Here's a roundup of the latest news from New Mexico's campaign trail. The primary election is Tuesday.
Montoya announces endorsements: Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya announced a slew of endorsements Friday. His backers in the Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District include the Los Alamos Monitor, Nambé Pueblo and the National Association of Hispanic County Officials.
"I am proud of all my endorsements and will be sharing some additional ones with you in the next few days," he said in a written statement, "but my proudest endorsement will be that of the fine voters of District 3 who endorse me with their vote on Election Day."
Luján endorsed by Denish, Swisstack: Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Luján, also running in the 3rd Congressional District's Democratic primary, added two more endorsements to his list, from Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and Rio Rancho Mayor Tom Swisstack.
"Over the years, I have known Ben Ray Luján to be an honest, dedicated leader who has treated all communities fairly and equally with regard to all issues," Swisstack said. "He has demonstrated dependability, attending 97 percent of his Public Regulation Commission meetings, and has been an individual willing to bring people together to work on real solutions. I have enjoyed working with Commissioner Luján on a local level, and I look forward to working with him as our next member of Congress."
The endorsement from Denish sounds suspiciously similar to Swisstack's. In part, it says: "Ben Ray has worked hard as a member of the Public Regulation Commission. He has a 97 percent attendance record and a long list of accomplishments, including expanding renewable energy production and taking on health insurance companies who unfairly denied consumers. Ben Ray Luján will stand up for the people of New Mexico in Congress."
There are independents in the CD 3 race, too: Although all the recent hubbub has been about Tuesday's primary, don't forget two independent candidates are expected to be on the general election ballot in the fall.
One of them, Carol Miller, plans to turn in 10,000 signatures to the Secretary of State's Office the day after the primary. Already, she's got an ad on the radio. "Your best choice for Congress isn't on the June ballot," it starts off, before touting her qualifications.
The other independent is Ron Simmons of Santa Fe.
Too young to vote but likes Obama: This was a big week for Eva Ross, a 12-year-old supporter of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. On Thursday, she graduated from Wood Gormley Elementary School, and two days earlier, she met Michelle Obama at a fundraiser in Albuquerque where she presented the candidate's wife with a drawing, titled "Yes," that she had made for the Sprouts for Change Obamarama T-shirt project.
More than 50 T-shirts inspired by Obama and designed by supporters ranging in age from 7 to 90 will be exhibited at the "Obamarama" from 4 to 7 p.m. July 6 at Hahn Ross Gallery, 409 Canyon Road. The T-shirts will be given to New Mexico delegates to wear to the Democratic National Convention in August. They can be purchased at the gallery event or sproutsforchange.com. Proceeds will benefit Meds and Food for Kids, a nonprofit that is fighting childhood malnutrition in Haiti.
Eva, who used a Time magazine cover for her inspiration, attended the fundraiser with her parents, Tom Ross and Elizabeth Hahn. She said she thinks Obama is "really cool." Eva plans to attend Monte del Sol Charter School, where her brother Aaron is a student.
Steve Terrell and Kate Nash, who compiled this information, are The New Mexican's Capitol reporters. Contact Terrell at 986-3037 or by e-mail at sterrell@sfnewmexican.com, or Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com with campaign news.
Montoya begins running TV ads in CD3 race
May 22, 2008
Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate Harry Montoya unveiled two 30-second ads today that are running on cable television.
Here’s the first, titled “Preparation:”
And the second, “Ready for the Cause:”
The ads stand out because they’re not produced by an expensive, out-of-state firm, but were instead put together locally and on a smaller budget. They’re designed to emphasize Montoya’s roots and his dedication and commitment to New Mexico, according to a news release from the campaign.
“While my opponents spend hundreds of thousands of dollars attacking one another and trying to distort each other’s qualifications, I have chosen to air ads that stress my vast experience and commitment to serving the people of New Mexico in Congress and the issues that I will work on when I am elected,” Montoya said in the release. “I am the only candidate for Congress that has the legislative experience and a proven record of results to hit the ground running in Washington.”
