Democracy for New Mexico

DFA-DFNM Meetup Tonight: Jennifer Ford, Eric Griego, Tim Keller

It's that time again. Our regular monthly Albuquerque DFA-DFNM Meetup is set for tonight, March 6 at 7:00 PM at the Social Hall of the First Unitarian Church at Carlisle and Comanche. If you'll be attending, join the group and/or RSVP now.

This Meetup we'll hear from Jennifer Ford, Executive Director of the New Mexico chapter of America Votes, on the group's study on local voter demographics and more as we gear up for encouraging participation in the coming elections. Click to check out the many local organizations, including DFNM, that are members of the America Votes Coalition.

Two progressive Dem primary challengers for the New Mexico Legislature will also be reaching out to our group: Former City Councilor and mayoral candidate Eric Griego is running for State Senate in District 14 in the S. Valley/Downtown area. And fresh face Tim Keller just announced his candidacy for State Senate in District 17 in the SE Heights.

If we want to get rid of some of the "dead wood" status-quo Dems who've been blocking progress in the Legislature on issues like public campaign financing, ethics reform and achieving universal health coverage, we need to help more and better Dems get elected to replace them.

Continue reading "DFA-DFNM Meetup Tonight: Jennifer Ford, Eric Griego, Tim Keller"

(Updated) More on Allegations About Vote Buying at NM GOP Delegate Elections

UPDATE: At 3:00 PM today, KKOB radio's Pat Frisch will discuss the alleged NM GOP vote buying at the Party's ward conventions last month, along with the resulting controversies. Frisch is filling in for Jim Villanucci, who's on vacation. You can listen to the show online or on AM radio at 770.
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Local and national blog posts are proliferating about the story broken by Dennis Domrzalski regarding allegations of vote buying at the recent NM GOP delegate ward elections and KKOB's decision to pull Laura MacCallum's news coverage of the allegations. MacCallum quit her news anchor job at the radio station in response. I previously posted on the story a few days ago.

I don't have time to write more about this right now because I have some business to take care of this morning, but I'll get back to it later today. In the meantime, I thought I'd publish a recent Democratic Party of New Mexico press release on the story:

HEATHER WILSON DOESN’T REFUTE ROLL IN VOTE-BUYING SCHEME

DPNM Calls on Senate Candidate to Answer Charges Directly

Albuquerque – The Democratic Party of New Mexico today called on U.S. Senate candidate Heather Wilson to directly answer charges that she bought votes at a recent Bernalillo County Republican Party delegate nominating convention.

“Once again, Heather Wilson is caught in an ethically compromising situation in which she faces allegations of manipulating the system to come out ahead in an election,” DPNM Chairman Brian Colon said today. “This time, she refuses to directly answer the charge that she bought delegate votes and her silence on such a serious charge is incriminating.”

On Monday, allegations of intra-Republican vote buying continued to surface on 27-year veteran news reporter Dennis Domrzalski’s blog. Domrzalski’s post included accounts from former New Mexico Governor Dave Cargo, State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones and former KKOB radio reporter Laura McCallum indicating that people who showed up had been paid by Heather Wilson and Darren White’s campaigns.

“Cargo said that over the course of the meeting many of the participants said that they were from Wilson’s senate campaign and from Bernalillo Country Sheriff Darren White’s congressional campaign,” Domrzalski reported. “Several people told him that they were being paid $35-an-hour (for two hours) by their campaigns and that the campaigns had also paid their $30 registration fees.”

Wilson’s senate campaign has not refuted the charges.

“Allegations of vote-buying should not be taken so lightly,” said Colon. They cut to the heart of our nation’s democracy and electoral process. In fact, this is not the first time Heather Wilson has been caught engaging in ethically ambiguous behavior. Heather Wilson has established a clear pattern of ethically compromising actions that simply do not reflect the values of New Mexico voters.”

Continue reading "(Updated) More on Allegations About Vote Buying at NM GOP Delegate Elections"

Laura Paskus on Ballot Booth Woes

In the aftermath of our recent Democratic presidential caucus, Laura Paskus takes an indepth look at New Mexico's election system and its problems past and present in this week's Santa Fe Reporter. She tries to find an answer to the question, "Can New Mexico Run a Successful Election?"

With critical presidential, Congressional and local elections on tap this coming November, citizens and advocacy groups here and all over the nation are questioning whether we can trust the voting systems that are crucial to our democracy. What can we do to help ensure the integrity of our elections? The first step has to be to learn more about how they work.

I'm not providing any excerpts from Laura's piece because you really need to read the entire article. Comments?

Eschewing the Dash-for-Cash: Marks' Re-Election First to Qualify for Public Financing in 2008

Public Regulation Commission Chairman Jason Marks has announced that his reelection campaign qualifies for public financing. Chairman Marks’ campaign is the first PRC campaign in 2008 to meet all the requirements in order to receive public campaign financing. Marks’ campaign filed over 400 five-dollar qualifying contributions with the Secretary of State’s office last week, along with other required forms and certifications, and quickly learned that more than enough of the contributions have been officially confirmed as coming from registered voters in the district, an essential requirement in qualifying for public financing.

