Election Day – Sort Of

Well, the primary election here in New Mexico is next Tuesday but I’m going to go ahead and vote early this afternoon on my way out of town for a business trip. So, in the contested races I am going as follows:

Governor: Susana Martinez

Susana Martinez has been, along with Doug Turner, the most attractive candidate for Governor to me. Turner has the rhetoric down and is very impressive, but he doesn’t have the support. His advertising has disappeared outside of billboards the last few weeks. Martinez is an experienced DA and is also impressive in person. While her rhetoric is not as fiery as that of Turner it is sharp and precise. She is also a Republican convert, from years ago. Her record and public statements indicate that this conversion was not due to political expedience and it is my opinion that this is a plus because her conversion was led by true convictions. True conversions to me seem to be the best adherents to any type of conviction. Her closest competition in the polls, Allen Weh, is a disaster. His campaign is angry and full of misdirection. I am stupefied that he has more support than most everyone else in the polls because he is surely the worst candidate this year. I also believe that Allen Weh hurt the New Mexico GOP as chair and that a vote for him will most assuredly mean that Diane Denish will continue the Bill Richardson administration. Pete Domenici, I think, just could not overcome the name issue because he does not have much experience in politics. Janice Arnold Jones is a fine state legislator but never could build name recognition throughout the state.

Lieutenant Governor: Kent Cravens

Land Commissioner: Bob Cornelius

County Assessor: Christie Humphrey

County Sheriff: William Kurth