A New Voice for Congress? - New Mexico Independent
From the first time you hear Harry Montoya’s voice, you can tell he’s from northern New Mexico. Montoya was born and raised in the 3rd Congressional District.
He has worked for years in the district, first on the Pojoaque Valley School Board from 1994 to 1999. In 2002 Montoya successfully ran for Santa Fe County commissioner, and he continues to hold that position; it is this experience, Montoya feels, that makes him the ideal candidate for the 3rd Congressional District to replace U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who is running for the soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat held by Republican Pete Domenici.
Some have noticed.
In April the Nambe Pueblo endorsed Montoya. The Los Alamos Montior followed suit on May 7.
He has more governmental experience and a wider range of knowledge of northern New Mexico. Given that our next Congressional delegation will be all rookies, we need to send someone who can hit the ground running the fastest and we believe from the Democratic side, that is Montoya.
Montoya told the Independent in a phone interview he has more experience than anyone else in the race.
“I believe the other experience that I bring is working at the local level, at the state level, at the federal level, at the tribal level, even at the international level,” he said.
Increasingly, Montoya has found it difficult to get his message out, however. His better-known rivals -- and many say frontrunners for the Democratic nomination -- Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Lujan and Santa Fe developer Don Wiviott are engaged in a fierce battle with two weeks to go before the June 3 primary. Wiviott started running a negative ad questioning Lujan's experience, prompting the Lujan campaign to disparage the ad and put out its own fact sheet.
The sparring has left lesser-known candidates groping for traction in their efforts to tell voters about their experience and stands on issues.
Montoya cited his work with the U.S. Embassy developing substance abuse programs in Mexico and Argentina in addition to his work in New Mexico.
“I’ve advocated and lobbied on Capitol Hill on behalf of education,” Montoya said of his experience in Washington, “on behalf of IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, making sure that is something that is fully funded.”
And Montoya believes he is doing it on his own terms, the same way he has always done politics.
“I’m not independently wealthy, and, like I said, I don’t have anyone’s political coattails to ride on either,” Montoya said, referring to his two main Democratic primary opponents. Wiviott has loaned his campaign more than $1 million and Ben Ray Lujan is the son of powerful state House speaker Ben Lujan, D-Nambe.
“I am definitely doing what I know how to do, and that’s person to person, community to community,” Montoya said.
While Montoya's answers about the campaign are short, his responses on talking about both local and national issues are detailed. And Montoya can bring the national issues, such as high gas prices, down to the local level.
“Gasoline prices are taking a toll on everyone,” Montoya said. “Farmers and ranchers are getting hit especially hard because they have not only the big trucks that they need to do their work, but also the equipment that they need to do their work as well.”
So what will Montoya do about gas prices if he becomes a member of Congress?
His solutions include “tax incentives for hybrid vehicles, tax incentives for the creation of alternative fuel and alternative energy as well.”
The tax incentives would be for both manufacturers and consumers, and Montoya emphasized it would be "more so for the consumer" than the manufacturers. "But," Montoya admitted, "in order to get the big corporations to work with us on the reduction of the fossil fuels, we need to get them involved."
On the big issues, Montoya has clear stances. When asked where he stands on single-payer health care, he said, "I favor a single-payer system."
Montoya cites Germany, France and Switzerland as countries with universal health care plans that work.
My brother is stationed out there now; he’s in the Army there in Germany. He was telling me that they’ve got a selection so that you can pretty much pick what it is that best fits your needs. We need to look at what those countries have done, Canada as well. I recently ran into a Canadian national, and he told me that people here talk about how their health care system doesn’t work -- but in reality it does. He had an emergency procedure that he had to have an operation, and he got it taken care of right away.
He supports a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq, with all troops to be out of the country within 12-18 months. Along with the draw-down of troops, he said the funding needs to be cut in proportion.
