Tuesday June 4 is primary election day. During the June 4 primary elections, voters will have the chance to choose candidates for upcoming elections for offices including county sheriff, state senator, state representative, county commissioner and district attorney. New Mexico voters will also be able to cast their vote for the US presidential primary election, one US Senate election and all 3 congressional races.
https://www.myhighplains.com/news/new-mexico/whats-on-the-ballot-june-4-2024-new-mexico-primary-election-candidates/
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
The Democratic Party will select its presidential nominee during a virtual roll call held before the in-person 2024 Democratic National Convention, which will take place from August 19-22, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. Joe Biden (D) crossed the majority delegate threshold necessary to win the Democratic nomination on March 12, 2024, making him the presumptive Democratic nominee.
The Republican Party will select its presidential nominee at the 2024 Republican National Convention, which will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July 15-18, 2024. Before the convention, each state, Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories held a primary, caucus, or convention to decide how to allocate delegates at the national convention. Donald Trump (R) crossed the majority delegate threshold necessary to win the Republican nomination on March 12, 2024, making him the presumptive Republican nominee.
The link to the quoted news source is here:
https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_election_in_New_Mexico,_2024
NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL RACES
Only one of New Mexico’s two U.S. senators is up for reelection this year. Democrat Senior United States Senator Martin Heinrich has no primary opponent. He will face in the general election Republican Nella Domenici, the daughter of former six term United States Senator Pete Domenici.
In the Albuquerque area District 1 Congressional District, incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury is running unopposed. Two Republicans are vying for the nomination in District 1, and they are Steve Jones of Ruidoso and Louie Sanchez of Albuquerque (not the Albuquerque City Councilor).
In the Southern New Mexico District 2 Congressional District, Democrat incumbent Gabriel Vasquez is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. Former congresswoman Yvette Herrell, who lost to Vasquez two years ago, is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
In the Northern New Mexico District 3 Congressional District, Democrat Incumbent Teresa Leger Fernandez is running unopposed in the Democratic primary and Republican Sharon E. Clahchischilliage is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
STATE LEGISLATIVE RACES
All 112 seats in Legislature are on this year’s general election ballot. Members of the state Senate stand for election every four years while House districts are on the ballot every two years. Democrats hold majority control in both chambers. There are 45 Democrats and 25 Republicans in the New Mexico House of Representatives. There are 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans in the New Mexico Senate. The 2025 New Mexico legislature convenes on January 21, 2025 and ends on March 22, 2025.
In the overwhelming majority of the races, the winner of the primary election will not have any opposition in the fall general election. The hotly contested primary election campaigns focus on incumbent moderate to conservative Democrats seeking legislative posts who are opposed by more progressives candidates.
The primary election results could decide the politics of next year’s 60-day legislative session which will convene in January 21, 2025. There are just a few highly contested races where some incumbent state legislators are fighting for their political lives with opposition within their own party.
The election of Progressive Democrat candidates over more Conservative to Moderate Democrat incumbents could lead to the passage controversial legislative bills that failed to win enough votes in the past. The best example is the Paid Family Medical Leave Act. New Mexico’s Democratic-led House of Representatives narrowly rejected a bill during the 2024 legislative session that would have guaranteed paid time off for workers to cope with serious illnesses or care for newborns and loved ones, amid concern about companies’ opposition in an election year. The proposal failed 34-36 on a final vote. Eleven Democrats in the House voted with Republicans to kill the measure.
Voters who live in newly drawn legislative districts will choose new lawmakers, and in southeastern New Mexico, there’s a Republican contest between a state senator appointed to the seat last year and a nine-year state representative who wants to move to the Senate.
NEW STATE SENATE DISTRICTS
This year’s elections is the first under the new Senate map adopted in a special session in 2021. Redistricting created two open seats in the New Mexico Senate. One is in the Albuquerque/Rio Rancho area and the other covers Isleta, Laguna and Acoma pueblos.
A new Senate seat, a Republican-leaning, but competitive, emerged in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho after lawmakers took the district now represented by Democrat Gerald Ortiz y Pino in Downtown Albuquerque and moved it to the West Side. Ortiz y Pino is one of the 19 legislators who announced their retirement this year. The new version of Ortiz’s District 12 will extend from the Paradise Hills area of Albuquerque north into Rio Rancho.
