Democracy for New Mexico

Large Turnout at Pre-Primary Convention of Bernalillo County Dems

State Party Chair Brian Colón revs the crowd

Note: I'll post some video clips and more photos later from Saturday's DPBC Convention. Here's my first installment.

As you may have noticed, Democrats are supercharged these days, turning out in droves at primaries, caucuses, campaign offices and party meetings all over the country. Bernalillo County Dems are no exception. The meeting room was packed at Saturday's DPBC Pre-Primary Convention at the Cibola High School Performing Arts Center on Albquerque's West Side.

Rep. Tom Udall urges Dems not to take anything for granted

With 646 delegates apportioned to the County, this was New Mexico's largest county party gathering among the confabs being held in counties around the state to elect delegates to the State Pre-Primary Convention. A total of 459 credentialed delegates (including the alternate replacements) were present at the DPBC Convention. Attendees filled the seats, lined the back of the room and formed delegate knots conferring in the hallways and at the tables of the candidates.

DPBC Parliamentarian Tim Keller, DPBC Chair Ana Canales

Unlike other counties where Dems elect their state delegates at their pre-primaries, Bernalillo County's elections of state delegates and alternates took place previously at ward/precinct meetings. The delegates to the State Convention were confirmed at the DPBC Pre-Primary. The State Convention is set for March 15, 2008 at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.

The DPBC Pre-Primary agenda also included discussing and passing resolutions to be forwarded to the state level, hearing from 2008 candidates and generally touching base to gear up for our June primary and the general election in November. Not to mention gossiping, hugging, sharing Repub jokes and downing all those little treats provided by campaigns.

Discussion and debate on more than 50 county party resolutions filled the first part of the meeting after a motion passed to move the Platform and Resolutions Committee report to the front of the agenda. County Platform and Resolutions Committee Chair Mel O'Reilly (right) led the delegates in a lively back and forth on timely issues like the death penalty, superdelegates, nuclear energy, the caucus process and the Iraq occupation. I should have a list of the resolutions passed sometime this week.

Rep. Tom Udall happened to sit down next to me during the resolutions debate and he said he was excited that so many Dems were passionately involved in the issues and showing up to join in the dialogue. He got thunderous applause and a standing ovation when he took the stage to speak to the delegates about turning New Mexico Blue in November 2008, when George Bush will NOT be on the ballot.

Rep. Udall, who's running to replace Pete Domenici as U.S. Senator, stressed that it's up to us if he's to be victorious in his Senate quest. He urged the crowd not to take anything for granted and reminded everyone that the Republicans will undoubtedly be dedicating significant funds and energy to keeping the seat in GOP hands. He said he's giving up a safe seat in Congress to seek the Senate seat at the urging of New Mexico's Democrats, and that we need to pull together and work hard to make victory a reality.

Martin Heinrich, NM-01 candidate

Delegates also heard short speeches from DPNM Chair Brian Colon, DPBC Chair Ana Canales, State Treasurer James B. Lewis, Secretary of State Mary Herrera and Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver. Candidates addressing the crowd and asking for support included all four primary contenders for Congress in CD1: Martin Heinrich, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Robert Pidcock. Others reaching out to the crowd included Tim Keller, running for State Senate in District 17; Eric Griego, a State Senate candidate in District 14; Jason Call, running for State Senate in District 20; District 11 State Senate candidate Michael Padilla and a group of District and Appeals Court judges.

Click on images for larger versions. All photos by M.E.Broderick.

SFR: Repub Senate Candidates Seek to Define Post-Domenici Religion

Former State Sen. Tom Benavidez discusses his so far unsuccessful quest to get on the primary ballot to take on Repub candidates he calls "carpetbaggers."


Current NM-03 Rep. Steve Pearce views SCHIP as a socialized medicine plot and doesn't allow filming while he eats

I'm a fan of the political coverage being produced by the folks at the Santa Fe Reporter (SFR), so I'm pleased to see they've launched their own video channel on YouTube. It should come in handy as we edge ever closer to election day 2008. The videos above complement "Elephant Warfare," their cover story this week on the Republican contenders in the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico. The vids feature interviews conducted by David Alire Garcia, with camera work by Dave Maass. As Alire Garcia's story explains:

From Feb. 14-23, GOP county conventions all across the state will pick delegates to send to the March 15 state pre-primary nominating convention, the first skirmish of what is expected to be a money-soaked, hard-fought Senate primary between heavyweights Wilson and Pearce.

... On one level, this election is a struggle for the soul of the New Mexico's Republican Party in a post-Domenici religion.

