On Thursday, during Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s COVID-19 press conference with Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase. They announced new coronavirus cases and 21 deaths they claim are due to COVID-19. During the briefing, Lujan Grisham brought up her frustration with New Mexicans not following her strict public health orders.
“You’re going to hear from medical professionals that say you should get too used to wearing a mask, even indoors in your own home because too many of us are asymptomatic, and we just don’t know,” said the Governor.
“And you have to stay away from other individuals. I cannot tell you how many times we all see — all of us — on social media where people are taking photos without their masks right next to each other and saying, ‘Well… you know, I was six feet… I had a mask on.’ You were right next to another human being. You cannot get close to other humans. If you are six feet — within six feet of another New Mexican, you are too close. You are increasing the opportunity for this virus to spread,” continued Lujan Grisham.
The Governor added, “I implore all of us. These are the things that will make the difference. If we do not do them, more drastic decision making will occur and we will have a horrible November and a dramatically bad December. And nobody in this state deserves that.”
.@GovMLG threatens new lockdowns if people do not wear masks in their own homes “You cannot get close to other humans.”
“It’s hard for me to remain patient,” said Dr. Scrase. “We are preparing all of our institutions for an Italy-like situation in the next couple weeks.” He also said he predicts the COVID-19 pandemic to extend well over another year’s time.
NM Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase predicts COVID-19 to go on for another year, saying hospitals will have “Italy-like” response to the pandemic.
Lujan Grisham also threatened small businesses with a new public health order, saying, “For every single business that has somehow picked one of the public health options for an essential business and ignored the five-person gathering, that’s no longer going to be a loophole. This wasn’t intended to crest opportunities for folks to further spread COVID. So that’s going to get done immediately. It’s going to affect a whole number of businesses.”
The Governor added, “And you know we’re doing our crackdown, and you know that we’re doing our enforcement,” adding, “More is coming because those opportunities for us to do less because we are doing more in mask-wearing, social distancing, and other public health hygiene didn’t occur.”
.@GovMLG renews threat of new lockdown since she claims her “crackdown” on small business and individuals not complying with her public health orders hasn’t been effective.
Lujan Grisham also complained about local Law Enforcers unwilling to enforce her mandates.
Dr. Scrase spoke about a “wedding” and “potluck” being a “spreader” infecting 15 people and urging support of the Governor’s lockdown.
Although new public health orders went into effect today, the Governor’s strong stance on a potential new lockdown appears inevitable, based on her comments during the press conference, especially with her bleak outlook on the months of November and December.
On Wednesday, the Santa Fe Police Department (SFPD) announced that they set their first slew of criminal charges against rioters who toppled the obelisk in downtown Santa Fe on October 12, 2020.
33-year-old Lily Sage Schweitzer was charged with Criminal Damage to Property (over $1,000), Conspiracy, Unlawful Assembly, Criminal Trespass, and Resisting, Evading and/or Obstructing an Officer.
29-year-old Ryan Witt was charged with Criminal Damage to Property (over $1,000), Conspiracy, Unauthorized Graffiti (over $1,000), Unlawful Assembly, Criminal Trespass, and Resisting, Evading and/or Obstructing an Officer.
According to the SFPD release, the Department is working together with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico State Police, and the District Attorney’s Office to “identify, locate, and charge the individuals involved in this case in accordance with the judicial process.”
“At this time, several other individuals have been identified and will be facing charges for their involvement in the destruction of the Obelisk. A handful of others have also been contacted for questioning regarding their participation in the incident,” writes SFPD.
“We would like to express our gratitude to the community for all of the tips and information we’ve received thus far. Thank you to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police for their assistance in helping us to identify those responsible,” said Police Chief Andrew Padilla.
Previously, Padilla said during a news conference with Mayor Alan Webber, “The monument, yes, it’s historical, but it’s an object.” He appears to now be taking the rioters’ destruction of property more seriously.
Record turnout in the 2020 General Election garnered much attention to countless races up and down the ballot, and many wins for Republicans. 912,565 ballots were cast across New Mexico, and voter enthusiasm on both sides of the aisle was high.
In New Mexico’s congressional delegation, Yvette Herrell bested first-term Democrat Rep. Xochitl Torres Small by 20,461 votes, winning by a margin of 53.9% to 46.1%. Torres Small voted with Nancy Pelosi 94% of the time, including to impeach President Donald Trump and to pass sweeping anti-Second Amendment gun bans.
Herrell had the endorsement of President Donald Trump and many pro-Trump leaders, including Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), and others. Torres Small had the support of D.C. establishment figures, Planned Parenthood, and anti-gun groups.
Democrat Rep. Ben Ray Luján won the open U.S. Senate seat, beating Republican Mark Ronchetti by 4%. Democrat Rep. Deb Haaland won re-election in the 1st Congressional District, while Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez won the open 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by Luján.