Marks’ reelection campaign displayed strong and timely effort in gathering the required qualifying contributions. Chairman Marks explains, “the help of volunteers, along with a strong showing of support from voters throughout the Albuquerque area, and from all political parties, allowed us to submit more than enough qualifying contributions . . . and to do it well before the final deadline of March 18, 2008. Everything is now in place for us to receive campaign funds from the Secretary of State immediately following ballot qualifying, which is also on March 18.”

“Public financing of elections is the best way yet devised to remove the undue influence money on has our democratic system,” per Marks. With the prospect that his successful campaign this year will lead to the expansion of public financing to more New Mexico elected offices in the future, he emphasizes what it means for his campaign today. “Right now, qualifying for public financing means that our PRC reelection campaign can focus on the concerns of voters between now and November and not on the dash-for-cash.”

Continue reading "Eschewing the Dash-for-Cash: Marks' Re-Election First to Qualify for Public Financing in 2008"

(Updated) BradBlog, Crooks & Liars Pick Up on NM GOP Vote Buying Story

BradBlog has now picked up the story about alleged vote buying at the New Mexico Republican Party ward conventions by the Heather Wilson and Darren White campaigns. On Monday, I posted about the scandal broken by Dennis Domrzalski, as did other local blogs including (who also posted about it on Daily Kos), m-pyre and ClearlyNewMexico.

I wonder if the campaigns will ever be pressured by the authorities to provide the truth about what happened. I wonder, too, if KKOB will ever be pushed to explain why they pulled the reports on this by news anchor Laura MacCallum, who has since resigned in protest. Will these scurrilous goings-on really be allowed to fade into oblivion without anyone having to face any consequences?

It's too bad that New Mexico's newspapers and TV news outfits are apparently uninterested in pursuing a story like this. For example, the Albuquerque Journal's main political reporter, Jeff Jones, hasn't mentioned it at all, preferring to write derivative stories like this one that consists primarily of a laundry list of Gov. Bill Richardson's statements on whether he will endorse a presidential candidate. Journalism? What's that?

UPDATE 1: Another national blog, Crooks and Liars, posted on this story late yesterday. Who's next?

UPDATE 2: Now Mark Crispin Miller's Notes From Underground has picked it up.

Results of Santa Fe, Other Municipal Elections

According to this unofficial summary of the results of the Santa Fe municipal election by the Santa Fe New Mexican, all of the amendments to the city charter passed including ranked-choice voting and public funded elections. In Council District 1: Bushee 2,100, Garcia 798. In Council District 2: Romero 2,024, Dobyns 701. In Council District 3: Lujan 731, Chavez 867. In Council District 4: Ortiz 1,368. You can learn what passage of the charter changes means in this New Mexican article.

KRQE has election results for Rio Rancho, where Tom Swisstack won the mayoral race and the higher education initiative passed, and other municipal elections held around the state on Tuesday.

Updates on Dem Prez Primaries/Caucuses: OH, RI, TX, VT Results

Frequently updated results for all four states are available at the CNN website.

UPDATE 9PM: Check out how the delegate counts are going for the real story here. The explanation provided is very instructive. This is the kind of mathematical analysis that indicates that unless Clinton wins big, like 65%-35%, in all the states tonight plus all the states to come through June, and she ALSO wins big in most every district within the states, she cannot make up Obama's delegate margin.

Before tonight, Obama's pledged delegate margin was 161 or so. The results from today will probably be a wash -- with one or the other gaining only a handful of net delegates.
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Vermont: 15 pledged, 8 super delegates
Polls had barely closed in Vermont when Barack Obama was projected to be the winner of his 12th straight contest based on exit polling results. Obama was expected to win the state by a healthy margin, so this is no surprise, but it does represent one down, three to go if you're an Obama fan like me. The exit polling in Vermont shows Obama winning by big margins in almost every demographic category.

Texas: 126 pledged - primary, 67 pledged - caucuses, 12 super delegates

Vote stealing being reported in Houston. And it's not by the Obama campaign. Description of voting and caucus chaos in . Clinton projected as winner despite the fact that the caucus results, which will allocate about 35% of delegates, are only dribbling in. I thought the "winning" of the state of Texas was dependent on who wins the primary AND the caucus, didn't you?

Ohio: 141 pledged, 21 super delegates
Polling places in two counties staying open late due to weather. Hillary projected winner at about 9:00 PM our time, although most major city totals are not yet in.

Rhode Island: 21 pledged, 12 super delegates
As expected, Clinton the projected winner, although it looks like the pledged delegate split will be about even. Exit polling.