With no Democratic primary opposition, Phillip Ramirez in the general election will face the winner of the GOP primary in that district. Two Republican candidates are in the race, former state Sen. Candace Thompson Gould of Albuquerque and Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022.
The new map takes District 30, now represented by Republican Joshua Sanchez of Veguita, and stretches it from the Manzano Mountains to the Arizona line. The change is expected to boost the influence of Native American voters and the district will have a substantial Democratic lean. District 30 will encompass Isleta, Laguna and Acoma pueblos and the Alamo Navajo reservation.
In District 30, the open seat has former state Democrat Senator Clemente Sanchez against Angel Charley, who is the executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. Since no Republican is running, the winner of the seat will be determined on Tuesday.
Redistricting also changed the boundaries of Senate District 13, in which incumbent Bill O’Neill faces Debbie O’Malley, a former Albuquerque city councilor who also served as a Bernalillo County commissioner from 2014-2022.
Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, announced in March he would not to seek reelection and opened his District 29 seat up so GOP Senator Josh Sanchez could run. Sanchez represents District 30, but redistricting shifted the District 29 boundaries to include Sanchez’s home in Veguita. Had he not resigned, Baca could have been facing Sanchez in the GOP primary, Baca said in a statement.
CONTESTED RACES TO WATCH
There are 17 Democratic incumbents who are facing primary challengers, while 4 Republican legislators are hoping to hold onto their seats. A total of 19 incumbents have either resigned or have opted not to run again.
In the Silver City area, progressive first-term state Senator Siah Correa Hemphill had been seeking reelection. But she recently announced that she wouldn’t run again and would resign her seat after the primary election. She had no primary opposition but faced Republican Gabriel Ramos in the general election.
Some state senators and representatives announced they would not be seeking reelection this year. These included Albuquerque Senators Jerry Ortiz y Pino, Brenda McKenna, Bill Tallman and Mark Moores; Alamogordo Senate Republicans Ron Griggs and Bill Burt, Senator Stephen Neville of Aztec, Gregg Schmedes of Tijeras and Cliff Pirtle of Roswell.
In the House, Representative Jim Townsend, Candy Spence Ezell and Natalie Figueroa are seeking seats in the Senate while Representative Bill Rehm of Albuquerque, Anthony Allison of Fruitland, and House Majority Leader Gail Chasey of Albuquerque, all announced their retirements.
Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca did not file to run for reelection in Senate District 29. After redistricting, he would have had to face Joshua Sanchez, another incumbent Republican who currently represents Senate District 30. Sanchez is the lone Republican running in the district. Democrat Tina Garcia, the president of the Los Lunas Board of Education, also filed to run for the District 29 seat.
Republicans on the House side also lost a leader before the primaries even started. T. Ryan Lane, R-Aztec, did not file to run for reelection in House District 3. Republican William Hall is the lone candidate seeking the seat.
The most highly contested legislative races to watch include the following:
- Veteran Democratic lawmaker Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto is facing stiff opposition from Progressive Democrat Heather Berghmans, who until recently was the finance director for the New Mexico House Democratic Campaign Committee. The winner faces Republican Craig Degenhardt in the general election.
- The open Senate seat covering Corrales and Rio Rancho pits Democrat Cindy Nava, a former Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient who was a policy adviser for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, against Heather Balas. Balas is the former president and executive director of New Mexico First, a statewide public policy organization dedicated to advancing positive change in New Mexico.
- Senator Steven V. McCutcheon, a rancher and businessman, was appointed last year to fill out the term of District 42 Senator Gay Kernan, who retired. He now faces State Representative Larry Scott, a Republican who has served in the Legislature since 2015. There is no Democrat running for the seat.
- There is a four-way Democratic contest for the seat vacated with the retirement of longtime state Representative Gail Chasey, who is House majority floor leader. Democrats Marianna Anaya, Juan Larranaga, Anjali Taneja and Gloria Sue Doherty are vying for the Nob Hill-area House seat.
- In Albuquerque Senate District 21, incumbent Republican Mark Moores is not seeking reelection. Moderate Democrat Philip A. Snedeker of Albuquerque faces Progressive Athena Ann Christodoulou in the June 4 Democratic primary. Republicans Michael Wiener, John C. Morton and Nicole Tobiassen are running in the June 4 Republican primary.
