Scare Tactics for a Democrat Win

When I lived in Arizona, I liked to be a good grandson and call my grandmother every few weeks. In these conversations my grandmother would often lament the dangers of the city, often stating a desire to stay home all the time. The source for these fears was the local nightly news and their sensationalized stories that only had the affect of scaring the elderly.


Today in the mail I received a political advertisement from one Victor Raigoza, New Mexico state senate candidate in my district. It was hard to find the sender as it was on the lower right of the addressed side in what appears to be about 8 pt font. The sender was not completely unobvious but it was curious that Victor’s opponent’s name appears eight times on both sides of what is a hit piece. The front page states that “JOHN RYAN is a CRIMINAL and a CRONY…was convicted of a felony, but was pardoned by then-Governor Gary Johnson (a Republican).” Reading the back of the page the reader is also alerted that Ryan works as a lobbyist and that he serves private interests while serving the state.


The tone of the ad was quite distasteful and the front of the ad features a copy of Ryan’s State Senate bio picture with a MS Paint (not quite good enough to be Photoshop or if it was, they paid too much for their capabilities) appended mug shot booking collar. All this made me curious. I moved into this district in March 2007 so I didn’t vote for Ryan nor did I have much an idea of his work in the Senate. A felony criminal record and a lobbyist? It sounded incredible that someone like that were elected and was running for re-election.

So, is John Ryan a criminal? Well that’s a judgment call and has to take into account what happened:

In 1980, when he was in high school, he and others broke into a North Valley home and stole family portraits which were held for ransom. He was indicted for extortion and convicted of felony burglary charges.

What Ryan did in this case was not acceptable behavior however two things struck me in regard to the explanation. First, he was in high school, it seems as though it was a prank, one that went too far as evidenced by the burglary part.1980 was almost thirty years ago, Ryan was sentenced to three years probation so when he was pardoned by Governor Johnson he had already served his sentence. Second he states that family portraits were taken. Victor Raigoza claims that he stole ‘paintings’, to extort someone. Strong language, the grandmothers of the North Valley are shaking.

So, how about the lobbying part? This question does not even pass muster at all simply because there is simply not enough information in the attack ad from Raigoza. It is true that Ryan is a lobbyist, but at the federal level:

Ryan is now a professional lobbyist at the federal level. He got started in that field in 1996 when he was hired by the City of Los Angeles to represent its interests in Washington. His next client was the National Rural Electric Co-op Association. … “I am a registered lobbyist in Washington DC and I pick my clients very wisely,” he explained. Those include The Southwest Power Group, which is trying to establish electrical transmission lines for solar and wind generators delivering power to Arizona and California, and a water pipeline project in the Clovis-Portales area that needs federal approvals.

Interesting, so the company, according to Raigoza, paid Ryan thousands of dollars to sponsor beneficial legislation required federal and not state approvals?

Nothing stated in the ad sent by Victor Raigoza has any reference and the type and words are clearly intended to scare elderly voters just like the nightly local news. Voters that won’t get the truth from someone like Victor Raigoza.

Who is Raigoza anyway? Other than the typical democrat website ‘who’s who’ and AFL-CIO endorsement information there isn’t much out there except vague platitudes alluding to what he supports (economy, education and affordable health care, and of course the Easter Bunny). What is known is that Raigoza is a financial advisor at Edward Jones and is proud of be a” community activist”, stopping the Wal-Mart that would allow me a five minute walk to obtain strawberry whoppers instead of a ten minute drive.

So Victor is a typical democrat, vague, ignorant of the issues, supported by labor unions, spiteful of business and subterranean in his capability to distort truth as scare tactics. And on top of that I bet he’s active in the Vista Del Norte homeowner’s association that’s the bane of my existence.

District 10 deserves better than someone like Victor Raigoza. John Ryan has the experience and is respected by his peers and the community he represents. The Village of Los Ranchos web site states:

The Village of Los Ranchos is fortunate and proud to have John Ryan, NM State Senator as a resident.

Don’t let sleaze peddling power seeking dishonest presumptive politicians like Victor Raigoza win.