President Obama’s unpopularity quickly became the focus as first-term New Mexico Senator Tom Udall squared off with Republican challenger Allen Weh in their first and only debate. Weh, a retired Marine colonel and longtime businessman, challenged Udall for consistently voting with President Barack Obama.. *****103114-Weh-2 :15*****Weh also pointed to a number of scandals that have plagued the president, saying the incompetency in Washington is stunning Udall defended his votes and said he will take on the president or anyone else if it means protecting the interests of New Mexicans. *****103114-Udall-2 :16***** Thursday night's pre-recorded debate touched on everything from the economy and immigration to drought and reforms within the embattled Albuquerque Police Department. Polls show Udall leading with just days remaining in the election, but Weh has been closing the gap.
Campaign finance documents reveals that Democratic and Republican so-called “super PACs” have pumped more than one-million dollars this month into New Mexico's legislative and other state office races. Under federal law, the political action committees can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to independently advocate the election or defeat of candidates. According to the latest finance reports, the Democratic group Patriot Majority New Mexico spent more than 890-thousand dollars over the past three and a half weeks. The GOP group Advance New Mexico Now spent 524-thousand dollars. A federal super PAC also is airing TV ads to help the Democratic secretary of state candidate.
Meantime, Republican Governor. Susana Martinez's re-election campaign reports spending almost seven times more than Democratic challenger Gary King during the past three weeks. According to a fundraising disclosure filed Thursday, Martinez had cash reserves in her re-election account of nearly 709-thousand as of Tuesday, and King had cash-on-hand of just-over 10-thousand dollars.
Progress Now New Mexico, a progressive advocacy group says the New Mexico MVD has clarified its policies for non-English speakers. This comes after part of a poorly worded directive posted in a Farmington office led employees to believe that non-English, and specifically Navajo, speakers were to be denied assistance. The King campaign has scheduled a news conference tomorrow to raise the issue, but Progress Now says MVD’s quick action to clarify the rules and policies to the public and staff is the right thing to do.
Several environmental groups are heralding the first sighting in 70 years of a gray wolf near the Grand Canyon in. The wolf, wearing an inactive radio collar, likely came from the northern Rocky Mountains. Although the Endangered Species Act currently protects gray wolves, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed removing that protection causing concern among environmental groups who fear that without Endangered Species Act protections the wolf would be limited to a few national parks. They note that wolves have returned to less than 10 percent of their historic range in the lower 48 states.
The Navajo Nation's highest court is taking up a request today to hold election officials in contempt for not removing a disqualified candidate from the ballot. The Supreme Court issued an order last week to postpone Tuesday's presidential election and reprint ballots without Chris Deschene's (des-CHEE'-nee) name. Deschene was disqualified from the race after refusing to show he met a requirement to speak fluent Navajo.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny today with the high, 61. Tonight, expect mostly cloudy skies with a slight chance for isolated showers and the low down to 43. Tomorrow: Partly sunny with a high of 60-degrees and a slight chance for isolated showers and thunderstorms.