Democrat Martin Heinrich and Republican Heather Wilson are looking more like frontrunners in the U.S. Senate primaries with the release of their latest fundraising figures.
According emails and news released from the campaigns, Heinrich, currently a Congressman representing Albuquerque, raised more than $650,000 in the third quarter of the year. That’s better than twice that raised by his primary opponent, State Auditor Hector Balderas, who reported raising $250,000. Heinrich’s campaign says he has more than $1.1 million cash on hand. Balderas has $465,000, a campaign spokeswomen said.
In the GOP primary, Wilson, who held the Albuquerque Congressional seat before Heinrich, raised $530,000 between July and the end of September. She has nearly $1 million cash on hand, her campaign reported.
Wilson’s main opponent John Sanchez’s campaign just reported that Sanchez took in $164,000 in the last quarter, leaving him nearly $250,000 cash in hand.
I also haven’t heard yet from long-shot Republican candidate Greg Sowards, but Hotline this week reported that Sowards had raised more $231,000 in the third quarter, of which $185,000 was a loan from himself. Sowards, Hotline said, will report more than $496,000 in the bank.
The eventual winner of the Senate race will replace longtime Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat, who is retiring.
UPDATE: 405 p.m. The John Sanchez campaign emailed his figures right when I was writing this blog post. The post has been updated to reflect those figures.
Showing posts with label Sowards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sowards. Show all posts
Friday, October 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
More Senate Endorsements
There's little argument that Heather Wilson is winning the endorsement battle in the Republican U.S. Senate primary.
But two of her opponents have just received some high profile endorsements this week.
Let's start with Lt. Gov. John Sanchez. Today his campaign announced that he's been endorsed by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. The son of libertarian GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, Rand is a Tea Party candidate who upset the establishment favorite in last year's Republican primary.
Speaking of Harry Reid, Sharron Angle, the Tea Party Republican who surprised the Nevada establishment last year by winning the GOP Senate primary -- but then lost to Reid in the general election -- has endorsed darkhorse candidate Greg Sowards.
The Hill quote an Angle e-mail saying, "Greg Sowards is our only opportunity to advance conservatism."
Still waiting to see who Christine O'Donnell endorses.
But two of her opponents have just received some high profile endorsements this week.
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| Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky |
Let's start with Lt. Gov. John Sanchez. Today his campaign announced that he's been endorsed by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. The son of libertarian GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, Rand is a Tea Party candidate who upset the establishment favorite in last year's Republican primary.
“I’ve watched the race unfold in New Mexico and it has become clear to me that there is only one rock-solid, Constitutional conservative in the race committed to standing up every day to fight higher taxes, increased spending and unrestrained government growth and that candidate is Lt. Governor John Sanchez,” said Senator Paul. “If the voters of New Mexico want more of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi they have plenty of choices, but if they want a true conservative to look out for the taxpayer, I hope they’ll join me in supporting John Sanchez.”
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| Sharron Angle |
The Hill quote an Angle e-mail saying, "Greg Sowards is our only opportunity to advance conservatism."
Still waiting to see who Christine O'Donnell endorses.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Roundhouse Roundup: Family Affairs
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 21, 2011
Is it a case of high-level nepotism? Or are they just the cutest couple on the Fourth Floor?
Late in May, Gov. Susana Martinez’s office hired Alexis Valdez Darnell for the position of operations director. It’s an exempt position, which means she serves at the pleasure of the governor.
She makes $75,000 a year, slightly less than her husband Scott Darnell, Martinez’s communications director and chief spokesman. He makes just under $80,000.
The governor’s chief of staff, Keith Gardner, defended the hire.
“There is no conflict, because she and Scott have completely different responsibilities and do not report to, nor supervise, one another,” Gardner said in an e-mail to me Wednesday. Both the Darnells report directly to Gardner.
All in the Family: The Darnells aren’t the only relatives to work for a New Mexico governor in recent history. Bill Richardson hired Eric Witt to serve as his legislative liaison and point man on film-industry issues and Lee Witt, Eric’s mom, as an aide to First Lady Barbara Richardson.
Prior to that, Gary Johnson’s chief of staff Lou Gallegos worked in the governor’s office at the same time his wife Rita Nunez worked there too.
A serious threat?: For months the state’s political writers — myself included — might have been short-changing Mr. Short-Bald-and-Honest.
Almost everything written about the Republican Senate race deals with former Congresswoman Heather Wilson and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez. Sometimes the lesser-known Greg Sowards and Bill English are mentioned as “long-shot” candidates.
However, in the last round of campaign finance reporting, Sowards — whose website is www.shortbaldhonest.com — pulled a surprise. He raised a respectable $230,000 in the last quarter and reported $334,000 cash on hand. Since he first announced -- which was even before incumbent Sen. Jeff Bingaman announced he wouldn't seek anouther term -The Las Cruces businessman has contributed more than $200,000 of his own money to the campaign.
The Washington D.C. publication The Hill wrote that Sowards’ report showed “ a promising early sum for an unknown candidate. If he continues to fundraise at that pace, he could have enough money be a factor in the race.”
