Democracy for New Mexico

NM-01: Heinrich Talks About Issues Important to Working People

Martin Heinrich, NM-01's Dem candidate for Congress, talks about the Employee Free Choice Act, health care and his work with the labor movement in a video from the AFL-CIO posted on NM Labor 2008. Numerous labor unions have endorsed Heinrich. An article on the NM Labor 2008 site has this to say about Martin as part of a series called Meet Our Endorsed Candidates:

Martin’s past work with the labor movement includes leading the fight to raise the minimum wage in Albuquerque. Thanks to hard work from Martin, AFSCME, CWA, OPCM, UFCW, and the Building Trades unions, Albuquerque is one of only three cities in the U.S. in which the minimum wage is higher than both the federal and state minimum wages.

Martin also believes in affordable health care for all working families. “We need to make sure that health care is portable, that people don’t loose health care when they loose their jobs, that pre-existing conditions don’t keep people from having health care, and we should require the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices for our seniors,” says Martin.

“One of the most influential things that union members can do to support pro-working family candidates in this election is to phone bank, canvass, pass out worksite leaflets, and talk to friends and co-workers about why they are voting,” says Martin. “It is also crucial to vote early and to vote by mail.”

Martin Heinrich is a True Blue New Mexico candidate. Please do what you can to help him get elected. His campaign needs volunteers and financial support to defeat his backward-leaning GOP competitor Darren White. We don't need a Repub representative in NM-01 who wants to extend the horribly damaging Bush agenda into the coming years. The complex problems we're facing need to be addressed by someone who understands the issues and will represent the people, not the special interests. Don't just nod your head in agreement -- sign up to volunteer for Heinrich's campaign and donate to the cause.

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(Updated) NM-01: Three First District Sheriffs Endorse Heinrich

Update: On his blog, Sheriff Greg Solano explains his support for Martin Heinrich -- and why he can't support Darren White -- with this powerful statement:

For me I feel just a little bad that I cannot support Sheriff White but he has always been a staunch Bush supporter and the Bush administration has decimated law enforcement in his last 7 years in office. The really bad part is I have never heard Sheriff White admonish the Bush administration or even lobby the Bush administration to stop the bleeding. Officers across this nation are going with out Bullet Proof Vests, without ammunition for training and with out funding to keep cops on the streets and in the schools. I would love to see a fellow Law Enforcement Officer in Congress, Darren White is just not that officer.

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The Martin Heinrich for Congress campaign informs us that three central New Mexico sheriffs publicly endorsed candidate Martin Heinrich this past weekend. According to the campaign, all three sheriffs cited Heinrich's crime-fighting record on the Albuquerque City Council as a main reason for supporting him in the race for Congress, and all expressed optimism for the future of New Mexican law enforcement with Heinrich acting on their behalf in Congress.

Valencia County Sheriff Rene Rivera appeared Saturday at a Valencia County welcoming event for Martin Heinrich. In his endorsement, Sheriff Rivera said, "I've been in law enforcement for over 19 years fighting against crime and drugs. Martin Heinrich was tough on crime on the Council, and I know he's the right partner in Congress to help keep our streets safe. That's why I'm endorsing him."

"We need Martin Heinrich in Congress," said Sandoval Sheriff John Paul Trujillo in his statement of endorsement. "This is the year to send the right representative to be our man in Congress, our voice for New Mexico law enforcement. Martin Heinrich will fight for critical legislation, like the COPS program. President Bush has succeeded in almost completely defunding COPS, but Martin will fight for the grants and funding law enforcement needs."

Santa Fe Sheriff Greg Solano endorsed Martin Heinrich earlier in the general election, but released an official statement of endorsement today. "This was not a hard decision – supporting Martin Heinrich and endorsing his candidacy," said Sheriff Solano. "I will always support my fellow sheriffs and members of law enforcement, but this year I know the best man to represent us in Congress is Martin Heinrich.

As City Councilor he worked to fight crime and meth production in Albuquerque and increase the minimum wage to help out all of us living here. Martin Heinrich will bring the same ingenuity, creativity, and focus to Congress."

In response Heinrich said, "I am honored that Sheriffs Rivera, Trujillo, and Solano have decided that I am the one person in this race they know they can count on to be their partner in fighting crime."