- In Albuquerque Senate District 23, first term Democrat Senator Harold Pope, Jr. is seeking reelection and he is unopposed in the primary. Former Bernalillo County Sherriff Manny Gonzales, III, is running in the Republican primary and faces Terry Lynne Aragon in the Republican primary. In 2021 Gonzales ran for Mayor of Albuquerque and he also tried to run for U.S. Senate in 2024, but failed to file enough signatures on nominating petitions to make the ballot.
- In Albuquerque Senate District 26, Moderate to Progressive Incumbent Democrat Antonio “Moe” Maestas is being aggressively opposed in the primary by Progressive Democrat Julie A. Radoslovich.
- In House District 6, Incumbent Democrat Eliseo Lee Alcon is being opposed in the primary by Democrats Priscilla Benally and Daniel J. Torrez and the winner will face off with Republican Paul Spenser.
- In House District 9 incumbent Patty Lundstrom faces Democrat primary challenger Christopher Hudson. Lundstrom clashed with Democratic leadership, particularly after she was removed from her post as chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee in 2023. The winner of the primary will face Republican Arval Todd McCabe.
- In House District 27, Incumbent Democrat Marian Matthews is being opposed in the primary by Democrat Greg Seeley and Republican Gregory R. Gallegos is unopposed.
- In Senate District 3 Democrat Incumbent Shannon Pinto is being challenged by Democrat Sherylene M. Yazzie.
- In Senate District 4, Incumbent Democrat George Muñoz is being challenged by Democrat Keith Edward Hillock.
- In Senate District 8, Incumbent Democrat Pete Compos is being challenged by Democrat Dr. G. Michael Lopez.
- In Senate District 27, Republican Incumbent Greg Nibert is being challenged by Republicans Larry E. Marker and Patrick Henry Boone, IV.
- In Senate District 33, there is no Democrat running with Republicans Rhonda Beth Romack, Nicholas Allan Paul and Lynne D. Crawford seeking the Republican nomination.
- In House District 4 Democrats Cheryl George, Joseph Franklin Hernandez and Christina Aspas are running against each other while Republican Lincoln Mark is unopposed.
- In House District 6, Incumbent Eliseo Lee Alcon is being challenged by Democrats Priscilla Benally and Daniel J. Torrez with Republican Paul Spencer unopposed.
- In House District 9, Incumbent Democrat Patricia Lundstrom is being challenged by Democrat Christopher Hudson and the winner will face off with Republican Arval Todd McCabe who is unopposed.
- In House District 16, Incumbent Democrat Yanira Gurrola Valenzuela is being challenged by Democrat Marsella Duarte and the winner will faced off with Republican Leland Benwood Bohannon.
- In House District 18 there are 4 Democrats running and they are Juan F. Larrañaga Anjali Taneja, Marianna Anaya, Gloria Sue Doherty and there is no Republican running.
The full 2024 Primary Election Contest/Candidate List including county offices can be found on the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Website.
The link to the quoted news source is here:
See who’s going to be on your primary ballot in June
TWO HIGHLY CONTESTED RACES FOR DISTICT ATTORNEY
The two races for District Attorney in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties are highly contested with incumbents facing opposition within their own party. The winner of the primary election will not have any opposition in the fall general election and the primary outcome will determine the final winner in November.
BERNALILLO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
There is absolutely no doubt that the race for Bernalillo County District Attorney is the most contentious race of all the Bernalillo County races. It is now the most expensive race for the job in its history.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman is a longtime criminal defense attorney and former Albuquerque city councilor. Bregman was appointed to the job by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in early 2023 to fill the term of Raúl Torrez, who was elected as state attorney general in 2022. Former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Damon P. Martinez is opposing Bregman for the nomination.
Bregman is now seeking a full four-year term. His challenger, Damon Martinez, served New Mexico from 2014 to March 2017, when he was one of 40 U.S. attorneys asked to resign after Donald Trump became president. The winner of the Democratic primary will become the next District Attorney because there is no Republican running for the post.
The New Mexico Secretary of State released the campaign finance reports for all 530 candidates state wide listing them in alphabetical order on the Secretary of State Campaign Finance Reporting System. Both Sam Bregman and Damon Martinez are listed as the number 3 and 4 respectively by the New Mexico Secretary State as the top spenders far of all candidates in the 2024 primary.
