Democracy for New Mexico

NM-03: Luján Town Halls in Cuba & Rio Rancho Sunday

From Luján for Congress:
Public Regulation Commissioner and candidate for New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District Ben R. Luján invites Sandoval County and Rio Rancho residents to two town halls on Sunday. The town halls are part of Ben's Standing Up for New Mexico Tour. Ben will visit every county in the 3rd Congressional District at least once before the June 3 Democratic primary to speak with voters and discuss New Mexico's most pressing issues.

• The first town hall will be held at the Cuba City Hall at 1:00 PM, Sunday, April 27.
• The second town hall will be held at the Flying Star restaurant, 10700 Corrales Road, Rio Rancho, NM at 5:00 PM, Sunday, April 27.

Technorati Tags:Ben R. Lujan, Sandoval County, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, NM-03, Democrats, primaries

Domenici Admonished by Senate Ethics Committee for Calling Iglesias; More Serious Probes Continue

Amazingly, the overwhelmingly toothless U.S. Senate Ethics Committee deigned to administer a mild rebuke to Sen. Pete Domenici for the "appearance of impropriety” in connection with his call to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias demanding information about the timing of pending corruption indictments. The Ethics Committee has been mostly comatose for a number of years, reportedly due to an informal, mutual agreement between Dems and Repubs to refrain from taking any meaningful action on ethics complaints against Senators of one another's parties. Foxes guarding the henhouse and all that. One hand washes the other.

The Ethics Committee issued a three-page letter yesterday "admonishing" Domenici but claiming there was no "substantial evidence" of purposeful wrongdoing on his part and recommending no punishment for the infraction. As reported by the AP,

The committee finds no substantial evidence to determine that you attempted to improperly influence an ongoing investigation," the committee letter said.

"The committee does find that you should have known that a federal prosecutor receiving such a telephone call, coupled with an approaching election which may have turned on or been influenced by the prosecutor's actions ... created an appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate."

Domenici and Iglesias Respond
Naturally, the Domenici camp is spinning that the letter clears Pete, while Iglesias says the Committee's action bolsters his claim that Domenici was trying to influence the outcome of the November 2006 NM-01 Congressional election between Repub incumbent Rep. Heather Wilson and Dem challenger Patricia Madrid. Domenici responded to the letter in a prepared statement, saying,

"I am gratified the Senate ethics committee has concluded its inquiry favorably without a formal adjudicatory review, confirming what I have always maintained: I did not attempt to improperly influence an ongoing investigation when I telephoned the former United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico.

"Nevertheless, as I said publicly last March when this complaint was originally filed, I regret the distraction this controversy has caused my colleagues, my staff, my family and, most importantly, my constituents. Now that this matter has concluded favorably, I am anxious to focus all of my time and attention on the business of the people of New Mexico."

Continue reading "Domenici Admonished by Senate Ethics Committee for Calling Iglesias; More Serious Probes Continue"

Guest Blog: Bruce Barnaby for DNC Commiteeman

On Saturday, April 26, the Democratic Party of New Mexico's State Central Committee will be electing a DNC Committeeman and Committeewoman to represent NM Dems on the Democratic National Committee. The terms of those elected this Saturday will begin next year. Below is a guest blog by Dallas Timmons supporting the candidacy of Bruce Barnaby for DNC Committeeman. I want to personally second what Dallas has to say. I believe Bruce would work tirelessly on our behalf, as he has for years within the State and County Party. No task is left undone and no problem remains unaddressed if Bruce is around.

I first met Mr. Barnaby (right) when he agreed to help our group of mostly inexperienced grassroots activists learn the sometimes complicated ins and outs of getting more involved in the Dem Party and running for office within the Party structure. Bruce has been instrumental in helping many ordinary people become actively involved in Party affairs. He's also helped to improve how the Party operates through his service on the Rules Committee, as well as on the SCC and as a precinct chair. Very important to me -- he's a strong supporter of Howard Dean's 50 State Strategy.

