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Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Statement from Chairman Javier Gonzales on the Albuquerque Mayoral Election
Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Javier Gonzales released the following statement on the Albuquerque Mayoral election:
"Albuquerque voters today voted overwhelmingly for a Democrat to represent them as their Mayor. Marty Chavez and Richard Romero have received more than 55% of the vote. While there are still votes to be counted, it appears Richard Berry will be the next Mayor of Albuquerque. It is my sincere hope that Mr. Berry will work to unite the city of Albuquerque and respect its diverse population as we continue to make our way through difficult economic times."
Final unofficial results .
October 6, 2009 at 11:22 PM in 2009 Albuquerque Mayoral Race, Democratic Party | Permalink
Comments
I think you get a free dinosaur sticker and a commemorative dinner plate for getting "more than 55 percent of the vote" between two candidates of the same (non) party.
Unfortunately, you don't get to be the Mayor for doing that.
Posted by: scot | Oct 7, 2009 6:24:21 AM
And another thing...
Since when is it all left up to Barb at DFNM to do the heavy lifting for the State/County Democratic Party? Why did the State/County apparatchiks not "take care" of the Romero candidacy if they truly wanted a "Democrat" to win?
Or did a sizable powerful portion of said State/County folks really just want to see Marty dangle at the end of a political rope?
As someone who has been sick of Marty for years, I can see the appeal, but given that political parties are ALL about the scoreboard, there's something very screwy about losing then declaring a "moral" victory with "more than 55 percent of the vote".
Posted by: scot | Oct 7, 2009 6:33:00 AM
Truly disappointing. The Romero campaign, and his supporters, main message was, "Marty is an unacceptable crook: anyone is better than him" Well they got their wish. Instead of an uncharismatic centrist that accomplished many things we get a right wing nut job. I wonder how long it will take before he starts cutting services and taxes. We reap what we sow.
Posted by: alwaysaskeptic | Oct 7, 2009 6:43:04 AM
So was Romero being paid by the GOP to be a spoiler, much like the Republicans are known for financing the Green Party? Or was it just the same sort of ego-drenched stupidity that was behind Teddy's 1980 challenge of Jimmy Carter?
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Oct 7, 2009 6:50:32 AM
Romero handed the election to Berry. He is the Roberto Mondragon of the era. Mondragon gave New Mexicans Gary Johnson and Romero gave the citizens of Albuquerque RJ Berry. What a pitiful politician. I hope he goes away or goes back to the republicans.
Romero cannot win, he will run as a spoiler. He has not won an election since he was in the senate. We need to remember how he worked with Republicans to beat Manny Aragon.
Posted by: Preciliano Martin | Oct 7, 2009 7:53:48 AM
Not to interrupt the circular firing squad, but while y'all are out buying more ammo--say WHAT about Romero?
The story here is that after 12 years behind the bar, Marty Chavez' charming presentation was judged insufficient yo the job by over 40% of his constituents.
Are you seriously asserting that what suppressed turnout was Romero's campaign, rather than the fact that the election was a re-run (El Caudillo vs. Whoever) and the GOP knows how to get out the older, whiter voter?
Come on. You got beat by a GOTV operation that bagged the 40% from absentees and early votes. The numbers don't lie, and the numbers show Marty Chavez was not a candidate that anyone inconvenienced himself to vote for.
Posted by: PhoenixRising | Oct 7, 2009 8:42:23 AM
Can anyone tell me why the south valley wasn't allowed to vote? I have a friend at central and atrisco and she was told that she wasn't allowed to vote because she doesn't live in Albuquerque.
Posted by: Elyria | Oct 7, 2009 8:51:50 AM
It's a known fact that negative campaigning holds down turnout. Turnout was low for this election. Romero and his supporters turned Marty into a monster and a demon. They offered nothing positive. They kept insisting they could win when it was obvious they couldn't.
Marty has his faults and some are huge but Romero offered nothing to the voters except snarling contempt. The 1-2 punch of Romero and Berry pounding Marty guaranteed a Republican win. The GOP gave Berry every support possible vs. the county Democratic party doing very little to get people out to vote. I hope Romero's supporters will realize what they have done to Albuquerque by being so "pure."
Posted by: TD | Oct 7, 2009 9:38:56 AM
Romero and Marty caused the election to go the way it did. I would have voted for Romero, except I heard he was a Lobbyist to the Casinos. This didn’t fly with me. Also when the Democrats secretly voted to rip-off State employees for 1.5 percent to help balance the state deficit, it really pissed me off. I have been a Democrat all my life; this is the first time I have crossed the line to vote for Berry. I am sick of all the Crooked Democrats like Many Aragon running our state. Thank God he is in Jail. I still will believe in the Democrat beliefs, Just let this be a lesson to the Democratic Party.
