Democracy for New Mexico

Mark Your Calendars: NM-01 Candidate Forum on Health Care

The League of Women Voters Albuquerque-Bernalillo County and Health Action New Mexico are cosponsoring a health care forum with the candidates for the First Congressional District seat. All candidates have confirmed their participation:

Thursday, May 8th, 2008, 7 to 8:30 PM
First Unitarian Church
3701 Carlisle Boulevard NE, Albuquerque

Interested in health care issues such as: Medicare; SCHIP; cost of pharmaceuticals; cost of health care; expanding health care coverage and other federal health care issues? Come hear the candidates from the Republican and Democratic Parties discuss their positions on these and other important health care issues. The candidates will take written questions from the audience. The public is encouraged to attend.

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NM-0-1: Vigil-Giron to Hold 9 AM Press Conference on Petition Signature Lawsuit

From Vigil-Giron for Congress:
Rebecca Vigil-Giron will be hosting a press conference at campaign headquarters located at 416 Yale Blvd., Albuquerque, NM 87106 on Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 9:00 AM to address the public and the press regarding the lawsuit brought forth by Michelle Grisham and her followers in an attempt to remove Rebecca off the ballot for Congressional US House Of Representatives District I.

See my previous post about the filing of the lawsuit last Friday challenging signatures on Vigil-Giron's petitions.

NM-Sen: Udall Walks a Day in an Albuquerque Doctor's Shoes

Walk a Day in My Shoes: Tom Udall/Elizabeth Burpee

To read more about Rep. Udall's day with Dr. Elizabeth Burpee, as well as view more photos and video from their day together that's been posted at the SEIU Walk a Day in My Shoes website, click here.

The DSCC News Center has coverage on an AP story about Rep. Tom Udall, Dem candidate for U.S. Senate in New Mexico, spending a day in the life of an Albuquerque doctor on April 4th. Rep. Udall's experience was part of a program called "Walk a Day in My Shoes," sponsored by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU):

Udall joined Dr. Elizabeth Burpee, a resident internist at UNM Hospital and union member, on her rounds at the Family Clinic and to several hospital departments Friday afternoon to learn more about the plight of low-income patients and the difficulties of treating them.

During the afternoon at the hospital and clinic, Udall got an earful about emergency room overcrowding, overworked residents, low-income patients being discharged who are unable to afford their medications or hospital equipment and other problems.

Udall is the fifth Senate candidate in the country to participate in the program this election season. His Republican opponents in the Senate race—Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce—also were invited to participate in the program, but have not responded, said Marcus Mrowka, an SEIU spokesman.

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Bernalillo County Clerk Announces Expanded Early In-Person Voting for Primary

From Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Bernalillo County Clerk:
Registered voters of Bernalillo County will have the opportunity to vote early at 16 different locations throughout the County in the upcoming June 3rd Primary Election. Click for (pdf).

Only those who have registered as a Democrat or as a Republican by Tuesday, May 6, 2008 can participate in this election. In order to register to vote, individuals may call the County Clerk’s office at 505-468-1291 to request a form be sent to them or they may and fill out a form in-person in the Clerk’s office at One Civic Plaza, NW, 6th Floor. The County Clerk’s office encourages individuals to fill out registration forms in person in order to expedite processing.

County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver has expanded Early Voting opportunities from the statutorily mandated 12 locations to 16 locations. In addition, she has increased the average size of each location by 2000 square feet in order to accommodate more voters at each location.

“Expanding Early Voting has been a top priority for me since my appointment to this position,” said County Clerk ToulouseOliver, “The goal in selecting these sites was for most voters in the County to have access to an Early Voting site within a two mile radius of where they live.”

Early In-Person Absentee Voting begins May 6th at the County Clerk’s Office Annex in downtown Albuquerque – 620 Lomas, NW. The hours of operation for this location are as follows:

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Sen. Bingaman Announces $1 Million Award to Community Action New Mexico

From Community Action New Mexico:
Senator Jeff Bingaman this week announced a Federal Grant of $1,000,000 to Community Action New Mexico to further its statewide work in asset development. The purpose of the grant is to fund Individual Development Accounts (IDA's) for low income, working New Mexicans. The assets that may be purchased in this matched savings program include a first home, higher education and the capitalization of a small business.

“IDA's are a powerful response to community poverty. They offer individuals and families the possibility of a more secure future, while creating jobs, increasing skills and developing a stronger tax base in the communities where participants reside,” Bingaman said. 

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Latest Obama-Clinton Polling

Obama is still trending up in the two major national tracking polls during a period when Clinton's Bosnia sniper fantasy dominated much of the coverage. I'd guess this will continue when the impacts of the Clinton tax return release and Mark Penn's serious conflict of interest on Colombian "free" trade enter the picture.