Martin Heinrich is a True Blue New Mexico candidate. Please give what you can in terms of time and donations to help him get elected in NM-01.

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ACI Hosts Series of Congressional Candidate Forums

The Association of Commerce and Industry, along with a number of other organizations, is hosting a series of Congressional candidate forums in August in Santa Fe, Clovis, Las Cruces and Albuquerque. The forums will address the candidates' positions on business issues such as immigration, health care and other hot topics. Details are listed below the break. Space is limited. To register, visit the ACI website.

Monday, August 4, Santa Fe: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Forum Building at the College of Santa Fe, 1600 St. Michael's Drive. Invited: NM-03 candidates Daniel East (R); Ben Ray Lujan Jr. (D); and Carol Miller (I); U.S. Senate candidates Steve Pearce (R-NM 2nd) and Tom Udall (D-NM 3rd).

Wednesday, August 6, Clovis: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Clovis Civic Center, 801 Schepps Blvd. Invited: NM-03 candidates Daniel East (R); Ben Ray Lujan Jr. (D); and Carol Miller (I); U.S. Senate candidates Steve Pearce (R-NM 2nd) and Tom Udall (D-NM 3rd).

Thursday, August 7, Las Cruces: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Good Samaritan Society Las Cruces Village, 3011 Buena Vida Cr. Invited: NM-02 candidates Harry Teague (D) and Edward Tinsley (R); U.S. Senate candidates Steve Pearce (R-NM 2nd) and Tom Udall (D-NM 3rd).

Friday, August 22, Albuquerque: 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, Marriott Pyramid North, 5151 San Francisco Road NE. Invited: NM-01 candidates Martin Heinrich (D) and Darren White (R); U.S. Senate candidates Steve Pearce (R-NM 2nd) and Tom Udall (D-NM 3rd).

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NM-01: White Releases Internal Poll Info Showing Decline in Support

The first internal polling released by Repub Darren White's NM-01 Congressional campaign back in October, conducted by GOP pollsters Public Opinion Strategies (POS), showed him with a lead of 18 points over Dem Martin Heinrich. Then, nothing from the White campaign -- until Heinrich released an internal poll on July 8th showing Martin surging in popularity and leading White by 3 points.

Now we suddenly get a bare-bones-only memo about a new internal White poll, again by Public Opinion Strategies, showing him bleeding support to Heinrich compared to their previously released internal survey. The telephone survey conducted on July 22-23, 2008 among 500 likely voters, and with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.38%, shows White with a 47-41% lead. Support for White is now down by 12 points from the level he had in his campaign's initial internal survey -- not up.

Why release these numbers now? Perhaps because panic has begun to set in at the White camp and he needs to convince Repubs that he has a chance to win in a year when Dems are expected to swamp the GOP up and down the ticket in most states -- even according to GOP strategists.

Where Are the Questions and Other Data?
Note that the White campaign failed to release the text of the questions that were asked, any unfavorable numbers generated by ancillary questions or any detailed description of the methodology used. Is this because the questions were worded or asked in a manner designed to produce the answers the White campaign set out to obtain? We don't know. Were party labels attached to the candidate names? We don't know. All we know are the numbers publicized in the memo, period.

The manner in which this polling data was released suggests to me that a candidate who's one of George Bush’s biggest cheerleaders is struggling in this race. White's face has long been on TV and his name before the public in connection with his job as Bernalillo County Sheriff. Yet Heinrich's name ID lags by only 13 points before a single general election ad has aired or a single debate between Heinrich and White has been televised in the NM-01 race. Not good.

As more people get to know Heinrich, his name recognition and approval numbers have an excellent chance of rising within this group. On the other hand, most voters already know White so it will be harder to get his numbers to rise.

POS: Pumping the Right-Wing Agenda
In important ways, this is a politicized poll aimed at making political points, not a serious and fair snapshot of the race. Need more proof? Read the memo. What comes to mind when an allegedly respectable pollster uses rhetoric like this?

Martin Heinrich’s record on the City Council and the extreme positions he has taken in the
campaign make him better suited to run in the elite neighborhoods of San Francisco than this middle-of-the-road district in New Mexico.

That's not statistically driven analysis -- that's pure political spin from the right, relying on stereotypical language left over from the 1980s. In other words, it's as hackneyed and heavy-handed as the rest of White's campaign messaging to date in this race.

