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Sunday, March 14, 2010
(Updated) Back from the DPNM Pre-Primary Convention: Down from the Mountains and Through the Snow
Update: The preliminary hand recount is over and here are the latest results for the Lt. Gov. race:
- Brian Colon- 591 delegate votes, 34.54%
- Lawrence Rael- 379, 22.15%
- Joe Campos- 337, 19.69%
- Jerry Ortiz y Pino 323, 18.87%
- Linda Lopez 81, 4.73%
***************
We're back in Albuquerque after The-Best-New-Mexico-Democratic-Convention-Ever. Energy, enthusiasm and Democrats galore all weekend at Buffalo Thunder. We drove back late this morning through a blowing snowstorm that turned into wind and rain that turned into spectacular cloud formations all around with big sunbeams breaking through and spotlighting the snow-sprinkled mountains surrounding us. We're in a great mood and we'll be working hard to get all our photos, videos and commentary ready for publication but, at the moment, we're eating breakfast burritos and catching our breath.
If you haven't yet seen the results of the three main contested races, here they are:
Lieutenant Governor
- Brian Colón, 34.3 percent*
- Lawrence Rael, 21.9 percent*
- Joe Campos, 19.9 percent
- Jerry Ortiz y Pino, 18.6 percent
- Linda Lopez, 5 percent
Land Commissioner
- Ray Powell, 44.4 percent*
- Harry Montoya, 19.3 percent
- Sandy Jones, 18.6 percent
- Mike Anaya, 17.6 percent
NM Court of Appeals
- Judge Linda M. Vanzi 72.32*
- Dennis W. Montoya 27.68*
* = qualified for primary ballot without the need to submit additional signatures. The rest will have to submit more signatures within 10 days.
NOTE: Joe Campos missed the ballot cutoff by one vote, or he made the number needed exactly -- depending on how certain percentages are handled. He and Harry Montoya and Sandy Jones each called for a recount, which reportedly is still ongoing.
I'll be back soon with more, but at this point we want to extend big thanks for a job well done and so much hard work to Chairman Javier Gonzales and all of the Party officers, as well as the staff and volunteers of the Democratic Party of New Mexico! This was one for the history books in more ways than one. Gracias and congratulations to all involved!
March 14, 2010 at 01:48 PM in 2010 DPNM Pre-Primary Convention, 2010 Judicial Races, 2010 NM Land Commissioner Race, 2010 NM Lt. Governor Race, Brian Colon, Democratic Party, Jerry Otiz y Pino, Joe Campos, Lawrence Rael, Linda Lopez | Permalink
Comments
I am wondering how many undervotes there were in the Lt. Governor race? Does anyone know? How many people ended up registering at the convention - there were 2160 total elected delegates possible? The total votes cast added between the individual candidate numbers is 1711. How many registered and did not end up casting their ballot? How many undervoted that race? How many delegates just did not show up at all? If almost all delegates that get elected are basically recruited to run, why wouldn't they show up? Those that did show up, register, and receive their packet - why wouldn't they vote? Those that did vote for other races - why would they undervote the Lt. Governors race? ANY OPINIONS?
So 65% of the delegates are NOT for Brian Colon?!
Posted by: Interesting | Mar 14, 2010 2:33:52 PM
I thought it was the worst convention ever, except for the convenient parking and the beautiful views of the mountains on the drive to and from.
The hall was too small, when it should have been too large--if all 2500 or so delegates expected had shown up they would have to have had an overflow room. As it was many people were standing in the back. Those of us sitting behind the cameras (that's about 1/3 at least of the audience) could see nothing, the sound system was lousy so we could barely hear anything either.
Those of us who have been to these conventions before knew enough to smuggle in some fruit and snacks, as there was no food available.
We stayed long enough to cheer for our congressman Harry Teague, then gave our proxies and marked ballots to a member of our delegation. Up at 4am to drive up, arrived about 9:30am, left about 12:15, back home about 5:30pm. Slept most of today to recuperate.
Cost close to $60 for gas and a $10 splurge for two at Burger King. That's a lot to pay in order to cast a ballot, AND that is money that could have gone to support our local or state party.
High time to change the DPNM Rules and organize balloting by email. Let's join the 21st century, for goodness' sake. The convention can still be held for those who are undecided or who want to network, but this was a wasted day IMHO.
BTW the Civic Center in Roswell would have comfortably held all the delegates and has a far superior audiovisual setup. Roswell in 2012!