Posted by: Charles | Oct 7, 2009 10:24:10 AM
Elyria, I was the presiding judge in CP 050, which was comprised of seven regular Atrisco precincts. This area is a patchwork of city and county. In some cases a city residence is surrounded by county and visa-versa. In some cases the situation is so confused that neither the city nor the county really knows which property is theirs! I heard the same thing over and over yesterday: I pay city taxes and I receive city services (e.g. trash pickup). Why can't I vote?
The south valley residents who were not permitted to vote mainly don't live in the city, and the lack of provisional ballots for any event but lack of photo ID clearly disenfranchised some voters. We also had a precinct moved 5 miles or so, which was basically inaccessible to voters without cars. They were disenfranchised, too. I call this institutional disenfranchisement, and possibly institutional racism.
I am really angry about this situation,. as well as arbitrary differences in election procedures that made the pollworkers' jobs far more difficult than necessary. In my view, the city has no more business running an election than the Democratic party does, because neither entity is competent to do so.
Posted by: Proud Democrat | Oct 7, 2009 10:24:25 AM
The worst loss of the night was Michael Cadigan's to Dan Lewis, R, SunCal.
It remains to be seen what sort of mayor Berry will be. If he begins racial profiling and has a policy of deportation, the community will certainly not support him.
Marty is the only Mayor in our history who was ever re-elected. Berry will have 4 years, no more.
In the mean time, potential candidates need to build the framework for a city-wide campaign.
Posted by: bg | Oct 7, 2009 11:02:03 AM
@Charles - Berry is anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant, anti-choice and anti-LGBT rights. Voting for him to punish Democrats? Really bad decision.
Posted by: JaciCee | Oct 7, 2009 11:43:22 AM
@ProudDemocrat - I wasn't allowed to vote either. I live right outside the city limits in the far NE heights.
Posted by: JaciCee | Oct 7, 2009 11:45:29 AM
Where were all the big shot progressive lawmakers who went out of their way to keep people voting for Romero in terms of helping in the Cadigan race? This one was just as important and there was no effort at all on the part of progressives or the Dem Party.
It makes me sick that people who were on the hate bandwagon against Marty can't seem to take any responsibility for the election of Berry. They will never learn. They think this is a victory.
Posted by: Sean | Oct 7, 2009 11:51:08 AM
PhoenixRising-the circular firing squad was led by Romero. He was divisive and full of crap as a candidate. He's no liberal and I don't know why people think he is.
Posted by: KD | Oct 7, 2009 11:53:51 AM
You can only lead people if they follow you in going there, and I think we can see who all 'went there' from the past posts on this topic.
Bottom line, progressives and our strongest allies in the Roundhouse coughed up the ball here. I didn't get ONE darn doorknock on behalf of either Dem's campaign.
Sean has an excellent point: Cadigan was a good ally on Council and will be missed, but none of the 20/20 hindsight blaming Romero applied to that race. We just didn't do the work.
Posted by: PhoenixRising | Oct 7, 2009 12:01:12 PM
Our strongest allies in the Roundhouse haven't had much success there either. Maybe they're too ideological to build a practical coalition to get things done. They're like a little clique operating in their own world up there.
Posted by: Fanta Se | Oct 7, 2009 12:29:49 PM
Marty's loss is Marty's failure. If a three-term incumbent can't manage 40% of the vote, look at the man, not his opponents. Romero had every right to run. Let's just hope that Berry sticks to the business of running city government and doesn't polarize the city on social issues. I wish him luck! We all need a good mayor.
Posted by: donb | Oct 7, 2009 2:59:59 PM
Romero had a right to run for sure. He had a right to run a shitty destructive race against a fellow Democrat. He had a right to donate to awful GOP lawmakers. Progressives had a right to support him and waste their votes on him too. Doesn't make any sense though.
Posted by: Allen | Oct 7, 2009 5:02:22 PM
Marty has done his share of sandbagging democrats and I know he has made plenty of contributions to Republicans.
No one in politics stays pure for long.
How many people who have been griping here have been knocking on doors or making phone calls for anyone in any city race this season?
I did a bunch of it, and I did not hear that the campaign was negative. I did not have anyone hang up the phone or slam the door, and I heard a variety of comments about the various candidates, positive and not. Many people had very strong feelings about Marty, and many voiced their opinion that it was time for him to go.
Not a lot of people pay attention to city politics, even though our daily lives are shaped by the people who are elected to these jobs.
I hope that everyone here will take an active role in helping to improve our City by visiting with their representatives and by speaking out at Council meetings, etc.
The City will become what we make it, largely by our personal involvement in the issues that matter to us.
Berry appears to me to have a steep learning curve. I hope he will be open to suggestions.
It is true that the majority of people who voted did not vote for him. On top of that, an even larger majority did not even participate. It is up to him to recognize that he has no "mandate" and must bring the city together.
Posted by: bg | Oct 7, 2009 6:49:45 PM
Blah, blah, blah. If you don't think Romero ran a negative campaign you must be deaf, dumb and blind. Thanks for helping turn the city bloody red.
Posted by: Here and Queer | Oct 7, 2009 6:57:36 PM
Gee whiz Here and Queer, why is Romero to blame for running as a progressive against DINO Marty but Marty's not to blame for running against Romero?