Montoya has the stances on the big issues, but he also recognizes that some issues are unique to New Mexico and the West that need to be addressed. One issue that doesn't get much attention, Montoya said, is water. Where the water is going to come from and how it will get to those who need it is important in his county and throughout the district, Montoya said.
An extreme example is that of the community of Chimayo. According to an Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan for the years 2009-13, residents of Chimayo use an approach that seems anachronous to the 21st century to get their water. "As of today," the report, dated Nov. 2, 2007, said, "the citizens continue to draw drinking water from the centrally-located water buffalo [and] portable water tank."
In 2001, the report said, Gov. Gary Johnson was forced to declare a state of emergency for the area after the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Mexico Department of Health "identified the presence of fecal coliform, and/or total coliform in the drinking water."
Along with his fellow county commissioners, Montoya is "working on getting running water into those people's homes."
"That’s my dilemma as a county commissioner," Montoya acknowledged. "As a congressman, it will be much larger, because there’s a lot of other places that are in the same situation in this district. So that’s huge."
Another issue that is not widely acknowledged is the need to make access to health care for veterans easier, Montoya said. From making sure they are getting the right medicine to physical availability to the services, these are issues that need to be addressed.
They’re not getting the services that, to me, should be granted. It’s not even a question of if they should be available. They should be available and they should be granted to them because they put their lives on the line for us, so that we can continue to have our civil liberties and our freedom in this country. One of the things that I think needs to be done is expanding to have an urgent care center in north-central New Mexico so that veterans don’t have to travel all the way to Albuquerque and then wait once they get there. Now with gas prices the way things are, that’s again the decision they’re having to make. 'How am I going to get the medical care that I need and fill up the gas tank to get there and back>'
Montoya has a clear grasp of the issues that are facing not only northern New Mexico and New Mexico as a whole, but also the United States. As he keeps his grass-roots campaign going, he hopes to gain enough support in the June 3 primary to go on to the general election in November.
The winner of the Democratic primary will have a big advantage; Democratic hold a 2-to-1 registration advantage over Republicans in the district.
Montoya: Touts political experience
May 18, 2008
Steve Terrell | The New Mexican
5/18/2008 - 5/19/08
Harry Montoya has spent more time in elected office than all his opponents in the 3rd Congressional District race put together.
He was elected twice to the Pojoaque Board of Education, serving eight years. Then he won a seat on the Santa Fe County Commission, representing the northern part of the county, by defeating Valerie Espinoza (now county clerk) in 2002, then winning another four-year term unopposed in 2006.
But the race for Congress has been something of a struggle for Montoya.
Like most other candidates in the crowded Democratic primary, he doesn't have the political connections of Ben Ray Luján and he doesn't have the money of Don Wiviott to carry his message.
When state party leaders held their pre-primary convention in March, Montoya came in fourth place — behind Luján, Wiviott and Benny Shendo Jr., getting a modest 11 percent of the delegate vote. This was well below the 20 percent needed to get his name automatically on the primary ballot, so he had to submit more petition signatures to keep his candidacy alive.
In terms of fundraising, Montoya is in a distant fourth place, according to the most recent reports.
He said in a recent interview he can win "once people see my experience." Contrasting himself with Luján, a state Public Regulation Commission member, Montoya said: "There's a difference between making policy and regulating. There's no policy development in regulating."
Although his campaign can't afford to advertise on broadcast television — unlike Wiviott and Luján — Montoya said he will have some campaign spots on cable television later this month.
Hands across culture
Although he has held public office since the mid-1990s, for the past 12 years Montoya has made his living as chief executive officer of Hands Across Culture Corp., an Española-based nonprofit he co-founded. HACC specializes in drug-prevention education in Española and Pojoaque schools. Montoya's salary at HACC is about $76,000.
According to federal tax
documents, HACC in 2006
had a budget of more than $900,000, nearly all of which came from state and federal government grants.
But some of that money has come from county government.