Posted by: Ellen Wedum | Mar 14, 2010 3:06:28 PM
Loved every minute of it! Thanks to all involved for all your hard work!
Posted by: Dana Millen | Mar 14, 2010 3:11:46 PM
I don't know what Ellen is on about but the hall was packed because there were many campaign people, volunteers, media and spouses too. I moved around and could hear well everywhere. The energy was great at the parties and walking around the hotel and good restaurants. Many of the candidate gatherings and the unity party had good food.
Ellen there were never going to be 2500 delegates so get your numbers straight.
All the other conventions I've been to have been crowded and the main meeting is always long, The drive was only slightly longer than to Albuquerque. Ellen maybe you shouldn't be a delegate if you think all a convention is about is casting your vote.
Posted by: Silver City Delegate | Mar 14, 2010 4:10:56 PM
Ha, great idea Ellen. Let's meet and give money to the economy of Roswell that's all Republicans! And so much fun too!
Posted by: Eddie | Mar 14, 2010 4:12:28 PM
The venue was great!!Things to do with family, food if you walked down the hall, chairs, good sound system and lots of energy, tension and democratic process work.
Posted by: charlotte | Mar 14, 2010 4:47:38 PM
Question:
Why is Brian Colon's campaign info (photo, etc.) absent from this site, given he won the pre-primary? Something doesn't seem right here...
Posted by: Stephon Scott | Mar 14, 2010 4:55:59 PM
Joe Campos must be tremendously disappointed. Good luck gathering the extra signatures to the other candidates. It's your right to continue to run, but it will ultimately result in the election of the candidate who shares fewer of your values. Seriously, let Democratic voters have a clear choice. Don't muddy the waters with a green tea party.
I had great fun at the convention, particularly talking with delegates who supported candidates I wasn't voting for.
Posted by: Proud Democrat | Mar 14, 2010 6:59:05 PM
Its very troubling that at 8:27 PM the day after the voting stopped and counting started that no numbers are up on the State web site.
Will there be anyway to know how many ballots were cast or what the actual votes were from the different Congressional Districts? Expiring minds want to know!
Personally I voted for Campos - I just don't think Brian Colon will do anything for the ticket in Eastern or Western New Mexico where we will need help. Hopefully Campos has or can get enough sigs to get on the ballot if he is 1 short. No doubt Colon will try to prevent that from happening - certainly he has already threatened folks for not voting for him so the sleaze quotient for him is very, very high.
Posted by: mwfolsom | Mar 14, 2010 8:34:28 PM
Um, mwfolsom, there was a hand recount that went late into the night and continued today after an already long weekend for staff and officers. I guess they should jump for you though in case there's some mysterious crime going on. All the campaigns had people at the recount.
Your remarks on Brian Colon are plain crazy. He has been fair in all his dealings and I think your comment about him threatening someone is off the wall. Are you really a tea party nut?
Posted by: DemOCrat | Mar 14, 2010 8:59:40 PM
@mwfolsom: You know realize that Rep. Campos will likely pull voters from Colon, not Rael, right? I like Joe a lot, and I'll gladly support him in his next statewide race. However, now is the time for him to get the 100 signatures or so for to file for his state house district, not tens of thousands for Lt. Gov.
Neither he nor the senators can win, because they will now find it even more difficult to raise money, piles of which will be necessary to compete with Colon and Rael. I prefer a clear choice for primary voters. Two candidates on the left will only help elect the candidate on the right, Lawrence Rael.
I've heard the same stories about Brian Colon's campaign intimidating delegates. Unlike you, I don't believe them. First, I know Brian better than you do, and threatening people is not his style. I can well believe that other candidates found his political skills intimidating, though. The man does know how to run a statewide campaign, after all, and he made far more friends than enemies as DPNM chair. It's possible that a few volunteers were overzealous in whipping voters. However, I cannot believe that Brian himself would "threaten" people as you allege.
Posted by: Proud Democrat | Mar 14, 2010 9:00:13 PM
To "ProudDemocrat" - you said "I've heard the same stories about Brian Colon's campaign intimidating delegates. Unlike you, I don't believe them." Certainly you are perfectly free to believe as you wish. I however do believe them. Frankly my problem with Colon isn't that he is a bully, which I think he is, but rather that he's just another Corporate Democrat who will toe the line for whoever is in charge. Certainly he was Richardson's flunky and he would happy ill serve Denish in exactly the same way.