Posted by: Dan | Oct 7, 2009 8:15:01 PM
@JaciCee: Of course you can't vote if you don't live in the jurisdiction! The boundary in your area is quite clear. Not so much in the south valley. i'm not arguing that county residents should be able to vote in city elections. Not at all! I'm saying that legitimate city residents were prohibited from voting, and without any kind of appeal, i.e a provisional ballot.
Posted by: Proud Democrat | Oct 8, 2009 1:04:29 AM
@ProudDemocrat - I am not disagreeing with you...at all. The boundaries are not clear and even when they are there are still discrepancies that muddy the waters. Even though I don't live within the city limits I have to purchase a City Business License for my business.
Posted by: JaciCee | Oct 8, 2009 6:25:12 AM
Before you blame anyone else for the election results on Tuesday, I'm wondering how many doors you knocked on to help Michael Cadigan? Make any phone calls on his behalf?
Did you work for Ike or Allen? Did you work for Marty?
What did you do to make a difference?
Sally Mayer dropped out of the race after the deadlines for anyone else to run. . .a progressive Dem ran in that district last time and got the third highest number of votes in any city council race citywide. No Dem even attempted that race this time, we were left with one red candidate.
Ken Sanchez ran unopposed, and Harris also did not have a Dem opponent.
Marty played coy during the early part of the race, never coming clean on his plans though everyone expected him to jump in at the last minute as his friends/employees were out getting contributions for a public-financed campaign.
A lot of people worked hard to make a difference. If you were not one of them, quitcherbitchin.
I did all I could, and I'm not sorry. We have four years to put together the ground work for candidates for City Council, and 4 years to come up with a Mayoral candidate. How about some ideas for that?
Blame is not productive.
Posted by: bg | Oct 8, 2009 7:45:44 AM
Who are you directing your comments at bg? You don't know who did what this election. Where was the county party? They couldn't take sides but they could have spoke out about Berry and gotten more democrats out to vote. Funny you say blame is not productive. The Romero campaign was about blame and not much else.
Posted by: Sean | Oct 8, 2009 9:04:32 AM
IMO, the Dem party put no strategic thinking into the election. I include myself. Cadigan was hung out to dry. We should have made sure he had as many canvassers and other volunteers as he needed to amply cover his district and defend his seat.
That loss was critical in terms of the balance of the council, his strategic thinking and ability to put together vote margins on the council and in terms of west side development. We should have had someone running in District 7.
In two years, we will have the opportunity to run democratic candidates in 2 districts and defend two seats. Let's get on it.
Posted by: bg | Oct 8, 2009 9:31:20 AM
I wanted to thank everyone who worked hard in this election no matter which Dem candidate you worked for. That certainly includes bg, who kicks ass on the vol circuit. I also wanted to thank everyone who took the time to vote. We need more of both as we move forward -- as well as more strategic thinking and planning. I think we also need more steady involvement from our lawmakers and other elected officials in the work of the Party.
Posted by: barb | Oct 8, 2009 10:15:59 AM
Gee guys look at it this way.... 65% wanted Marty out.
Posted by: Bob Long | Oct 8, 2009 3:06:53 PM
as a PS to my post. As a life long democrat I was going to vote Marty until I got 2 robot calls. One from Bill "I've never had sex with that woman" Clinton and the second cheap shot from Marty re Berry's character. NOT Good not good at all. If we keep up with these tactics I think we have lost the governorship, and congress as well. Speak of our strengths and our issues don't just try to throw mud.
Posted by: Bob Long | Oct 8, 2009 3:11:59 PM
Great basis for your vote Bob. I see you stick to the issues. Not. Guess you're satisfied with a bigot mayor who hid behind his wife to get minority bids.
Posted by: LW | Oct 8, 2009 5:36:20 PM
lw, Hid behind his wife not so just good business and legal. She is Mexican and proud of it.
WE need to speak the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Marty was a crook, dishonest and a weasle but I was going to vote for him anyway.
Perhaps you are his campaign manager who failed completely. If Marty chose this path to victory he clearly misread the mood of Albuquerque. May he dissolve into the desert landscape and find a rock to crawl under. All I wanted was a clear statement of the record and why he deserved my vote. Instead he squirreled away his war chest and used it to run these Robo calls.
NO I DIDN"T VOTE FOR Berry I voted Democratic.
Posted by: Bob Long | Oct 8, 2009 11:50:09 PM
You're a BS artist Bob. Romero's campaign negative the whole time. You didn't vote on the issues- more like a whim like many do.
I hope you enjoy an Albuquerque run by a weasle low enough to stir up the immigrant haters and gay haters. The real crook is Berry grabbing almost $50 million in DEFENSE contracts by lying about who owns-runs his business. He got pork by lying. Berry's wife isn't Mexican-she's hispanic and works against her own people.
Posted by: LW | Oct 9, 2009 8:53:08 AM