Rep. Heather Wilson, who refused an interview with SFR, is now defining herself as a "common sense conservative" in contrast to Steve Pearce's to-the-right-of-Atila-the-Hun conservatism. One example of Pearce's distaste for (and ignorance about) the push for 21st century-style civil liberties:

"The pressure for same-sex marriage, the pressure for multiple partners,
polymorphism, that's a pressure that is actually going on legally right now," he says. "And then you got pressure from people saying, "˜I got a legitimate right to my pedophilia.'"

Say again?

"There will be no legal impediment to stop anything based on emotion once you get started, even pedophilia,"Pearce theorizes.

Should be a winner on the right-wing talk show circuit, no? The early positioning and framing being used by Pearce and Wilson in this race were on display Tuesday in their first debate in Alamogordo.

The  SFR story also touches on the political problems Wilson may continue to face related to her pressuring phone call to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, which came to light during the U.S. Attorney firing scandal in Congress last year:

Some of Wilson's baggage includes her now-infamous phone call to New Mexico's former US Attorney, David Iglesias.

Iglesias testified before the House Ethics Committee last August as part of a preliminary investigation of the call Wilson placed to him inquiring about a public corruption case that targeted prominent Democrats.

"She was snooping around, she wanted me to give her privileged and confidential information that she had no business knowing," Iglesias says of Wilson. "She's clearly intelligent, she's been in office a number of years, she knows what honor means. I think she made a terrible choice and I think there needs to be consequences."

Wilson has previously defended her call to Iglesias as "entirely appropriate."

Iglesias believes Wilson's role in Attorneygate will come back to haunt her on the campaign trail.

"Part of Steve Pearce's stump speech is his three reasons why Heather Wilson is unelectable," Iglesias says. "And one of the reasons is her phone call to me."

The most recent polling available in race for U.S. Senate shows that current NM-03 Rep. Tom Udall, who'll be the Dem candidate, would beat both Pearce by 14 and Wilson by 15 points. Clearly, the NM GOP will have their hands full trying to stem the Dem momentum that's been apparent in the presidential primaries as it morphs down ticket to Senate and House races and beyond.

To help make a Dem tsunami a reality in New Mexico, visit Udall's campaign website and sign up as a supporter.

To see our previous coverage on the 2008 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico, visit our archive.

Saturday: Special Dem SCC Meeting on Platform and Resolutions

The Democratic Party of New Mexico will hold a special meeting of its State Central Committee (SCC) on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at Smith-Brasher Hall at Central New Mexico Community College to consider resolutions recommended by its Platform & Resolutions Committee. Registration begins at 9:30 AM and the meeting will be called to order promptly at 11:00 AM.

SCC members will vote on Resolutions adopted at the County-level and recommended by the State Platform & Resolutions Committee. Any Democrat interested in discussing proposed Resolutions that will inform the 2008 Democratic Platform should be in attendance. The 2008 Party Platform will be up for consideration at the March 15th Pre-Primary Convention, and discussion on resolutions is an important preliminary step in forming the Platform.

Click for more information. Click to download a copy of the resolutions to be acted upon Saturday.

Santa Fe City Council Passes Peace and Plutonium Resolutions

As reported in the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Santa Fe City Council last week passed resolutions regarding plutonium pit production by Los Alamos National Lab and the celebration of Mother's Day by the city.

One resolution directs the city clerk to inform federal authorities of the city's opposition to the production of plutonium pits by LANL in line with the National Nuclear Security Administration's recently released draft environmental impact statement. According to the resolution, the transformation would result in releases of hazardous and radioactive waste in the area.

The second resolution will return Mother's Day to its original mission, with a peace rally on the Plaza this May 11th and every Mother's Day going forward. The national holiday was established in 1870 at the urging of Julia Ward Howe, a feminist abolitionist, who wrote it should be an occasion to encourage women to "solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace," according to the resolution.

Saturday: Insight New Mexico Radio's Legislative Wrap-Up

From Insight New Mexico:
The lastest installment of airs on Albuquerque's Progressive Talk Radio 1350 AM from Noon to 1:00 PM on Saturday, February 9. Cohosted by Heather Brewer and Javier Benavidez and produced by Suzanne Prescott. You can call in live during the show with your questions and comments at 338-4090. This week's show:

Joe Monahan will be with us to wrap up our series of shows on the legislature, 2008 version. What have the alligators told Joe about our show continuing after the legislature?

