NM-01: Poll Shows Heinrich Up 3 Over White Before Alford Scandal Broke

Dem Martin Heinrich leads Darren White, his GOP rival in the NM-01 Congressional race, by a margin of 3 points in an internal poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. The survey of 518 likely voters in the district was conducted from June 29 to July 2, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4%.

Greenberg's polling memo, entitled "Heinrich Surging in NM-1," compares the new results favorable to Heinrich with those released nine months ago by White's camp that showed the Sheriff ahead 51% to 33% -- when a DC newspaper said said White was "untouchable." Obviously, things have changed, and ominously so for White, who's been perceived to have the edge due to his strong name recognition in Bernalillo County and beyond.

According to The Crypt on Politico, the poll "suggests the race will be one of the most competitive in the country" and the article characterizes the results this way:

White has been touted as one of the Republicans’ top recruits, and for Heinrich to be holding a lead at this point against the better-known White shows his campaign is in solid shape. Heinrich handily won his party’s nomination in June against three under-funded opponents.

White and Coach Alford
This poll was conducted before the scandal began to unfold related to White's inviting UNM Lobos basketball coach Steve Alford to a gathering, only to reportedly blindside him by billing the event as "An Evening With Coach Steve Alford" and offering photos with the Coach to elite donors for $1000 each.

UNM VP for Athletics Paul Krebs, who was also set to attend, claimed on KKOB-AM that he and Alford had no idea they were being invited to the event to support White and help raise campaign funds. The July 16th event is being hosted by UNM lobbyist and former State Rep. Joe Thompson.

Many callers into KKOB-AM are reportedly expressing disgust with the situation, although it's not entirely clear who's to blame. Were Alford and Krebs really unaware of the nature of the event and how it was being publicized? If so, who in the White campaign designed a sneaky ploy to use the popularity of the Lobos to garner political support for the Sheriff? It's a bad situation any way you look at it. Can you say SNAFU?

Sheriff Darren White has also been on the receiving end of criticism from other law enforcement officers about using his pursuit of a misdemeanor cockfighting bust in Albuquerque last month instead of focusing on DWI and other more serious crimes. He's definitely not on a roll of late. Why am I not surprised?

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