The link to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Campaign Finance Reporting System is here:
https://login.cfis.sos.state.nm.us/index.html#/index
According to the Secretary of State, District Attorney Sam Bregman has raised $417,601 and former US Attorney Martinez has raised $302,200 in contributions. Sam Bregman campaign has spent $98,364 and the Damon Martinez campaign has spent $98,061.
SANTA FE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
In the Santa Fe area, former Democratic District Attorney Marco Serna is hoping to unseat incumbent District Attorney Mary Virginia Carmack-Altwies, who has made national news with the criminal prosecution of actor Alec Baldwin and two others related to the fatal October 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a movie filming.
BERNALILLO COUNTY CONTESTED RACES
This election year, there are 7 Bernalillo County elected positions on the ballot. 18 candidates have filed declarations of candidacies and have qualified by submitting the required number of qualifying nominating signatures from registered voters. In addition to the race for Bernalillo County District Attorney, following is the breakdown of the other Bernalillo County races to watch:
Treasurer Nancy Bearce cannot run for reelection after serving two consecutive terms. Former New Mexico State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg has filed as a Democrat to run for the seat. Eichenberg served as Bernalillo County Treasurer in the 1970s and was the youngest County Treasurer to have ever been elected and also served as a State Senator before running for State Treasurer. Eichenberg will face Democrat Kenneth Scott, who previously served as Deputy Treasurer and Deputy Assessor for Bernalillo County, in the primary. Lelan Morrison is running for the seat as a Republican.
Two Democrats and two Republicans are vying to replace County Clerk Linda Stover. The Democratic candidates are Deputy County Clerk Michelle Kavanaugh, who has been endorsed by outgoing Bernalillo County Clerk Linda Stover, and Karen Montoya, who previously served on the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission and before that two terms as Bernalillo County County Assessor. The Republican candidates are Robert Kwasny and Clayton Pryor.
District 2 Commissioner and Democrat Steven Michael Quezada cannot run for reelection because he will have served two consecutive four-year terms. Two Democrats, Frank Baca and William Walker, and one Republican, Mary Ingham are now running to fill the seat.
District 3 Commissioner, Democrat Adriann Barboa, is running for reelection. She will have two Democratic primary challengers, Robert Padilla and Laura Nasaria-Chavez, and one Republican opponent, Rene Coronado.
District 4 Commissioner, Republican Walt Benson, is running for reelection with no opposing Democrat candidates.
Division 11 Metro Court Judge Shonnetta Estrada will also reclaim her position with no opposition.
The link to the news source relied on is here:
Links to quoted and relied upon news sources are here
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/tuesdays-primary-election-features-legislative-da-races/article_021d7d46-1fa8-11ef-8c17-2bd03925a259.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block
https://www.myhighplains.com/news/new-mexico/whats-on-the-ballot-june-4-2024-new-mexico-primary-election-candidates/
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/bernalillo-county-candidates-2024/article_b7ce8202-eb8c-11ee-a169-bbb4b7e19516.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block
SANTA FE NEW MEXICAN ARTICLE
On May 23, the Santa Fe New Mexican ran a remarkable article written by its longtime political staff reporter Milan Simonich. The article is remarkable because it highlights how Democrat Progressives are doing their very best to purge moderate to conservative democrats from the ranks of the New Mexico legislature with an emphasis on running woman candidates to challenge Democrat male incumbents. They are doing so by relying upon the same political consultant and the campaign manager and political consultant for Mayor Tim Keller.
Following is the unedited article followed by the link to the article itself with photos:
HEADLINE: Five liberal candidates relying on same strategist
By Milan Simonich, Santa Fe New Mexican
“Campaign managers were political stars on The West Wing television series. The real world is different, though an exception might be brewing. Most voters in New Mexico don’t know Neri Holguin. That’s understandable. Her name isn’t on the ballot, and her work is done backstage.
But Holguin might prove to be the most influential person in the June 4 Democratic primary election. She is running the campaigns of five liberal candidates for seats in the state Legislature. All of her clients are women. Only one is an incumbent, and she received her seat by appointment.
Holguin says her candidates should win every election. If she gets the sweep she covets, she will have nudged the state further left while unseating three incumbent Democrats and taking away a Senate seat now held by a Republican.
