the best in New Mexico, a daily must-read for anyone interested in progressive politics in the "Red or Green" state. Matt represents the wave of the future in blogging here, given his youth and his already impressive skills. I strongly believe we should do what we can to help him afford a trip to Netroots Nation so he can network, soak it all in, have fun and get even better at what he does. Also check out Matt's post on New Mexico FBIHOP explaining why he wants your vote.

Matt's one of the candidates for a DFA scholarship to Netroots Nation, which would provide tuition and a shared hotel room for the conference. I've added my voice to those supporting Matt and I hope you will too. Click here to vote for Matt and give your reasons for supporting him for a scholarship. Pass it on.

DFA will be awarding at least nine Netroots Nation scholarships to selected candidates. If you'd like to help them offer even more scholarships to worthy but short on cash bloggers, consider donating a few bucks to their scholarship fund.

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2008 NM Primary: Find Your Polling Place Now for June 3rd Election

Don't wait until Tuesday, June 3rd, and then get into a panic when the voting info phone lines and websites are jammed. If you live in Bernalillo County, visit this page at the website of the Bernalillo County Clerk, enter your address, and you'll get info on your polling place and a sample ballot.

Click here to find contact information for County Clerks in other counties, or Google your County Clerk's office to get a direct link to your Clerk's page. You can also enter your address at the Secretary of State's Voter View page to find your polling place anywhere in the state.

You must be registered as a Democrat to be able to vote in tomorrow's Democratic primary. Polls will be open from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Early in-person voting is over, as is the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot. If you previously requested and received an absentee ballot, you must return it to the County Clerk's office OR at your normal polling place no later than 7:00pm on Election Day, June 3rd. Ballots may be returned by the voter, the voter's caregiver, or a member of the voter's immediate family. It's too late to mail it, so you'll need to hand-deliver it. Do not take a completed absentee ballot to your polling place on election day or you will be required to complete a provisional ballot.

There is a new provision for a voter who has received an absentee ballot, but not turned it in, to vote provisionally instead. They might have lost or destroyed it, or just changed their mind about who to vote for since they got it. The voter goes to their polling place and fills out a form and votes provisionally. If the absentee ballot doesn't turn up, the provisional ballot should be counted.

For more sources of information about the election, candidates and voting, check the left-hand sidebar on the DFNM blog  where I've included a number of links under the heading of Voting Info.

See more posters created by Obey here.

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NM-01: NM Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Endorse Heinrich

The last-minute endorsements are still trickling in. Just days before the June 3rd primary, the New Mexico Federation of Labor and the AFL-CIO have thrown their support behind Dem Martin Heinrich in New Mexico's First District Congressional race. The AFL-CIO represents over 13 million workers nationwide and the New Mexico Federation of Labor brings together scores of unions across New Mexico. That makes 20 union groups that have endorsed Heinrich in the primary, an impressive showing of support from organizations that represent the interests of ordinary working people.

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