NM-03: New 'Wiviott in Depth' Video

Don Wiviott, a Dem running for Congress in NM-03, has just released a new extended video introduction (above) that gives him a chance to tell prospective voters a little more about himself, what he believes in and why he's running for the U.S. House seat in Northern New Mexico. About five and half minutes long, the video shows Wiviott on the road, talking to groups and explaining his take on the campaign and what's needed in Washington. It also features supporters talking about why they plan to vote for Don.

I like it, and I think this approach can be very useful in breaking through to voters by going around the kind of traditional media that doesn't cover local political news in much depth. Check it out and see what you think.

(Updated) Two New Mexicans On the Ground in Dallas for Obama

Obama greets supporters after Carrollton town hall (AP/Rick Bowmer)

UPDATE: Check out the comments thread for Laura Sanchez's report on her experience in Dallas.
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Check back later. I'll be posting updates from Albuquerque's Mario Benevidez and Laura Sanchez, who are on the ground in Dallas for the Obama campaign. That's IF and WHEN they can find the time! Also, I learned that Maggie over at m-pyre is hosting the duo at her place in Dallas so check over there for tidbits too.

Albuquerque Obama supporters Mario Benevidez and Laura E. Sanchez traveled all the way to Dallas to be a part of today's much anticipated Dem primary and caucus in Texas. Late yesterday afternoon, they hooked up with former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk and progressive rising star State Rep. Raphael Anchia (D-Dallas) to attend a packed Obama event for students and parents at the Newman Smith High School auditorium in Carrollton, just north of Dallas. Snow was falling but spirits were high.

A crowd of more than 2000 got to hear Obama urge students to get involved with politics and government, take responsibility for their actions and be a part of the solution (click for video). Obama also answered their questions about the environment, global warming, the Iraq war and immigration and spoke to them about the future.

Working for Obama's Voter Protection Team
Mario and Laura called me today to say they'll be working all day and into the night for the Obama campaign's voter protection team in Dallas. Attorneys and law students from around the nation have traveled to Texas to help monitor voting sites and respond to any reported problems concerning voter suppression or other irregularities. The two New Mexicans will be stationed outside a polling place at Robert Thornton Elementary School, in a primarily African-American precinct, and holding signs indicating they're available to help voters who run into obstacles or technicalities, or who need information.

Continue reading "(Updated) Two New Mexicans On the Ground in Dallas for Obama"

Must Read: Vote Buying by Wilson & White Campaigns at NM GOP Delegate Nominating Meetings?

On the heels of his story about threats reportedly being made by powerful NM Repubs to those thinking of mounting a primary challenge to NM-01 Congressional candidate Darren White, Dennis Domrzalski has a new post on what is being termed vote buying -- allegedly carried out by the campaigns of Darren White and Heather Wilson at certain GOP ward conventions in Albuquerque on February 24. The allegations against White's NM-01 Congressional campaign and Wilson's U.S. Senate campaign are being made by former-NM Governor Dave Cargo (right), and corroborated by State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones. Quote:

Cargo says he noticed something different when 59 people showed up at the Albuquerque Marriott to elect delegates from the 31^st ward in Albuquerque.

“This is probably the biggest ward in the city, by far. Normally we have between 9 and 15 people show up,” Cargo said. “And so along comes the convention on Sunday and 59 people show up.”

Cargo began passing around a signup sheet. “I said ‘I’m going to pass around notebook and would like to have you write down your names and address and phone number so I can call you and put you to work for the party,’” Cargo said. “Then one gal got up and said, ‘We aren’t working for any party; we’re here only this one time and we won’t be back.’”

Cargo said that over the course of the meeting many of the participants said they were from Wilson’s senate campaign and from Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White’s congressional campaign. Several people told him they were being paid $35-an-hour (for two hours) by their campaigns and that the campaigns had also paid their $30 registration fees. [emphasis mine]

“I told them that this was known as vote buying, that it was illegal and that it was fourth-degree felony,” Cargo said.

... State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, said she saw the same thing in the 24^th Ward’s convention. Many of the participants said they had been paid to attend and vote for certain delegates, she said.

“They were free about telling us why they were there and what they were trying to do,” Arnold-Jones added. “Some people said they had been paid to participate in the convention. It was clear that some of them had no stake in the process and that they were not coming back for the convention.”

The allegations about possible vote buying were first reported last week by KKOB Radio News Anchor Laura MacCallum, who quit her job in protest when News Director Pat Allen pulled the stories after being contacted by Wilson campaign spokesperson Whitney Cheshire (right).

MacCallum was outraged by the situation.

“I had an ethical problem with the stories being pulled because Heather Wilson’s campaign put pressure on newsroom management,” MacCallum said. “They allowed political pressure to dictate the news. As journalists we can’t do that. The news has to stand alone. That a political candidate can inject herself into news department management is just mind blowing. Should we just be doing the Heather Wilson news? And as soon as we make her angry she’s going to call and start giving everybody trouble?

You really must read the entire post at Domrzalski's blog. Also check out the post on this at , who jumped on Domrzalski's story first this afternoon.