Re: the other stuff - I'm hearing and frankly hoping that Campos has his 20% - you can see my report at:
https://nobhillobserver.blogspot.com/2010/03/campos-has-his-20.html
The story gets more interesting as the day has gone on - my guess is that by tomorrow night the Democratic Party will have a full tilt mess on its hands if it doesn't release the vote count by tomorrow morning.
We will see -
Posted by: mwfolsom | Mar 15, 2010 12:42:06 AM
mwfolsom-what a terrible way to talk about a fellow Democrat. You are talking out your ass and doing it because you support Campos. If I were Campos I wouldn't want to have you as a supporter. You lower the bar for Joe and he doesn't deserve it. Some people have to demonize the opponents of their candidate. It stinks when they are all Democrats.
Posted by: Delegate Too | Mar 15, 2010 1:01:25 AM
My take is the Jerry delegates were awful. The way they acted going up to the stage was so stuck up and phony. They were at the back yelling at Teague about health care too and tried to break down his speech. They were rude. Harry voted no and said the healthcare bill was awful for working people and it is true. Go read Firedoglake if you don't believe me.
Posted by: S. N.M. | Mar 15, 2010 1:15:45 AM
As a first time convention goer I have to say that it was fun and educational. Yes the sound system was bad, I couldn't understand half of Colons speech he was cracking up so bad.
What bugs me is that nobody seems to be honestly addressing the question of which Lt Gov candidate actually helps Diane beat the republicans.
After listening to all the candidates it seems clear to me that Campos would be the best choice.
Posted by: Santiago S | Mar 15, 2010 2:23:18 PM
why is proud democrat attacking fellow democrats? green tea democrats come on. you shouldnt say the things you do. you look foolish when you attack. republicans like to attack, this is there mo. dont attack fellow dems unless you have it in writing.
it is very easy to say crap about anyone on this site. so be careful, you may be talking to a republican.
Posted by: george | Mar 15, 2010 9:24:43 PM
@George: I have made no personal attack against anybody. I simply feel that those who continue a fruitless campaign are delusional! The votes have been counted. Those who lost should go home to run another day. They cannot win. Their supporters should accept their loss with good grace and focus on supporting the remaining candidate(s) of their choice.
For the record, I am a Ward chair in Albuquerque and a State Central Committee member. I like Joe Campos, but I feel his decision to continue to run does a disservice to the voters and to the party. That's just my opinion, mind you, but it's based on decades of precedent. Why are you attacking me? How many campaigns have you worked on, sir? Are you a Rethuglican troll?
You must be aware that we have a barely competent Secretary of State who is color blind to ethical considerations because a losing candidate acted as a spoiler in the primary by staying on the ballot. The fact that we now have a fantastic Bernalillo Co. Clerk is only a happy accident.
Posted by: Proud Democrat | Mar 15, 2010 11:22:37 PM
To "Delegate Too":
You are actually quite wrong - I got to Campos by the process of elimination - Colon was never a possibility, Lopes help put Jennings in charge of the Senate, Pino hates teachers, I figure Real can't deal with the villans in the Senate so Joe is all that's left.
I'm way to old to automatically vote for anybody with a D after their name. They have to continue to earn my vote and if you looked at my ballot you would see I didn't vote for a couple of offices. Frankly, I'll be doing the same thing in the primary and the general. I'm tired of being a doormat and don't plan to be one in the future.
Posted by: mwfolsom | Mar 15, 2010 11:51:05 PM
They said America would never have a black president either. You can toss all the conventional wisdom out the window this time because the electorate is upset and volatile. Anyone can win. "Decades of precedents" don't matter this time. We lost Kennedy's seat for pete's sake. A vote by a small group of party Democrats doesn't mean that much in my opinion. I think the race is still wide open.
Posted by: Ian | Mar 16, 2010 12:06:22 AM
Which candidate actually helps Diane in the general election?
Colon, a trial lawyer with no real political experience.Do we really want him to be one step away from the governorship?
Rael, a nice guy who's claim to fame is the rail runner. The republicans are going to have a field day with that money loser.
Joe Campos seems like the best choice.
Posted by: ED | Mar 16, 2010 10:17:51 AM
I hear that Joe Campos is on the ballot!
Go Joe we Love You!
Posted by: Santiago S | Mar 16, 2010 1:14:40 PM
@proud democrat, i will forgive you for your responce. i am sure you dont mean it. we need to focus on beating republicans in november. i will not tell you what i have done or am doing. when i see you in person, i will shake you hand and say good job.
Posted by: george | Mar 16, 2010 11:40:03 PM