In the current fiscal year, HACC received $7,500 from the County Benefit Fund for a health-promotion program for Española and Pojoaque schools. In the previous year, Montoya's organization received $15,000 from the county for the program.
"Hands Across Culture applied, as did many other agencies and organizations, for that funding through the Health Support program. We went through the review just as any agency would," Montoya said when asked about a possible conflict of interest. "They have independent reviewers who make the recommendation to Steve Shepherd (director of the county Health and Human Services Department), and he makes the recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners. ... There's no way we're going to get any preferential treatment from the reviewers or anyone."
HACC has tried to obtain other funding through the county as well.
In November, County Attorney Stephen Ross wrote to the state Department of Finance and Administration concerning a proposed contract with HACC involving state driving-while-intoxicated grant money. The county wanted to contract with HACC for a program in Pojoaque designed to delay the age at which young people start to drink alcohol. Montoya's organization was the only agency to respond to a county request for proposals for the project.
However, that grant agreement has a clause that prohibits contracts with entities in which members of the community's governing body have an interest. Ross proposed amending the grant agreement to allow HACC to get the contract as long as Montoya agreed not to participate in any decision involving the contract and agreed to provide annual financial statements.
The state balked at the idea of changing the conflict-of-interest provision to allow the contract.
In June 2007, the county and HACC entered into an agreement of understanding to try to get federal funds for a program to mentor children of incarcerated parents. Montoya said the program never got off the ground because the federal funding didn't come through.
A lobbyist in the family
Another potential appearance of conflict of interest for Montoya is the fact that James Rivera — who was Montoya's brother-in-law — had a contract with the county to lobby the state Legislature. The county paid Rivera $10,000 for this year's 30-day legislation session and $20,000 for last year's 60-day session.
Montoya said he did not exert any influence to get the contract for Rivera, who was first hired for the 2004 session. "He had the contract before he even married my sister," Montoya said. Rivera no longer is married to his sister, Montoya said.
Furthermore, he said, the county terminated Rivera's contract after this year's session. This, he said, was prompted when a New Mexican reporter called him about a possible conflict of interest. Montoya said he suggested the termination because of the perceived conflict of interest. "I know some people will do whatever they can to make me look bad, and I don't need to have any perceived conflicts with any family member."
Deal or no deal
Montoya's campaign made news in the north early this month after he told the Rio Grande Sun that Luján supporters had offered him political support if he dropped out of the congressional race and waited for a chance to seek the legislative seat of Luján's father, House Speaker Ben Luján, D-Nambé.
Montoya's campaign manager, Eli Senna, in an interview this month stood by Montoya's statement. He said Montoya was contacted by "people he considered good friends" who made the offer before and shortly after the pre-primary convention. But like Montoya, Senna refused to name who had made such an offer.
The Luján campaign denies such an offer was made.
Though he said Ben Ray Luján and Wiviott probably are the front-runners, Montoya predicted his campaign — visiting the various communities and listening to people's concerns about veteran services and health care — will be successful.
"The thing that's surprised me is the common problems we all share. You'd think maybe something would be a little different in, you know, Clovis or Gallup. But the reality is, we're all suffering from high gas prices, whether you're a rancher or a businessman. ... The reality is what we're dealing with in Santa Fe County they're dealing with in McKinley County or anywhere else in the state."
Education: Bachelor's degree in psychology and education from Westmar College in Lemars, Iowa; master's in counseling psychology from New Mexico State University.
Career experience: Drug- and alcohol-prevention coordinator for the state Department of Health; executive director of mental-health services at Presbyterian Medical Services; Piñon Hills Hospital clinical director of chemical dependency; currently CEO of Hands Across Cultures Corp.
Political experience: Santa Fe County commissioner, 2002-present; Pojoaque Valley School Board member for eight years; co-founder of the National Hispano Community Prevention Network.
Personal: Married to Doris Montoya; two grown children, three grandchildren.
