The silly season is here again. New Mexico’s primary election is June 5 and it’s quite a show.
Two of the state’s three Congressional representatives, a Democrat and a Republican, are running to replace a term-limited governor. This makes the campaign for the two open Congressional seats a free-for-all.
New Mexico has a one-and-a-half-party system. Democrats dominate except for a conservative stronghold in the southern part of the state. That makes the primary election important because in most of the state, the winner of the Democratic primary for most offices wins the general election with little or no opposition. So I register as a Democrat to avoid being disenfranchised.
I’m not sure if the Republicans even have a primary election in my county. Perhaps they play musical chairs and put the loser on the ballot.
Because Albuquerque is the only television market in the state, I’m seeing a schizophrenic mix of campaign commercials aimed at widely different constituencies. An ad for an Albuquerque Democrat promising to fight President Trump is followed by one for a southern New Mexico Republican calling for tougher immigration enforcement. And apparently there’s a hotly contested sheriff’s race up in San Juan County.
Every single Democrat is running against Donald Trump. My district’s six Congressional candidates are out-bidding one another for the most combative declaration of jihad against the Trump administration. Since New Mexico depends heavily on military bases, national laboratories and federal welfare, this smacks of biting the hand that feeds.
It’s not just the folks running for Congress. A candidate for state auditor is pledging to block Donald Trump’s border wall. He has not explained how the auditor’s office will accomplish this.
One Congressional candidate made national news by dropping the f-bomb in a commercial opposing the National Rifle Association. This is a novel campaign pitch for New Mexico, which has the seventh-highest gun ownership rate (49%) in the country and still celebrates Billy the Kid.
Then there are the surveys. I get several phone calls a week from pollsters. They read a list of candidates and ask if I have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each. Then they test campaign arguments by asking my reaction to statements about the candidates. Candidate X failed to pay his taxes in 2011. Does this make your opinion less favorable? My usual response is: No, I already know he’s a crook. I amuse myself by trying to guess which candidate sponsored the survey.
Early voting has started but I always wait until Election Day in case one of the candidates gets indicted at the last minute. Or arrested for drunk driving, as one of our state legislators was last weekend. I’ve been saving the “I voted” stickers from past years and may walk into the polling place wearing three of them.
Election entertainment
The silly season is here again. New Mexico’s primary election is June 5 and it’s quite a show.
Two of the state’s three Congressional representatives, a Democrat and a Republican, are running to replace a term-limited governor. This makes the campaign for the two open Congressional seats a free-for-all.
New Mexico has a one-and-a-half-party system. Democrats dominate except for a conservative stronghold in the southern part of the state. That makes the primary election important because in most of the state, the winner of the Democratic primary for most offices wins the general election with little or no opposition. So I register as a Democrat to avoid being disenfranchised.
I’m not sure if the Republicans even have a primary election in my county. Perhaps they play musical chairs and put the loser on the ballot.
Because Albuquerque is the only television market in the state, I’m seeing a schizophrenic mix of campaign commercials aimed at widely different constituencies. An ad for an Albuquerque Democrat promising to fight President Trump is followed by one for a southern New Mexico Republican calling for tougher immigration enforcement. And apparently there’s a hotly contested sheriff’s race up in San Juan County.
Every single Democrat is running against Donald Trump. My district’s six Congressional candidates are out-bidding one another for the most combative declaration of jihad against the Trump administration. Since New Mexico depends heavily on military bases, national laboratories and federal welfare, this smacks of biting the hand that feeds.
It’s not just the folks running for Congress. A candidate for state auditor is pledging to block Donald Trump’s border wall. He has not explained how the auditor’s office will accomplish this.
One Congressional candidate made national news by dropping the f-bomb in a commercial opposing the National Rifle Association. This is a novel campaign pitch for New Mexico, which has the seventh-highest gun ownership rate (49%) in the country and still celebrates Billy the Kid.
Then there are the surveys. I get several phone calls a week from pollsters. They read a list of candidates and ask if I have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each. Then they test campaign arguments by asking my reaction to statements about the candidates. Candidate X failed to pay his taxes in 2011. Does this make your opinion less favorable? My usual response is: No, I already know he’s a crook. I amuse myself by trying to guess which candidate sponsored the survey.
Early voting has started but I always wait until Election Day in case one of the candidates gets indicted at the last minute. Or arrested for drunk driving, as one of our state legislators was last weekend. I’ve been saving the “I voted” stickers from past years and may walk into the polling place wearing three of them.
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