Democracy for New Mexico

10/22: LWV Judicial Forum Set for UNM Law School

Bring your friends, neighbors, relatives to learn about:
Safeguarding U.S. Democracy
by Promoting An Independent Judiciary
A Judicial Forum Sponsored by the
League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico
Wednesday, October 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM
Light Refreshments: 5:30-6:00 PM
provided by the American Association of University Women
Forum begins: 6:00 PM
UNM School of Law, Bondurant Lecture Hall
1117 Stanford Dr.NE
Candidates: Justice Charles Daniels, Supreme Court;
Judge Reed Sheppard, 2nd Judicial District Court;
Judge Maria Dominguez, Metropolitan Court; and
Edward L Benavidez, Public Defenders Office,
candidate for the Metropolitan Court.

Focus: To educate the public about the judicial selection process in New Mexico, the pivotal role the judiciary plays in our democratic system of checks and balances, and to discuss the challenges to our independent judiciary. This forum is supported by a grant from the League of Women Voters Education Fund and the Program on Constitutional and Legal Policy of the Open Society Institute. None of these candidates have opposition in the General Election.

Note: Click to download the nonpartisan 2008 Voters' Guide compiled by the League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico. It provides excellent info on candidates, ballot questions, the voting process and more.

2008 New Mexico Primary Winners; Upset Victories for Griego, Keller, Chavez

Martin Heinrich wins NM-01 in 4-way race. Ben Ray Lujan handily wins NM-03. Still too close to call in NM-02 between McCamley and Teague, though Teague is in the lead and has claimed victory. McCamley hasn't conceded. There are a bunch of Dona Ana County precincts still outstanding, where McCamley draws his greatest support. Problems have been reported with getting these votes transported and counted so things are at a standstill. I think McCamley can still pull it out, IF he gets big numbers from those outstanding precincts. Go, Bill!

Griego, Chavez, Keller: Incumbent Topplers

But what can only be called upset victories by three Dem primary legislative race challengers in Albuquerque have really made my day (and night). They're a wonder to behold, beautiful to absorb, shocking to realize. Eric Griego, Tim Keller and Eleanor Chavez victorious over entrenched, status quo incumbents! Griego whomped Paul Taylor in SD 17. Keller positively crushed Shannon Robinson in SD 15. Chavez won by a smaller, but still very healthy margin, in HD 13. And because they won in heavily Dem districts, the three intrepid change agents have effectively won seats in the NM Legislature.

Stunning. All three ran terrific campaigns. All three will bring truly progressive values to Santa Fe. All three represent victories for the people over the special interests. DFA-Democracy for New Mexico endorsed all three, as did many other folks in the grassroots, progressive and union communities. This is a BIG win for the forces of clean government and reform.

Update: Check out this post by Marjorie at m-pyre about Eleanor Chavez and Silva's hit piece on her during the campaign. Nice shots of Eleanor in her youth with Cesar Chavez and with her campaign manager, Tomas Garduno.

Results available at NM Secretary of State and at KRQE-13 News and many other places. At 10:40 PM, here are some select results, winners in red:

NM-01 Dem Congressional Race
Martin Heinrich 44%
Rebecca Vigil-Giron 25%
Michelle Lujan Grisham 23%
Robert Pidcock 8%

NM-02 Dem Congessional Race
Bill McCamley 42%
Harry Teague 52%
Teague claiming victory but McCamley says too close to call

NM-03 Dem Congressional Race
Don Wiviott 27%
Ben Ray Lujan Jr. 41%
Benny Shendo Jr. 16%
Harry Montoya 11%
Jon Adams 3%
Rudy Martin 2%

Dem U.S. Senate Race: Tom Udall unopposed

Repub U.S. Senate Race
Heather Wilson 49%
Steve Pearce 51%

Dem NM State House District 13
Eleanor Chavez 54%
Dan Silva (incumbent) 46%

Dem NM State Senate District 15
Eric Griego 63%
James C. Taylor (incumbent) 37%

Dem NM State Senate District 17
Tim Keller 66%
Shannon Robinson (incumbent) 34%

Bernalillo County Clerk
Maggie Toulouse Oliver 70%
Ambrose Chavez 30%

More results:

NM-02 GOP Congressional Race
Aubrey Dunn 20%
C. Earl Greer 10%
Edward R. Tinsley 31%
Monty Newman 21%
Greg Sowards 18%

Dem NM State Senate District 11
Linda Lopez 53%
Michael Padilla 47%

Tough race for John Blair against Eichenberg, who's much better known in Dem circles, even though Blair got the Albuquerque Journal's endorsement and campaigned very hard. Mr. Blair, you must run again for something soon. We need you in office.

Dem NM State Senate District 15
John Blair 40%
Tim Eichenberg 60%

Buh bye, Dan!

GOP NM House District 57
Dan Foley (incumbent) 46%
Dennis Kintigh 54%

Technorati Tags:

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.

Judge Elizabether Whitefield Needs Your Vote

You may be aware that Judge Elizabeth Whitefield's opponent recently dropped out of her race. That means she is now unopposed for the June Democratic Primary and the November General Election.  However, because her opponent dropped out too late to take his name off the primary ballot and also due to some uncertainties in the Election Code, Judge Whitefield needs your vote. Democrats of Bernalillo County, please vote for Judge Elizabeth Whitefield for District Court Judge in the 25th Division in the June Primary!. Don't forget that absentee and in-person early voting begins May 6, with additional early in-person voting sites opening May 17.

Technorati Tags:Elizabeth Whitefield, Albuquerque, New Mexico, primaries, Democrats

4/30: Reception in Support of Judge Clyde DeMersseman

The Committee to Keep Judge DeMersseman will be celebrating the Judge's recent endorsements by the Albuquerque Area Firefighters (Local 244) and AFSMCE (American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees) at a reception in support of his retention as Metropolitan Court Judge on April 30, 2008 in Albuquerque. See FLYER (doc) for more information.

Saturday: Judge Clyde DeMersseman Campaign Fundraiser

From Judge DeMersseman's campaign: Tickets have been generously donated to Judge DeMersseman's campaign for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds v. Colorado 14ers this Saturday night (April 12th) at 7:00 PM at Tingley Coliseum.  All proceeds from the tickets will go to Judge DeMersseman's campaign.  The tickets are $50.00 each and include free appetizers and soft drinks one hour prior to tip off.  To purchase tickets you can contact Rebecca Branch 263-4579 or Paul Melendres at 243-8310. Tickets are limited.