NATIONAL

Gallup daily tracking poll. 4/4-6. Likely voters. MoE 4% (4/2-5 results)

Obama 52 (49)
Clinton 43 (46)

Rasmussen daily tracking poll. 4/3-6. Likely voters. MoE 3% (4/3-5 results)

Obama 51 (50)
Clinton 41 (42)

UPDCOMING PRIMARY STATES
Clinton's still leading in Indiana anywhere from 3 to 10 points, but Obama has made inroads. She's way ahead in Kentucky. The results in both states essentially  match expectations. Obama is dramatically ahead in North Carolina, as predicted. In Pennsylvania, Obama seems to be closing the gap rather dramatically, at least according to the two most recent polls, although results are all over the map. Suffice it to say the race in PA is in flux:

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House Repub "ROMP" Initiative Targets NM-01 Race

Here's another indication that the GOP will be sending big money from Washington into New Mexico's First Congressional District race. According to a new CQ Politics report:

Its not uncommon for congressional leaders to steer fundraising assistance to party candidates who are in difficult races and in need of extra campaign cash. One such effort is the House Republicans’ “ROMP,” an acronym for Regain Our Majority Program, which has released its latest list of Republican candidates who will benefit from additional aid because they are politically vulnerable and/or have been targeted by the Democrats for defeat.

“ROMP 2008,” presently overseen by the political operation of House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio, was recently established in papers filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). These records identify the 10 newest recipients of the program’s assistance.

Included in the first group of candidates targeted this year for special financial support is Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White. Rest assured that the Dems in D.C. will also be pouring money and support into the NM-01 race as never before. Apparently there'll be no holding back on the part of either party, although Dems are expected to have a distinct advantage because Repubs will be forced to defend so many of their seats this cycle and they're raising donations at a much slower clip than Dems.

At this point, the CQ rates the NM-01 contest as No Clear Favorite.

NM-03: Wiviott on Iraq - New Ad, New Questions

All of our Congressional races are obviously heating up, as you can surmise from my posts today about candidate ads. We're now less than two month's away from the June 3rd primary and early voting starts in May. Don Wiviott was the first Congressional candidate up with TV ads in late February. Now he has a new one focused on the Iraq occupation that accompanies his demand that tough questions be asked about military progress in Iraq and how we can bring our troops home. In the ad Wiviott says he'd make getting the troops out of Iraq his top priority. One way to achieve it would be to put a squeeze on funding. And no more privatized armies allowed.

In a campaign release, Wiviott said, “Congress needs to ask Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus tough questions about the situation in Iraq and urge them to enact a major overhaul to our current open-ended strategy. Now it’s time to listen to the will of the American people and find a sensible end to the War that gets our troop’s out of harm’s way and allows the Iraqi people to reclaim their destiny.”

Don continued, “As I travel across Northern New Mexico, I continue to talk to citizens about their concerns and ask their input on how best to end the war. We need to heed the advice of the American people and make sure their voices are heard at the highest levels of government.”

Last week, Wiviott asked supporters to submit questions through his website that they would like to see Congress ask General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. Below are five tough questions from Wiviott and concerned New Mexicans:

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NM-02: Teague Up First in District With TV Ads

Today Harry Teague's campaign for Congress released its first TV ads of 2008. The two 30 second ads can be seen starting today. One provides bio material on the candidate and the other focuses on ending the Iraq war. According to a campaign release, "These ads are part of Harry Teague's commitment to share his plan to get real results on the issues that matter most to New Mexico families: bringing our troops home from Iraq, access to affordable health care, improving education and bringing new jobs to New Mexico."

"I want the people of the 2nd Congressional District to know I am committed to bring our troops home from Iraq, to providing access to healthcare, improving our schools, and creating good jobs here in New Mexico," Teague said. "The ads we started running today are just part of my effort to let voters know I plan to go to Washington and get things done for New Mexico families."

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NM-03: Luján's First Ad On Air Today

Public Regulation Commissioner Ben R. Luján announced the placement of the first television ad of his campaign for Congress in New Mexico District 3 (above). The commercial, entitled "Heart and Soul," began running this morning. No info was released on how long the ad will run. The Luján campaign says it will be one of many to air in the weeks leading up to the June 3 Democratic primary that will coincide with Lujan's Standing Up for New Mexico Tour, which will visit every county in the district.

"This ad emphasizes my belief that people are the heart and soul of our state," Luján said in a release from the campaign. "As I visit the communities of Northern New Mexico, I meet so many people excited about our campaign to bring the values that are important to New Mexicans -- such as standing up to the special interests, making America energy-independent and ending the war in Iraq -- to Washington."

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