Saturday, April 2, 2011

Heinrich In

As expected, U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich of Albuquerque announced today he's running for retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman's Senate seat.

Here's the video.


The Decision from Martin Heinrich on Vimeo.

Heinrich's news release stressed his working class origins.

I was raised in a working-class family. My father was an electrician and my mom worked in a factory. My parents taught me the values that I still hold dear today, and that I believe can help anyone get ahead—hard work, honesty, responsibility, and self-reliance.

My wife Julie and I are raising our two sons in New Mexico with those same values. Like many families across our state, Julie and I sit at the kitchen table and talk about our children’s future and how tough the path is for too many of our neighbors and friends. The fact is, a lot of middle class families in New Mexico are struggling to get by as costs continue to rise and the deck seems stacked against them. It doesn’t take long in Washington to see that things there just aren’t working. Big corporations and special interests seem to get all of the breaks while regular New Mexico families are left holding the bill. New Mexico families deserve better.

Almost immediately, state Rep. Antonio "Moe" Maestas announced he's "closely considering" running for Heinrich's CD1 seat. I guess that means he won't be joining Sen. Eric Griego's  exploratory committee.

One of Heinrich's colleagues in the New Mexico delegation shared some love this morning.

Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce said in a news release, ""Martin Heinrich's extreme agenda would cripple America and throw tens of thousands of New Mexicans out of work. ... New Mexico families deserve a Senator who will go to Washington to fight on their behalf to create jobs and get our economy moving again. In Heinrich, they will only get someone fighting for special interests and the extreme agendas of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid."

Pearce, who was the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2008, hasn't ruled out another try for Senate himself.