From SCC member Dallas Timmons:
I know many of you as friends and many others through the SCC. I am taking this opportunity to ask you to support Bruce Barnaby to be our next Democratic Party National Committee Man from New Mexico. I have worked with Bruce over the last three years in the SCC and at the Rules Committee, which he now chairs. He is committed to a strong Democratic Party and recognizes that the party faces many challenges over the next four years. His FLYER (doc) outlines some of these as well as his commitment to maintain active communication with all of us and to seek our inputs on solutions.

Meet Bruce
Bruce will have a hospitality suite this Friday, April 26, from 5-7:00 PM at the Barcelona Suites (where the SCC meeting will be held on Saturday). Please come by and meet Bruce and take the opportunity to find out what his ideas are for this position.

Continue reading "Guest Blog: Bruce Barnaby for DNC Commiteeman"

NM-01: Slew of New Heinrich Events

Part of the Heinrich family lines up for chow at recent house party event

The campaign of Martin Heinrich for Congress in NM-01 is picking up the pace as the June 3rd primary showdown nears. Besides participating in a number of candidate forums over the past few weeks (with more to come), Martin was busy last weekend shooting a TV ad with supporters. Heinrich's TV ad campaign will start soon. Martin will also be attending a series of campaign fundraisers through next month. If you'd like to meet Martin, ask him questions and hear more about his positions on the issues, RSVP for one of the house parties or other events listed here, or contact the campaign to organize your own event.

Next Up: Sunday Brunch
The next scheduled fundraiser is a Sunday brunch hosted by Pauline Núñez, Louis Kolker, Cara McCulloch, Diane Albert on April 27th at 11:00 AM. Click to check out a FLYER (doc) for more info.

Celebrate, Celebrate
Of special interest -- on Saturday, May 10th, at 2:00 PM, everyone's invited to celebrate the official grand opening of Heinrich's new campaign office at 131 Adams St. NE in Albuquerque. Hang out with Martin, his campaign staffers and fellow supporters. There'll be hamburgers and hotdogs, veggie options, drinks, live music, and games for the kids.

Continue reading "NM-01: Slew of New Heinrich Events"

Taos Earns Fair Trade Town Designation

Good news from the Town of Taos. The Northern New Mexico community has earned the designation as a Fair Trade Town. In February 2008, Town councilors passed a resolution and enacted stringent guidelines to prepare for the coveted designation. Taos is the first Fair Trade Town in New Mexico, and the first in the Western United States. Now, which NM town or city will be next? There are already more than 300 communities in Europe recognized as Fair Trade Towns.

Fair Trade is a rigorous third party certification guaranteeing excellent products for consumers: goods produced in a sustainable fashion; safe and healthy working conditions; no slave, forced or child labor; the encouragement of long-term relationships between producers and buyers; and an internal structure for producers that allow decisions about profits to be made democratically.   

"We know the importance of Fair Trade and recognize our responsibility to help educate others, including art and culture tourists, about the importance of Fair Trade," said Town of Taos Mayor Bobby F. Duran. "We view buying fair and buying local as objectives that are not in competition but are complementary. For example, in Taos, customers can buy Fair Trade coffee through our local Taos Roasters -- either directly wholesale, or retail through our numerous coffee houses or grocery stores," continued Duran.

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Richardson to Carville: Clintons "Clinging to the Throne"

Gov. Bill Richardson and an antagonistic James Carville traded barbs in a heated discussion on Larry King last night (video above and below the fold). They tangled about the results of the Pennsyvania primary, where the race now stands and what it's doing to the chances for a Dem presidential win.

Richardson was once again highly critical of the negative campaign tactics of Hillary Clinton, and accused the Clintons of "clinging to the throne" instead of facing the realities of the contest at this point in time. You know, we're America, not Monaco," said Richardson, adding, "We've had enough of [the Bush and Clinton] famlies running the country." Carville countered that Richardson's remarks were "idiocy."