Sanchez raised $311,987 in the last quarter. Of that, $200,000 of that was money he gave himself. Sanchez basically self-financed his own successful campaign for lieutenant governor in last year’s GOP primary, but it’s going to be harder to do that in the Senate race. The Sanchez campaign was quick to point out that his totals for that quarter represent only represent “26 business days” because he declared his candidacy in late May.
Wilson, who is leading in the polls, also blew away both competitors in the money race She raised $450,000 in the last quarter and, as of the end of June, had more than $600,00 in the bank.
I’m yet to be convinced that Sowards is going to be a threat to Wilson. However, he might become a major annoyance for Sanchez. The two are working the right side of the street fighting for the “true conservative” vote.
In a recent campaign e-mail Sowards quoted a recent Jay Miller column about the race. Miller said Sowards’ “unwavering conservatism could weigh heavily in his favor” in the column headlined “Who is Conservative Enough?”
“With candidates like Heather Wilson and John Sanchez, voters actually should be asking, ‘Is either a real conservative?’,” Sowards wrote.
July 21, 2011
Is it a case of high-level nepotism? Or are they just the cutest couple on the Fourth Floor?
Late in May, Gov. Susana Martinez’s office hired Alexis Valdez Darnell for the position of operations director. It’s an exempt position, which means she serves at the pleasure of the governor.
She makes $75,000 a year, slightly less than her husband Scott Darnell, Martinez’s communications director and chief spokesman. He makes just under $80,000.
The governor’s chief of staff, Keith Gardner, defended the hire.
“There is no conflict, because she and Scott have completely different responsibilities and do not report to, nor supervise, one another,” Gardner said in an e-mail to me Wednesday. Both the Darnells report directly to Gardner.
All in the Family: The Darnells aren’t the only relatives to work for a New Mexico governor in recent history. Bill Richardson hired Eric Witt to serve as his legislative liaison and point man on film-industry issues and Lee Witt, Eric’s mom, as an aide to First Lady Barbara Richardson.
Prior to that, Gary Johnson’s chief of staff Lou Gallegos worked in the governor’s office at the same time his wife Rita Nunez worked there too.
Almost everything written about the Republican Senate race deals with former Congresswoman Heather Wilson and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez. Sometimes the lesser-known Greg Sowards and Bill English are mentioned as “long-shot” candidates.
However, in the last round of campaign finance reporting, Sowards — whose website is www.shortbaldhonest.com — pulled a surprise. He raised a respectable $230,000 in the last quarter and reported $334,000 cash on hand. Since he first announced -- which was even before incumbent Sen. Jeff Bingaman announced he wouldn't seek anouther term -The Las Cruces businessman has contributed more than $200,000 of his own money to the campaign.
The Washington D.C. publication The Hill wrote that Sowards’ report showed “ a promising early sum for an unknown candidate. If he continues to fundraise at that pace, he could have enough money be a factor in the race.”
Sanchez raised $311,987 in the last quarter. Of that, $200,000 of that was money he gave himself. Sanchez basically self-financed his own successful campaign for lieutenant governor in last year’s GOP primary, but it’s going to be harder to do that in the Senate race. The Sanchez campaign was quick to point out that his totals for that quarter represent only represent “26 business days” because he declared his candidacy in late May.
Wilson, who is leading in the polls, also blew away both competitors in the money race She raised $450,000 in the last quarter and, as of the end of June, had more than $600,00 in the bank.
I’m yet to be convinced that Sowards is going to be a threat to Wilson. However, he might become a major annoyance for Sanchez. The two are working the right side of the street fighting for the “true conservative” vote.
In a recent campaign e-mail Sowards quoted a recent Jay Miller column about the race. Miller said Sowards’ “unwavering conservatism could weigh heavily in his favor” in the column headlined “Who is Conservative Enough?”
“With candidates like Heather Wilson and John Sanchez, voters actually should be asking, ‘Is either a real conservative?’,” Sowards wrote.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wilson Leading Big in Poll of NM GOP
Thirteen months before the U.S. Senate primary, former Congresswoman Heather Wilson has a huge lead in a survey conducted of 801 like Republican voters.
According to the "robo" poll by Magellan Strategies, Wilson leads expected candidate Lt. Gov. John Sanchez 59 percent to 17 percent. Las Cruces businessman Greg Sowards got two percent of the vote, while another 11 percent said they would prefer a candidate other than Wilson, Sanchez or Sowards.
Neither U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce or longshot contender Bill English were included in the poll. In another section of the poll Pearce had a favorable rating by Republicans of 77 percent.
The poll shows that Wilson has an 84 percent favorable rating (55 percent of those polled said "very favorable.") Only 12 percent had unfavorable opinions of Wilson. And two percent said they'd never heard of her! Nice to see that cavemen were included in this sample.
Sanchez showed a 58 percent favorable rating among the Republican respondents and a 13 percent unfavorable rating. Seventeen percent had no opinion of him and 12 percent hadn't heard of him.
Sowards, unsurprisingly, had the highest "huh?" rating. Forty one percent had never heard of him while another 23 percent had no opinion.
