Marianna AnayaEstablishment progressives expecting to romp to victory in perhaps the most liberal House seat in the state have been surprised by a stiff challenge from a political newcomer and are now in a down-to-the-wire fight to put one of their own in ABQ House District 18. Marianna Anaya, the progressive favorite, is a lobbyist who in 2022 accused ABQ Dem state Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto ..read more

The Alligators are stirring in the Four Corners. Those insider sources of ours are sounding an alert for the GOP primary contest featuring state House Minority Leader Rod Montoya and educator and political upstart Keith Neil. This is a David and Goliath narrative with Montoya, first elected in 2014, counting $52,000 in cash on hand for the final weeks of the primary and Neil, dean of ..read more

At this time in an election cycle your blog likes to provide a sample of what's hitting the mailboxes, still the main method of campaign communications in legislative races. All 112 of them are up for election this year so there's plenty of paper jamming those boxes.  Let's start with this negative hit in what may be the hottest contested House primary race--Dem Rep. Ambrose Castellano of ..read more

Damon MartinezWill BernCo District Attorney Sam Bregman's black hat earn him a black eye from Democratic primary votes and vault Damon Martinez into the winner's circle? Martinez seems to think so. His debut TV ad portrays Bregman as a frivolous "amateur" who has been "playing cowboy" while ABQ streets have become the "Wild West."The thirty second spot gets a lot done. It effectively ..read more

There may be a strong antipathy in some quarters toward the powerful oil and gas industry but the news is not filled with reports of a ban on fracking or a hike of the royalty rates the industry pays. Maybe, just maybe, that has a little something to do with the financial support the industry gives many of our 112 lawmakers in Santa Fe.That conclusion is hard to escape when scanning a list ..read more

Nella DomeniciNew Mexico has not seen a candidate with this kind of money in the modern era. Now the question is how much of the vast personal fortune of Nella Domenici and husband Patrick McDonough will the state see deployed in her campaign against Democratic US Senator Martin Heinrich and to what effect?In her US Senate candidate financial disclosure report this week Domenici, 63, and making ..read more

Keller and Lewis A virulent form of anti-Kellerism has taken hold at the ABQ City Council and has led to sweeping proposals to reduce the power of the Mayor in favor of the nine member body.Mayor Keller immediately labeled them politically motivated:Our community expects, and deserves, us to be focused on tackling crime and finding solutions to curb homelessness, not wasting time on distractions ..read more

Sen. Correa HemphillA bright star of the state Democratic Party stable is hanging up her saddle and giving the Republicans a solid chance of taking over a coveted state senate seat.State Senator Siah Correa Hemphill has announced she is bowing out and while her name will appear on the June 4 Democratic primary ballot she will withdraw the day after. Members of the Democratic Party ..read more

With little or no competition for the state's congressional seats and no statewide offices on the ballot, three battles for District Attorney in three of the state's four largest cities largest cities have taken the primary spotlight. Coming in the middle of an ongoing crime crisis and with the Governor calling a special legislative session for July to tackle more crime bills, that seems ..read more

The Heinrich household is back on the legislative campaign trail. This time it's Sen. Martin Heinrich's wife, Julie Heinrich, doing the endorsement honors. She comes with a pitch for progressive Dem Heather Berghmans who is trying to take out Dem state Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto in District 15 in the ABQ NE Heights. Around here the Senator has earned the moniker "First Endorser" for his ..read more