Richardson also called into question the Clintons' push to go against the DNC rules that disqualified the primaries in Michigan and Florda -- rules that all the candidates long ago pledged to uphold. "You're changing the rules and this is what I'm saying about the Clinton campaign, they're changing the rules" said Richardson. "And they're basically saying about Obama that he can't win in November when he is obviously the strongest general election candidate winning battleground states and his message with independents, and now the presidency is slipping away and they'll do anything to keep it." Richardson termed the Clinton's attempt to use the Florida and Michigan results to claim they are ahead in the popular vote as "lunacy."

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Women's Reception to Benefit Maggie Toulouse Oliver for Bernalillo County Clerk

Please Join ...
Diane Albert* Mimi Aledo *
Deanna Archuleta * Shannon Bacon* Heather Brewer *
Traci Cadigan * Anathea Chino * Claire Dudley *
Judith Espinosa * Karen Hopkins *
Linda Joyce * Candy Patterson * Laura Sanchez

For a Women’s Event to Help Keep
Maggie Toulouse Oliver
Bernalillo County Clerk
Wednesday, April 30
5:30—7:30 PM
St. Clair Winery and Bistro
901 Rio Grande Blvd. NW
See FLYER (pdf) for More Info

Technorati Tags:Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bernalillo County, Democrats, political events

Action Alert & Campaign Updates: Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

From Ed Yoon, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund:
Starting today, I greatly look forward to communicating with you about our campaign periodically to share with you exciting updates and new and ongoing action opportunities. As we grow in staff numbers, we will be expanding our campaign activities beyond the Albuquerque area, so please be patient and stay tuned if you would like to be part of our campaign efforts but do not see any activity nearby where you live. We will also look forward to getting ideas from you about campaign activities that you would like to see us organize. I thank you in advance for your support of our campaign’s work.  Together, we will win in November.

1. SATURDAY, MAY 3RD: VOLUNTEER CANVASS AND LUNCH: Our volunteer canvass starts on Saturday, May 3rd and recurs every Saturday thereafter.  We will provide free sandwiches and snacks and water bottles to make sure you’re fed and energized, and we will have all the materials ready for you, so you just have to RSVP and show up!  You will also get to meet some of our new staff members.

Please join us at our temporary campaign office located at: Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, 824 Gold Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102

Please RSVP so that we know how many walk packets and food to prepare.  You can call or e-mail Brian McGann to RSVP at: (505) 248-0118 x 3; or BMcGann@DefendersActionFund.org. Starting June 1st when we move into our new spacious office, we will expand our volunteer canvass days and hours to any available Mondays through Saturdays.

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Quote of the Day on PA Primary: McAuliffe Hearts Fox Noise

From the Philadelphia Daily News:

On Fox News Channel, the first of the three 24-hour news networks to call Pennsylvania for Clinton, the suspense lasted a full 45 minutes. At 8:45 p.m., with fewer than 1 percent of the votes in, Fox blew the whistle. ... "Fair and balanced Fox, you beat them all!" Clinton adviser Terry McAuliffe told Fox News' Major Garrett during an interview, to anchor Brit Hume's delight.

Add in Richard Scaife's hearty endorsement of Clinton and you've got a vast right-wing conspiracy -- on Hillary's behalf this time.

Thursday 4/24: Fundraiser to Re-Elect Sen. Linda Lopez

NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico  Rep. Gail Chasey
Terri Nikole Baca  Mario Benavidez  David Duhigg
Katy Duhigg  Michael Gritzbaugh  Larry Horan  Julie Koob
Margie Lockwood  Cassandra Malone Toni Martorelli
Brian Miller  Rosalyn Nguyen  Richard Romero

Invite you to a fundraiser for Senator Linda Lopez
Candidate for Re-Election in District 11
On: Thursday, April 24, 2008, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
At the home of Richard Romero and Margie Lockwood
907 Silver Ave. SW, 87102
More Info: Click for FLYER (doc)