Despite providing no data or documentation to back up its claims, POS also states that "Heinrich comes with a long and undeniable record of opposing the needs of New Mexico families on issues they care about most." Like what? Raising the minimum wage?

POS also mentions "the extreme ideology of Martin Heinrich" that "will become abundantly clear in this campaign." Oh, and Heinrich’s "extreme views and votes on everything from taxes and spending to fringe environmental protectionism to hypocritical business persecution to national security policy, position him well outside mainstream thought in New Mexico." I especially like the "business persecution language. Don't you?

Transparent and laughable, isn't it? And, again, nothing to back up the claims. Just BS rhetoric straight from the GOP talking point machine.

Hey Heath
Heath Haussamen headlines his coverage of the latest internal White poll with the phrase, "Take That Heinrich." Given how we've all heard by now how Heath runs a purely neurtal, "journalistic blog," am I the only one who finds that headline just a bit too celebratory? Notice that Heath fails to mention draw any conclusions from the fact that the survey questions were not provided from POS, and that he offers little other analysis of the survey memo. Primarily, he just copies the memo's contents verbatim. Hmm.....

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Meet Campaign Staff at DPBC Third Thursday Meeting

From the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County:

DPBC THIRD THURSDAY MEETING
Thursday, July 17th, 6:00 PM
UNM LAW SCHOOL, ROOM 2401
1117 Stanford NE, Albuquerque, Map

Come meet campaign staff: Josh Geise from the Coordinated Campaign, Adrian Saenz from the Obama Campaign, and staffers from the Heinrich and Udall campaigns. They will be available to answer questions and discuss the coordination of the different campaigns. All are welcome.

Alsok mark your calendar for the DPBC Labor Day picnic  on September 1st honoring our labor partners. Location and time to be determined.

NM-01: Heinrich Raises $500,000+ in Six Weeks

This is impressive indeed. Because I'm in a motel in Quanah, Texas about half-way to Austin and Netroots Nation, I'll just post the Heinrich campaign's press release on this as is. It says it all, anyway. Congratulations go out to Martin, all the campaign staff and volunteers and the more than 1,200 people who donated to the cause this past six weeks. Bravo!

Albuquerque, New Mexico – Democrat Martin Heinrich's congressional campaign continues to rapidly gain momentum as his fundraising skyrocketed in the most recent financial reporting period.  Heinrich raised $510,571 from over 1,200 contributors in just six short weeks, besting former Bush-Cheney Campaign Chair Darren White's fundraising efforts for the past three months.

Despite President Bush raising $317,000 in a matter of hours for White's struggling campaign, Heinrich's broad base of grassroots support was able to significantly beat back the Washington Republican financial machine.  Heinrich has consolidated Democratic support and closed the financial reporting period with an impressive showing of $354,165 cash on hand.

"In my conversations with residents from Mountainair to Los Lunas to Albuquerque, one thing has become clear:  New Mexicans are starving for real leadership and a new direction.  I am encouraged that so many people are taking an active role in getting our country back on the right track, and I am honored by their support," said Heinrich.

Last week, Heinrich released a poll conducted June 29^th-July 2^nd showing Heinrich leading Republican Darren White by a margin of 47-44.  The poll was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, who has also previously conducted polling for Lt. Governor Diane Denish and other New Mexican candidates.

"What we've got here is a choice between the George Bush-Darren White team and their disastrous legacy or the fresh pragmatic thinking that Martin Heinrich brings to the table," said Heinrich Campaign Manager Jon Blair.  "New Mexicans have made it clear that they will no longer support the failed policies of the past and this year they'll be supporting candidates who can bring real results, like Martin Heinrich."

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This Just In: Al Unser Sr. Sues Darren White, 3 Deputies, Bernalillo County Commissioners

According to KOB:

Indy racing legend Al Unser Senior has filed a federal suit against Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, three of his deputies and Bernalillo County commissioners claiming his rights were violated when he was arrested in 2006.

Unser was taken into custody at the perimeter of a crime scene. Deputies allege he was failing to follow orders. Unser claims that authorities knew he had done nothing wrong and that his rights were violated when authorities elected to put him on trial. Unser was found innocent by an Albuquerque jury.

