Democracy for New Mexico

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.

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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 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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Action Alert: Bernalillo County Clerk Needs Election Day Help

A message from Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Bernalillo County Clerk:

The Primary Election is this coming Tuesday, June 3, and Bernalillo County is still in need of folks to serve as poll officials at sites throughout the county. We are still in need of folks to serve either as presiding judges or as clerks at a polling location. Usually we would require a training but in this case, at the last minute, we will place you in a location with folks who are already trained and will train you on the spot.

Compensation is $100 for the day. Day starts at 6 AM and polls close at 7 PM -- if you can give your day to do your civic duty and help out, please let me know! If you are able to serve, please call Channon with my office at 468-1221 or else call 468-1291 and select #4 for Poll Officials. Please also send this on to your contact lists or post on your blog if you are able. Thank you very much!

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NM-Sen: Pearce Up in Poll; Domenici Contacting Voters to Support Wilson

Pete applauding Heather in 2006

Retiring Sen. Pete Domenici is contacting Repub voters around New Mexico this weekend to urge them to vote for Heather Wilson in the BOP primary for U.S. Senate to be held on Tuesday, June 3rd. Domenici recorded a personal message being used for robocalls. Peter St. Cyr has the scoop and the audio of Domenici's message on his new blog, Word for Word.

New Journal Poll
Could Domenici's last-minute endorsement of Wilson on Friday, coupled with his phone push over the weekend, make the difference in Wilson's race against Steve Pearce? The Albuquerque Journal today released polling results from a phone survey conducted on May 27-29 by Polling and Research Inc. that show Pearce ahead of Wilson, but close to the margin of error. The poll has Pearce up by six points over Wilson, at 45-39%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4%. And given the unusually high percentage of undecideds, at 16%,  at this late stage of a race, anything can happen. Note, too, that the poll was conducted before news was made public that Domenici had endorsed Wilson.

As usual, the size of voter turnout and where it happens is also likely play a big role. As reported in the Journal:

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NM-02: Two More Endorsements for McCamley

Today Congressional candidate and Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley announced two more endorsements in the race for New Mexico’s Second Congressional District. The Ruidoso News endorsed Bill in an editorial on May 29th. United Steelworkers Local 9424 President David Carrillo announced that the Local had endorsed Bill in a letter to the editor in The Las Cruces Sun-News today.

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Come Together. Right Now.

Over Obama.

The time is finally here for Party unity -- and for Clinton to admit defeat and urge her supporters to rally around the winner. It's also time for Obama to reach out to Clinton supporters and convince them to accept him as the Party's standard bearer. To win in November, we need every Dem on board.

Barack plans to declare victory on Tuesday night after the Montana and South Dakota primaries. His campaign will host a pull-out-all-the-stops rally that evening at the huge arena in Minneapolis where the GOP will hold their convention this summer. It's expected that Obama will win both of the states, the last primaries in a very long, very exciting and very combative season, and that a gush of superdelegate endorsements will follow over the next couple of days to put him over the top. According to his campaign, as of today Obama needs 63.5 more delegates to get to the magic number.

Rollicking Rules Committee
The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee sealed the deal yesterday at a frequenlty rowdy, day-long meeting in DC. At the end of a long haul, the committee voted to seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan, but to give each delegate only a half vote each, as the penalty for illegally moving up their primaries.

Essentally, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee approved the compromises worked out in each of the states by their respective state parties, local reps from the campaigns, elected officials and DNC members. Clinton netted a total of 24 additional votes from the seating of delegates from Florida and Michigan. The small gain won't help her in any meaningful way in what has become a magical quest to topple Obama, although the number of delegates needed to officially capture the nomination was raised to 2,118. She can't catch him. End of story.

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NM-01: Former Ambassador Joe Wilson Endorses Heinrich

Today former Ambassador Joe Wilson (with a new buzz cut) endorsed Martin Heinrich for Congress in NM-01. I especially like one of the reasons he cites for his support: "On energy policy he will do everything he can to free us from dependence on Middle Eastern oil so we never have to send American troops to fight in stupid wars again."

Ambassador Wilson also explained his support in a letter to voters:

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NM-Sen: Wilson-Pearce Debate Follies; Domenici Flip-Flops to Endorse Wilson

Last night's final debate between the "Common Sense Conservative" and the "Club for Growth Hero" consisted mostly of a rehash of already plumbed issues like who voted against what in terms of pork for New Mexico, who would drill the most for oil and do it quicker, who supports the highest fence at the border, which one is more "electable," and who wants to throw widows and children off Social Security.

Naturally, both candidates stood tall and recited the familiar mantra, with maximum gradiosity and moral certitude, that "marriage is between one man and one woman." I wish one of the soft-ball questioners would have asked them if they supported starving the widows (or widowers) and children of gay partners because federal Social Security benefits available to married couples are not available to gay couples. I really would have liked to hear their answers. But it was not to be.

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New Mexico Voter Registration Statistics: Independents Post Largest Percentage Gain

According to an AP story, voters eligible to vote in Tuesday's primary election in New Mexico total about 898,000 -- 543,615 Democrats and 354,272 Republicans. Since the 2004 primary here, Republicans have managed a 14% increase in registration and Democrats made a 9% gain in voter registrations in the state. In addition:

Currently, Democrats account for half of the state's registered voters. That's down slightly from June 2004, when Democrats represented 52 percent of all registered voters.

Republicans represented a third of the state's voters when registration rolls closed earlier this month for the primary election. They were 32 percent in 2004.

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