Sowards was the first, and so far only, candidate to respond. He put an optimistic spin on it, saying, “This survey is pretty good news to us. The robo-poll shows that a significant majority of primary voters (63%) have yet to definitely commit to former Congresswomen Wilson, while only 9% are ready to commit to Lt. Governor Sanchez who just recently got elected.”
Gov. Susana Martinez enjoys a high approval rating from her party in the survey. Ninety three percent of Republican voters have a favorable opinion of her. (75 percent of Republicans said "very favorable.")
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry scored somewhat lower (59 percent favorable) but I suspect that's because he's less known outside of his city. Sixteen percent hadn't heard of him, while 17 percent said they had no opinion. Only eight percent had an unfavorable opinion.
According to the poll memo, "Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies fielded this survey with their own resources. Magellan does not have a business relationship with any candidate or group interested in the 2012 New Mexico US Senate Republican primary."
The poll was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday and has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.
Here's the poll memo
Magellan New Mexico 2012 US Senate GOP Primary Survey Release 042811
 |
| Wilson at a Tea Party rally last year |
According to the "robo" poll by Magellan Strategies, Wilson leads expected candidate Lt. Gov. John Sanchez 59 percent to 17 percent. Las Cruces businessman Greg Sowards got two percent of the vote, while another 11 percent said they would prefer a candidate other than Wilson, Sanchez or Sowards.
Neither U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce or longshot contender Bill English were included in the poll. In another section of the poll Pearce had a favorable rating by Republicans of 77 percent.
The poll shows that Wilson has an 84 percent favorable rating (55 percent of those polled said "very favorable.") Only 12 percent had unfavorable opinions of Wilson. And two percent said they'd never heard of her! Nice to see that cavemen were included in this sample.
Sanchez showed a 58 percent favorable rating among the Republican respondents and a 13 percent unfavorable rating. Seventeen percent had no opinion of him and 12 percent hadn't heard of him.
Sowards, unsurprisingly, had the highest "huh?" rating. Forty one percent had never heard of him while another 23 percent had no opinion.
Sowards was the first, and so far only, candidate to respond. He put an optimistic spin on it, saying, “This survey is pretty good news to us. The robo-poll shows that a significant majority of primary voters (63%) have yet to definitely commit to former Congresswomen Wilson, while only 9% are ready to commit to Lt. Governor Sanchez who just recently got elected.”
Gov. Susana Martinez enjoys a high approval rating from her party in the survey. Ninety three percent of Republican voters have a favorable opinion of her. (75 percent of Republicans said "very favorable.")
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry scored somewhat lower (59 percent favorable) but I suspect that's because he's less known outside of his city. Sixteen percent hadn't heard of him, while 17 percent said they had no opinion. Only eight percent had an unfavorable opinion.
According to the poll memo, "Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies fielded this survey with their own resources. Magellan does not have a business relationship with any candidate or group interested in the 2012 New Mexico US Senate Republican primary."
The poll was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday and has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.
Here's the poll memo
Magellan New Mexico 2012 US Senate GOP Primary Survey Release 042811
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Senate Race News
Democrat Martin Heinrich has written a letter to President Obama asking him to start beinging the troops home from Afghanistan.The letter, which is online HERE, says in part
We have spent over $450 billion in Afghanistan since the start of this war. Our youngest soldiers now serving in some of the most dangerous places on earth were just eight years old when our nation was attacked on Septembers 11, 2001. It’s time we start bringing our troops home.”
In his news release, Heinrich points out he's been to Afghanistan "to meet with troops, military and diplomatic leaders, and humanitarian workers in the region to discuss issues pertaining to the war."
It looks like Heinrich is trying to distinguish himself from opponent Hector Balderas, pointing out that he's had at some some foreign policy experience.
On the Republican side, longshot Las Cruces candidate Greg Sowards sent an announcement this morning that he's hired a team of Washington pros for his campaign.He's retained Tyler Harber and Kurt Luidhardt from the Prosper Group for general consulting, online fundraising, and telephone voter contact. They've helped several Republicans including successful Senate candidates Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Sowards also hired Darcie Johnston of Johnston Consulting, and Paul Hatch of 101 Strategy Partners as finance consultants. They've worked for candidates including Mitt Romney and Utah Sen. Mike Lee.
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| Photo by MaryEllen Broderick |
Among them are state Sens. Phil Griego of San Jose and Cynthia Nava from Las Cruces, Reps. Joe Cervantes of Las Cruces and Miguel Garcia of Albuquerque, and Bernalillo County Commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham, who ran for Congress in 2008 in the primary Heinrich won.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Bingaman Gets Challenger
Las Cruces businessman and inventor Greg Sowards announced this morning that he will seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held for the past 27 years by Democrat Jeff Bingaman.In an email, Sowards said,
“The most pressing fight of our time involves the question; what will be the national atmosphere that our children’s children will live under? Will they have the liberty to experience and learn from those endearing lessons that freedom affords? Or, will they be deprived of that opportunity through governmental intervention and the squandering of their resources by short sighted politicians?”
Sowards ran for the CD2 GOP nomination in 2008 but that primary was won by Ed Tinsely, who went on to lost against Democrat Harry Teague.
Bingaman has not announced whether he'll seek a seventh term.
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