Should make Darren White's claims to be the GOP's "law and order" candidate in the NM-01 Congressional race just a wee bit weak. I'm sure a lot more will be revealed on this story. Should be riveting.

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DCCC to Spend Million on Ads in NM-01 and NM-02

Talking Points Memo obtained a obtained a list of races the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) intends to target in September and October, when they'll run more than $34 million worth of TV ads in 31 districts. It's clear that the DCCC will be casting a wide net and spending money in a number of traditionally Republican districts.

The contest in NM-01 between Dem Martin Heinrich and Repub Darren White will get $1.3 million in ad support from the DCCC an an effort to take the seat held by Heather Wilson for the Dems. Last time out, Dem and former AG Patricia Madrid was defeated by fewer than 900 votes. And in NM-02, long considered a safe seat for the Repubs, the DCCC will kick in $1.2 for ads promoting Harry Teague over his GOP rival, Ed Tinsley -- Steve Pearce's current seat. That's a signficant amount of cash. Imagine what the airwaves will look like this Fall. Well, maybe you shouldn't!

The DCCC list includes races in GOP strongholds challenging Repub members of Congress in places like Alaska (Young), Arizona (Renzi), Colorado (Musgrave), Florida (Feeney) and North Carolina (Hayes). About two thirds of the DCCC's funds will be spent in districts currently held by Repubs.

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(Updated) NM-01: Lobo Coach Doesn't Know Darren White

Update: The front page of Darren White's campaign website STILL includes a listing for "An Evening with Coach Steve Alford" in their events section.
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From today's Albuquerque Journal story on the swirling controversy about NM-01 GOP Congressional candidate Darren White's (right) July 16th "Evening with Coach Steve Alford" fundraiser at the home of UNM lobbyist Joe Thompson, it's hard to tell which Republican is telling the biggest whopper. Turns out nobody knew much of anything about the event. They seemed to be participating in the event planning and were set to attend, but -- surprise -- there was only a vague idea about what the party was, why it was taking place or why Alford was asked to attend. The accounts of the people involved in the fundraiser are rather murky and confusing as to the who, what, where, how and why aspects of how things developed.

I guess this bunch has an odd habit of wandering around from place to place with no idea why. They're just out there glad-handing and touting Lobo basketball, right? No politics intended. UNM's VP of Athletics Paul Krebs (left) admits he's the one who asked Alford to attend, but "said he didn’t know the coach would be the main attraction." Oh, and he and Alford merely like to meet leaders in the state. It just so happens that takes place at candidate fundraisers:

Krebs said that while he and Alford have attended past political fundraisers, their attendance is not meant as an endorsement — “it’s in our best interests to be out and about ... and meeting the leaders in the state,” Krebs said.

Somehow some of the major players in the dustup had no idea the event was a big-ticket fundraiser for White or that Alford was scheduled to do anything but stop by to say hi. Alford must be one friendly guy, ready at the drop of a hat to attend parties and greet the guests. Even though the official invitation had allegedly been okayed by party host and UNM lobbyist Joe Thompson, no one seemed to realize that photos with Alford were going to be hawked for $1000 each. But perhaps the most hilarious revelation comes from Alford himself:

Alford told the Journal he agreed to stop by the July 16 event at [UNM VP for Athletics] Krebs’ request, but that doesn’t mean he is endorsing White — or anybody else.

“I wouldn’t know Darren White if he walked in front of me,” Alford said. “It got falsely advertised. I was just stopping by.”

Wow, I guess some jocks really are as disconnected from real life as people sometimes think. Imagine living and mixing with all the monied bigshots in a community as the $1M-a-year basketball coach (left) at the state university and not having any idea about the identity of the county sheriff, who's running for Congress or who the GOP honchos might be within UNM's family tree. Even worse, you discuss your pending appearance as the featured guest at a fundraiser for the said sheriff-candidate as a matter of following orders:

When Alford was asked if he planned to show up, he said: “As long as Paul [Krebs] tells me to.”

The old "I was just following orders" excuse. And then there's White himself, who's blaming everything on, who else, the Dems:

... [White] accused his 1st Congressional District opponent Martin Heinrich and Democratic “political bosses” — including Gov. Bill Richardson, whom he said had Alford at a fundraiser of his own — of putting the full-court press on UNM.