Senator Ortiz y Pino talks with
DFNM's Mary Ellen Broderick  before a show last year

Senator Jerry Ortiz Y Pino is back with us again for the 2008 legislative wrap-up edition.  He'll tell us why he voted for the TIDDS legislation and what success and disappointments were made this legislative session.

State Rep. Moe Maestas joins us to give his take on actions taken in the House during the 2008 legislative session.

Tonight on New Mexico In Focus: Legislative Session Wrap-Up

From New Mexico IN FOCUS: FRIDAY, FEB. 15 at 7:00 PM and repeated SUNDAY, FEB. 17 at 6:30 AM  on  Channel 5, KNME-TV. Hosted by Gene Grant and David Alire Garcia.

This Week’s TOPICS: The 2008 Legislative Session Wraps Up With Issues, from Universal Health Care To Domestic Partnership And Ethics Reform; The Growing Tension Between Lawmakers and Gov. Richardson; The Congressional Candidates Make Their Campaigns Official; The Ballot Counting Continues In The Democratic Presidential Caucus; The Battle Over Oil And Gas Drilling In The Galisteo Basin Rages On.

This Week’s GUESTS: Walter Bradley, Former Lt. Governor; Senator Carlos Cisneros, (D) Questa;  Senator Linda Lopez, (D) Albuquerque; Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, (D) Albuquerque; Representative Danice Picraux, (D) Albuquerque; Representative Lucky Varela, (D) Santa Fe

GUEST PANELISTS: Jennifer Duke, Communications Manager, CNM; Joe Powdrell, Former President, NAACP New Mexico

Noon Today On Insight New Mexico Progressive Talk Radio

The next installment of airs on Albuquerque's Progressive Talk Radio 1350 AM from Noon to 1:00 PM today, Saturday, February 9. Cohosted by Heather Brewer and Javier Benavidez and produced by Suzanne Prescott, the weekly show covers the latest happenings at the Legislative Session and other local political news. You can call in live during the show with your questions and comments at 338- 4090. This week's show features:

• Gene Grant fresh from the recent edition of In Focus on KNME discusses 'Gene's terrible Superbowl adventure' and Roundhouse Activity this week. Gene couldn't make it, but Matt of will provide insight on the NM Caucus and other local politics today.
• Debbie O'Malley brings us up to date on the housing crisis in ABQ and New Mexico and what we can do about it
• Coco from Cocoposts is back again with us to tell why TIDDS is actually important
• If were lucky we'll also have Elias Barelas to tell us how he has survived another week in the NM legislature and what's happening with the bills he's involved with.

NM Dem Prez Caucus: What's Happening Now

Voters at Montezuma Elementary in Albuquerque

Volunteers are needed to help count provisional ballots at RDEW in Albuquerque. Click for more info.

Attorneys for the Clinton and Obama campaigns, State Democratic Party officials, various staffers, temporary workers and volunteers are continuing to labor at the accounting firm of RDEW in Albuquerque to produce a final, official tally of the votes cast in New Mexico's February 5th Democratic Presidential Preference Caucus.

Regular paper ballots had been handcounted at the Caucus sites after voting closed on Tuesday. The results were then phoned in to Dem Party headquarters that night, where the tallies were recorded. This constituted the "unofficial count." Next the ballots had to be run through optical scan tabulators, and the results compared with the handcount totals. The signatures of those who signed in to vote at the Caucus sites are being scanned into a computer to produce a master list showing who cast a ballot. There's also a listing of the folks who voted by absentee (mail-in) ballot.

Provisional Ballot Count
Workers are expected to begin sometime today to examine more than 17,276 provisional ballots. The special ballots were used by people who a) showed up to vote but weren't on the registered voter rolls, b) were at the wrong Caucus site or c) had requested an absentee (mail-in) ballot but failed to return it and voted in person instead. The latest update of New Mexico's vote count was released yesterday morning and does not contain any provisional ballots.

Standards for Qualifying Provisional Ballots
Campaign attorneys and Dem Party officials spent the past few days negotiating standards that will be used to judge whether a provisional ballot qualifies as legitimate or must be tossed out. The standards were designed to reject only those provisionals that are obviously illegitimate -- not those that may exhibit minor errors like a missing middle initial. The aim was to be inclusive, transparent, consistent and fair.