3rd Congressional District candidates trumpet message
May 14, 2008
Crowded field leaves little time to tackle tough questions
Kate Nash | The New Mexican
5/14/2008 - 5/15/08
Only two of the nine candidates seeking the seat held by U.S. Rep. Tom Udall followed the rules at a forum Wednesday night.
The task, during closing remarks, was to name just one reason they were seeking office.
Democrats Benny Shendo Jr. and Harry Montoya stuck to their topics at the forum hosted by Temple Beth Shalom.
The rest? Well, they rambled.
But that's life in one of the state's most competitive and interesting U.S. House races in decades.
Five Democrats, two Republicans and two independents are running for the 3rd Congressional District seat, which Udall is giving up to run for U.S. Senate. All attended the two-hour forum except developer and Democrat Don Wiviott, whose campaign said he had a scheduling conflict. A spokesman declined to say what the conflict was.
The panel of candidates was so large, that, once the candidates introduced themselves to the 50 audience members, there was only time for three questions from the audience and then closing remarks. That meant candidates spent much of their time getting out their messages rather than taking on tough questions.
As for those most important issues the candidates were asked to talk about, the topics ran the gamut.
Shendo, a former Department of Indian Affairs Cabinet secretary under Gov. Bill Richardson, said he'd focus on renewable energy. "I think in Northern New Mexico, we have to shift our focus toward renewables in the same way (of) our laboratories' first Manhattan Project," he said. "We can't keep clinging onto the old. We have to make that turn."
Montoya, a Santa Fe County commissioner, said he'd focus on another earthly element, water. "I'm dealing with it now. We're working on providing a sustainable water supply for both the city and county of Santa Fe through the Buckman diversion project."
Ben Ray Luján, a Public Regulation Commission member, said he wanted to improve veteran care, the economy, schools and end the war.
Oh, and there's the matter of gas prices, said Luján, who tried to fit many elements into each of his answers during the debate. "One of the biggest problems facing our national security today is our dependence on foreign oil," he said.
Rudy Martin, a Democrat and lawyer from Dixon, almost followed the rules. His campaign is about ending poverty, he said — and helping veterans. He said he's the only veteran in the race.
"The one thing that drives me in this election is the people of Northern New Mexico," he said. "When I travel through the district, I see nothing but poverty, and we need to change that."
Jon Adams, also a Democrat and a lawyer who grew up in Los Alamos, had a slew of topics he's focusing on, including ending corporate tax breaks, getting more people covered by health insurance and protecting the environment.
Adams said voters should go with someone they trust. "No matter who we pick to be our freshman member of Congress, we have to pick someone we trust," he said.
Marco Gonzales, a Santa Fe Republican lawyer, said he's running because the state needs to send someone with experience to Congress.
"No one on this stage understands better than myself about how to protect the labs," he said, alluding to the decade he spent on Capitol Hill working for U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican. But Gonzales also said he'd focus on making sure Cannon Air Force Base, located in the eastern part of the district, maintains support for its new mission.
Dan East, another Republican, who owns a construction company in Rio Rancho, agreed with Montoya that water is a key issue.
But infrastructure needs are big as well, he said. He said there $250 million in infrastructure needs — including for water infrastructure — in the district. That kind of project creates jobs, something else that's needed in the district.
Carol Miller, a public health policy advocate from Ojo Sarco who is running as an independent, said her campaign is about winning and about offering her experience as a mediator and negotiator. "I stand for peace," she said. "I want to change the militarization of the United States."
Another Independent candidate, Ron Simmons, a longtime educator and Santa Fe home builder, said he'd focus on ending the war in Iraq — and on education. "I still focus on education. It's a key. I think we need to spend more money there, more time there, and the dividends will be spent throughout the state."
Audience members were asked to fill out index cards with questions. Only three were chosen from a sizable stack. They focused on the war in Iraq, on whether gay rights issues should be decided at the federal level and on immigration.