“We wanted to ensure every aspect of this met with the university’s approval,” White said. “This was backroom political pressure. It just stinks.”

I don't know, Darren. It seems clear the controversy erupted quite on its own merits. The event was first publicized as a short item in the Journal late last week, and nothing happened during the long 4th of July weekend. Then the story burst onto the local talk radio circuit this week via KKOB, and it was off to the races. I didn't notice the involvement of any "Democratic bosses" in the unfolding scandal. Mostly, people don't seem to like it when the university's basketball coach takes part in a highly political event not as a citizen, which is fine, but specifically as The Coach.  Darren White doesn't seem to get this distinction:

“A fundraiser is a fundraiser. Whether you’re doing photos or shaking hands, it’s irrelevant.”

You'd think Darren would know better. After all, this is the guy who chaired the Bush-Cheney campaign in Bernalillo County in 2004. He's surely been involved with the ins and outs of all kinds of political fundraising, including what's considered proper and what's not. I guess the Sheriff conveniently forgot about all that. Or maybe he just had his mind on other things, like spending precious law enforcement resources to search relentlessly for misdemeanor chicken-fighting offenders -- so he could get his mug on the local news to help his campaign.

Remember, Darren's resume includes a stint as a TV reporter in Texas. He obviously thinks he knows what sells. But his attempt to use Alford for political gain -- in his official capacity as Lobo Coach -- sure does seem to be backfiring. And rightfully so.

Just one more bit of history. The host of the Darren White-Steve Alford fundraiser, UNM lobbyist Joe Thompson (right), was a Republican State Rep who represented a district in Albuquerque's NE Heights from 1998-2004, and served for a time as minority whip. In 2004, he was arrested for DWI, "hours after attending a bill-signing ceremony to highlight the state's newest effort to crack down on DWI offenders." Why is it that so many Repubs are caught in the act while boasting so loudly about "family values" and "law and order"? Hypocrisy is a many-splendored thing on the right side of the aisle.

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NM-01: Poll Shows Heinrich Up 3 Over White Before Alford Scandal Broke

Dem Martin Heinrich leads Darren White, his GOP rival in the NM-01 Congressional race, by a margin of 3 points in an internal poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. The survey of 518 likely voters in the district was conducted from June 29 to July 2, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4%.

Greenberg's polling memo, entitled "Heinrich Surging in NM-1," compares the new results favorable to Heinrich with those released nine months ago by White's camp that showed the Sheriff ahead 51% to 33% -- when a DC newspaper said said White was "untouchable." Obviously, things have changed, and ominously so for White, who's been perceived to have the edge due to his strong name recognition in Bernalillo County and beyond.

According to The Crypt on Politico, the poll "suggests the race will be one of the most competitive in the country" and the article characterizes the results this way:

White has been touted as one of the Republicans’ top recruits, and for Heinrich to be holding a lead at this point against the better-known White shows his campaign is in solid shape. Heinrich handily won his party’s nomination in June against three under-funded opponents.

White and Coach Alford
This poll was conducted before the scandal began to unfold related to White's inviting UNM Lobos basketball coach Steve Alford to a gathering, only to reportedly blindside him by billing the event as "An Evening With Coach Steve Alford" and offering photos with the Coach to elite donors for $1000 each.

UNM VP for Athletics Paul Krebs, who was also set to attend, claimed on KKOB-AM that he and Alford had no idea they were being invited to the event to support White and help raise campaign funds. The July 16th event is being hosted by UNM lobbyist and former State Rep. Joe Thompson.

Many callers into KKOB-AM are reportedly expressing disgust with the situation, although it's not entirely clear who's to blame. Were Alford and Krebs really unaware of the nature of the event and how it was being publicized? If so, who in the White campaign designed a sneaky ploy to use the popularity of the Lobos to garner political support for the Sheriff? It's a bad situation any way you look at it. Can you say SNAFU?

Sheriff Darren White has also been on the receiving end of criticism from other law enforcement officers about using his pursuit of a misdemeanor cockfighting bust in Albuquerque last month instead of focusing on DWI and other more serious crimes. He's definitely not on a roll of late. Why am I not surprised?

Help Martin keep up his momentum by contributing to his campaign via True Blue New Mexico.

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