The race in House District 70 pits Holguin’s candidate, Anita Gonzales, against Rep. Ambrose Castellano, perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the 112-member Legislature. Castellano’s campaign was wounded after the state placed a $75,000 tax lien on his construction business in Santa Fe. He represents parts of San Miguel and Torrance counties. Castellano has other troubles. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham contributed $5,500 to Gonzales’ campaign, and Lujan Grisham is stumping for the challenger.
Still, history and the clout of incumbency cannot be ignored. Castellano twice in the last four years defeated Gonzales in close primary elections. Holguin, though, didn’t work for Gonzales in those races. A wealthy Republican is indirectly assisting Castellano. Oil magnate Harvey Yates is the largest contributor to the political action committee New Mexico Turn Around, which is slamming Gonzales in advertisements. Yates is making Holguin’s work easier. In a primary of Democratic voters, one of New Mexico’s rock-ribbed Republicans stands with Castellano.
Albuquerque’s Senate District 13 is home to Holguin’s best-known candidate, Debbie O’Malley. She hopes to oust liberal three-term Sen. Bill O’Neill. The district was reshaped after the last census, eliminating part of O’Neill’s base. Many of the changes favor fellow progressive O’Malley, who previously served as an Albuquerque city councilor and a Bernalillo County commissioner. Holguin says O’Malley is positioned to take the seat. “All I know is we will find out,” said O’Neill, who’s high-profile supporters include the leading liberal of the state Senate, Jerry Ortiz y Pino.
Senate District 30, now represented by a Republican, is an open seat after the bumbling GOP failed to field a candidate. Holguin’s contender is Angel Charley, formerly executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. Charley is running against former two-term Sen. Clemente Sanchez. He is attempting a comeback after a losing the Democratic primary four years ago. District 30 covers parts of Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Socorro and Valencia counties. Redrawn since Sanchez’s terms, District 30 now has more Democratic voters. Sanchez might have had a better chance running as a Republican. He stuck with the Democratic Party even after its liberal wing turned against him. His votes to retain a 1969 law criminalizing abortion were the pivotal issue. Sanchez still has a base, notably because of his leadership in routing more federal pass-through money to schools on tribal lands. Those schools had been shortchanged in state budgeting for many years.
In Senate District 15 in Albuquerque, Holguin is managing Heather Berghmans in her race against three-term Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto. Holguin has kept Ivey-Soto on the defensive because of complaints against him by women who say he sexually harassed or harangued them with rude comments. Ivey-Soto says he never touched or pursued any woman against her will, demonstrating why he was never disciplined by the Senate. He admitted to me two years ago that he was inappropriate in referring to two female lobbyists as “Hips and Lips.” He stole the phrase from a movie and said he regrets doing so. Many sitting lawmakers have donated to Berghmans’ campaign. Ivey-Soto also has received contributions from fellow legislators, including Democratic Sens. Linda Lopez, Liz Stefanics, Brenda McKenna and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez.
Holguin’s fifth and final client this cycle is Rep. Yanira Gurrola, the incumbent by appointment in Albuquerque’s House District 16. Gurrola is being challenged by Marsella Duarte, who served as the appointed representative of District 16 for two weeks at the end of 2022. As the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners became more liberal on the first day of 2023, it replaced Duarte with Gurrola.
Holguin usually manages three candidates per election. This round, her stable of five might shake up state politics. A sweep for Holguin wouldn’t make every seat more liberal. O’Neill and Ivey-Soto have a history of voting for progressive causes, such as expunction of certain criminal records.
The bigger difference would be in gender. Men now outnumber women in the state Senate 32-10. If Team Holguin runs the table, three women would replace male senators. A 30% gain in one night sounds like a teleplay straight from The West Wing.”
The link to the Santa Fe New Mexican article with photos is here:
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/five-liberal-candidates-relying-on-same-strategist/article_5432c338-16ad-11ef-b996-73dc1337f3de.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share
POLITICAL CONSULTANT NERI HOLGUIN NO STRANGER TO CITY Of ALBUQUERQUE POLITICS
The Santa Fe New Mexican was absolutely correct when it reported “Most voters in New Mexico don’t know Neri Holguin” but that is simply not the case when it comes to the Albuquerque political establishment.