Immigration drew the most diverse answers. The question focused on whether candidates think there is a problem with the current system and whether the Constitution should be changed to not allow children born here to immigrants to become U.S. citizens.
Miller said she opposes a fence along the border and said the United States ought to help countries with economies that are so weak that a good portion of its residents leave. She also said people should understand more about how immigrants lose their legal status. "Most of the people considered illegal — and I don't believe people are illegal — are people who have overstayed their visas," she said.
Gonzales said the country needs to focus on border security. "We need to make sure we're not just talking about the southern border. There's a northern border, and the danger to national security is just the same," he said.
Shendo said the U.S. sends a mixed message to immigrants, with both "Help Wanted" signs on work sites but a "No Trespassing" sign at the border. "I think we can all agree that when it comes to our immigration policy, there's a great deal of hypocrisy," he said, adding the country needs a comprehensive immigration policy.
Simmons said a fence is the wrong way to go. "It's an insult and it's doomed to fail," he said.
Luján, who agreed the current system is broken and a fence isn't the solution, said an immigration policy needs to take many things into consideration. "We need to protect workers, protect families, protect wages and prevent exploitation," he said.
Adams said the U.S. can use technology to secure the border. The fence is "a slap in the face, and it's not going to do any good, and it will be a waste of money," he said.
Montoya, who supports a path to citizenship for immigrants, echoed some of the other candidates in saying the fence won't work. "Criminals do need to be deported as well," he said.
East said employers who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants should be punished. "We need to have employer sanctions," he said. He also said there needs to be a tamper-proof visa system to help employees verify a person's legal status.
Martin said the immigration debate has been boiled down by TV pundits to a point where viewers are afraid of people with brown skin. He also said there needs to be a better way to deal with children of immigrants.
"Kids with no ties to Mexico are now being sent to a country that's totally foreign to them," he said.
Los Alamos Monitor Endorses Comissioner Montoya for Congress
May 9, 2008
Monitor endorses primary candidates By Monitor Editorial Board The Monitor will continue its tradition of recommendations in election races, this year making some suggestions for the primary – in which early voting has already begun. The Monitor editorial board was not unanimous in its recommendations, and that will be noted when pertinent. And we will not comment on uncontested races. In the race for the U.S. House seat in the Third District, the board was divided between Don Wiviott and Harry Montoya in the Democratic primary. Both men have strong backgrounds, with a lot of maturity behind them. They have dealt with issues of business and government and have a broad breath of experience. In the end, however, we recommend Montoya to voters. He has more governmental experience and a wider range of knowledge of northern New Mexico. Given that our next Congressional delegation will be all rookies, we need to send someone who can hit the ground running the fastest and we believe from the Democratic side, that is Montoya. The Monitor recommends Harry Montoya in the Democratic primary. On the Republican side of the House primary, we recommend Marco Gonzales. He clearly has the experience, knowledge and contacts to do the job. And he will need the shortest training time – something we simply can’t afford this time given the dynamics of our new delegation. In the Republican primary, the Monitor recommends Marco Gonzales. In the Senate race, the editorial board was deeply divided. Both Rep. Heather Wilson and Rep. Steve Pearce have the experience and ability to do the job. Both have similar views on the issues. Both have strong personalities and views. Both are good people who would do a good job for the state. But only one can advance to the next round. So a divided Monitor board recommends Steve Pearce for election in the Republican primary. There were feelings that Wilson was too negative, too much in attack mode. She sometimes seems to want to dwell on the other person’s negatives – real or imagined – than on her own good qualities – of which there are many. Pearce – love him or hate him – stands on his principles and beliefs – even if it might hurt some in his district. If no one in government is will to stand up and say no to this project or that project, nothing will ever be cut and the federal deficit will continue to grow and grow and our debt will be worse and worse. Pearce is willing to stand up and say no. That is rare and to his credit. So we recommend Steve Pearce in the Republican primary.