Provisional ballot analysis will determine whether the vote was made by a registered Democrat, and whether the individual had voted previously at another Caucus site or via absentee. The Party's registered Democrat voter list has reportedly been rechecked to make sure it contains the names of all the Dems on the Secretary of State's official list. According to Kate Nash, these are the main standards released by the State Party that will govern provisional ballot qualification:

1. The absence of either an inner or outer envelope is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

2. The absence of a signature on an affidavit is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

3. The absence of the use of the official DPNM affidavit is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

4. The absence of the use of the official DPNM provisional ballot is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

5. A discrepancy as to the correct congressional district is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

6. In accordance with the philosophy of inclusion, if a link can be made between the name of a voter and that voter's provisional ballot, that ballot will be qualified and counted in the tally unless:

a. It cannot be demonstrated within a reasonable degree of certainty that the provisional voter was registered and eligible to participate in the February 5, 2008 caucus;

b. It can be demonstrated within a reasonable degree of certainty that the provisional voter cast another ballot, whether absentee, emergency, regular, or other provisional ballot.

The Party's deadline for certifying the Caucus results is February 15th, and it may take that long to finish the provisional ballot qualification process.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf

Tonight on NM IN FOCUS: NM Caucus, Domestic Partnership Debate

Tune in to KNME-TV's NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS tonight at 7:00 PM on Channel 5 (repeats Sunday at 6:30 AM). The one-hour public affairs show is co-hosted by Santa Fe Reporter staff writer David Alire Garcia and Albuquerque Journal columnist Gene Grant.

This Week’s Topics: Ballot Problems Once Again Plagued NM; What The Election Results Might Mean For The National Campaigns; Will NM Pass A Domestic Partnership Bill? -- Political Debate & Religious Controversy

This Week’s Guests: Alexis Blizman, Executive Director, Equality New Mexico; Pastor Steve Smothermon, Legacy Church in Albuquerque; Reverend Brian Taylor, Rector, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church; Rep. Gloria Vaughn, Alamogordo Republican

This Week's Panelists: Guest panelists tonight are Steve Cabiedes, Political Consultant; and Pat Frisch, Citadel Communications, AM Radio Operations Manager; who will join regular panelists Margaret Montoya, UNM School of Law / UNM School of Medicine; and Jim Scarantino, Columnist, The Weekly Alibi.

Tonight: Bernaillo County Dem Party Ward/Precinct Elections

It's one thing to criticize the Democratic Party or its candidates. It's another to become the Democratic Party -- or at least to become active in its workings. If you want to have a say about the Party platform and the candidates who will be on the Party's ballot for the June 3rd primary election, now's the time to get yourself elected as a delegate (or alternate).

Any registered Democrat can run for one of the state pre-primary convention delegate slots, which are allocated to each precinct and ward based on voting patterns in the 2004 presidential election and the 2006 gubernatorial election. To run, you need to attend the appropriate ward/precinct election to be held TONIGHT, Thursday, February 7, 2008, at 6:30 PM, at a variety of locations around Bernalillo County. To have a better chance to be elected, bring along some of your neighbors to support you.

If you live in a county other than Bernalillo, please contact your Dem County Party for information about your county's delegate election and county level pre-primary convention. Contact info for all County Parties can be found here

To determine your precinct and ward in Bernalillo County and where to go tonight:

• If you don't know the ward, but know the precinct number, .
• If you need to look up a precinct by putting in the address, .
• See the list below to find your ward/precinct election location

Folks who were elected to be members of the Party's State Central Committee last year are automatic delegates to the pre-primary convention, as are current ward chairs. Only the ward chair delegate will be counted as one of the allocated delegates in each ward.

All delegates will then attend the Bernalillo County Pre-Primary Convention, where delegates are confirmed, and then attend the State Pre-Primary Convention as delegates. The total number of delegates to be elected at the county level statewide this year will be 1,511 (including ward chair delegates). Added to this number are State Central Committee members who are “automatic” delegates, resulting in a total delegate count of 1,919 for the 2008 State Pre-Primary Convention.

Voting at the State Pre-Primary Convention will determine which candidates will appear on the Democratic primary ballot, and the order in which their names will appear on the ballot. Unless the law is changed at this year's Legislative Session, candidates much receive at least 20% of delegate votes in their category to get on the Dem primary ballot. State delegates will also get to vote on the State Party Platform and other business.

All registered Democrats are urged to attend:

BERNALILLO COUNTY WARD ELECTIONS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008, 6:30 PM. Various precinct locations. Election of delegates and alternates to the Bernalillo County Pre-Primary Convention. Click for the official meeting call and (PDF).

Note: If you're a fan of Martin Heinrich for Congress, you should know you can head over to his website where he has all the info you need to make it easy to attend your ward election tonight, including links to maps.