Political Consultant Neri Holguin is the owner and primary principal of Holguin Consulting, Inc.. Neri Holguin has been a political consultant since at least 2007. Holguin Consulting, Inc.’s web page lists campaigns Holguin has successfully managed including Mayor Tim Keller, former Albuquerque City Councilors Pat Davis, Isaac Benton, Ray Garduno and City Councilor Joaquin Baca, Bernalillo County Commissioners Barba Baca, Eric Olivas, former county commissioner Debbie O’mally and Maggie Hart Stebbins and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen. Numerous State House Representatives and State Senator candidates are also identified. The link to Holguin Consulting, Inc.’s web page that provides background on the services it provides and lists clientele is here:
https://www.neriholguin.com/
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
What virtually all of Neri Holguin’s Democratic candidates have in common is that they are decidedly “progressive”, no moderate or conservatives Democrats need apply for her services. Holguin has become the “go to” consultant for up-and-coming progressive Democratic candidates for office and her involvement in 5 legislative races is further proof of this fact.
Holguin is known for making false and inflammatory allegations and smearing opposing candidates not considered “progressive enough” to Holguin’s liking. The tactic she uses is “wedge politics” that pits her progressive candidates against any and all “moderate” or “conservative” Democrats. Even where the opposition is progressive, she maligns them as not being true progressive. This is the type wedge politics that is dividing and destroying the Democratic Party.
Neri Holguin has an extensive history of being Mayor Tim Keller’s political advisor, confidant and campaign manager. Holguin managed one of Keller’s state senate races. In the 2017 Mayor’s race where Keller was first elected, she headed up the measured finance committee that raised $663,000 to promote Keller when he ran the first time. In 2021, Holguin was the paid campaign manager for Mayor Tim Keller’s successful reelection bid against Bernalillo County Sherriff Manny Gonzales and radio talk show host Eddy Aragon.
In last year’s 2023 City Council races, Political Consultant Neri Holguin and her firm Holguin Consulting, Inc. were the politcal consulting firm in District 2 for City Councilor Joaquin Baca and in District 8 for Progressive Democrat Abby Foster who ran against and lost to Republican Incumbent Brook Bassan.
A “political hit piece” is the lowest form of negative campaigning used by bottom feeder political consultants to smear the reputation of an opponent with the use of lies, innuendo and guilt by association. It is often condemned by the public, especially by those who are the target, but used because negative campaigning works and it’s difficult to respond to by a candidate, especially at the end of a contentious campaign. The political hit piece is a classic ploy used by Neri Holguin. It is referred to as a “guilt by association” political hit piece to disparage and align a political opponent.
Political Consultant Neri Holguin inserted herself into the City Council District 6 run off race between Progressive Democrats Nichole Rogers and Jeff Hoehn with a political hit piece against District 6 City Council Candidate Jeff Hoehn. On December 5 a “politcal hit piece” mailer was sent to all District 6 registered voters. The flyer was from Real New Mexico Leadership, the measured finance committee supporting Nichole Rogers and that Neri Holguin solicited $12,000 in donations to produce and distribute.
The politcal hit piece said in part “Jeff Hoehns biggest backer has the kind of record we don’t need in Albuquerque. … With friends like these, we can’t count on Jeff Hoehn to stand with us.” The politcal hit piece then goes on to make the inflammatory accusations of “Sexual harassment reports by multiple woman”, “Discrimination against people of Color trying to buy homes”, “Paid $1.8 Billion jury verdict for inflating the price of home sales commissions.” The politcal hit piece used a unflattering photo of Jeff Hoehn positioned next to the accusations ostensibly to imply that Hoehn condoned the conduct or was guilty of the same conduct. The very, very fine print that strains they eye to read at the bottom offers as a Fact Checker and identifies the National Association of Realtors who was accused of the conduct.
The measured finance committee, or Political Action Committee, “Help ABQ and National Association of Realtors” is the real subject of the hit piece. Looking at the hit piece at a glance you would think it was Jeff Hoehn who was accused of sexual harassment and discrimination.
FINAL COMMENTARY
Early voting ended June 1. According to the Bernalillo County Clerks Office voter turnout in absentee and early voting has been very low. As of late last week, total turnout was just under 8% in Bernalillo County. Statewide, the Secretary of State’s Office reported that on Friday, June 1, 55,308 people had voted. The early voting numbers is a clear indication that the final vote on June 4 will be exceptionally low and in all likelihood be about 20% if not less.
Best wishes and good luck to all the candidates as their 2024 campaigns come to a close. Now is the time for voters to do their part and vote on June 4 if they have not already done so. If you fail to vote and fail to do your civic duty, please do not complain about the results.