In the state legislature, Republicans picked off a few seats from Democrat control, including Sen. Clemente Sanchez’s 30th Senate District seat, which he will be vacating after he lost the primary. Republican Joshua A. Sanchez won that race against far-left Democrat Pamela Cordova.
Republican Crystal Diamond picked up Senate District 35 in the southeast part of the state, being vacated by Sen. John Arthur Smith, who also lost his primary election. Diamond ran against Naomi Martinez-Parra, a favorite of far-left Speaker Brian Egolf and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Republican Luis Terrazas bested incumbent Democrat Rep. Rudolpho Martinez in House District 39, also in southeast New Mexico, winning 53% to 47%.
House District 53 is still up in the air, as there is a possible recount between former Democrat Rep. Ricky Little and incumbent Rep. Willie Madrid. Little is leading by a handful of votes with 3,275 to Madrid’s 3,268.
In an open seat in House District 22, being vacated by Senator-elect Gregg Schmedes, Republican Stefani Lord beat out Jessica Velasquez in the Bernalillo-area seat.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, Democrats picked up a net gain of one seat in the New Mexico Senate, “pushing their advantage to 27-15 — and lose three seats in the House, dropping their edge to 43-26, with one independent.”
New Mexicans approved Constitutional Amendment 1 to give more power to the New Mexico Governor by abolishing an elected Public Regulation Commission and instead allowing the Governor to appoint a three-member panel to regulate utilities in New Mexico. The measure passed with 55% support.
Another measure, Constitutional Amendment 2 allowing the Legislature to dictate term limits on state, county, and local elected leaders also passed, giving more power to Santa Fe bureaucrats. The measure passed with 67% support.
Although Republicans did not win the presidential race and many others down the ballots, they did make gains in the Legislature, while flipping the crucial Second Congressional District race. The newly elected legislators across New Mexico will be positioned well to fight hard against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and her increasing penchant to hold onto power.
Late Tuesday night, KOB 4 protected Republican Yvette Herrell to unseat first-term Democrat Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, returning the southern New Mexico district back to Republican control.
In 2018, news outlets projected Herrell the winner late in the night until thousands of absentee ballots mysteriously appeared in Doña Ana County, swinging the election to Torres Small.
Piñon Post has yet to project the race, although by 11:36 p.m., Herrell leads Torres Small by 54% to 46%, with Herrell at 140,808 and Torres Small at 119,784.
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has stopped the counting of absentee ballots at 11:00 p.m., however, it is unclear if mysterious ballots will once again appear in the district to swing the election to Torres Small once again.
Today is November 3rd, Election Day, and polls will open at 7:00 a.m. for New Mexicans in all 33 counties to cast their votes. In particular, this election is important because other than being a presidential year, with incumbent Republican President Donald J. Trump running for re-election, it is also a Census year. That means that the legislators New Mexicans elect today will oversee the redrawing of legislative and congressional districts.
If Democrats get a supermajority in the Legislature, Republicans will have a 100% chance of losing House and Senate seats, and possibly even having New Mexico’s more conservative Second Congressional District redrawn to tilt Democrat.
Suppose Republicans are elected to flip state House and Senate seats. In that case, it will be a bulwark against Democrats’ partisan gerrymandering of legislative and congressional districts, and that will help keep elections competitive and fair in the Land of Enchantment.
If Republicans can grab a majority, or even close to a majority in either chamber of the Legislature, that will be a stone wall standing against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Speaker Brian Egolf, and other far-left Democrats in the state Legislature looking to ban guns, legalize abortion up-to-birth and infanticide, make New Mexico a sanctuary state, legalize recreational pot, kill our Oil and Gas jobs, and raise taxes on working families and small businesses.
These proposals can be stopped by voting for Republican candidates. You can find your Republican legislative candidates here.
As New Mexicans have also seen, the New Mexico Supreme Court has become highly politicized with a far-left wing bent. Activist judges who have been appointed to the Court, such as Justice David K. Thomson appointed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, was the district judge who implemented undemocratic “ranked-choice voting” in Santa Fe municipal elections, which was a proposal championed by Teresa Leger Fernandez, a left-wing lawyer who is now the Democrat nominee for Congress in the Third District.
Electing Republican candidates to the state Supreme Court will bring balance back to the court and help take out these unelected partisan judges, such as Justice Thomson and Justice C. Shannon Bacon, two appointments by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
You can see the Republican candidates for Supreme Court by clicking here.
New Mexicans also are up against the decision on whether to vote for or against two constitutional amendments, both of which would give unchecked power to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The first would give Lujan Grisham and all governors coming after her the opportunity to appoint members of the Public Regulation Commission, the regulator of all utilities in New Mexico. There is vast bipartisan opposition to the Governor’s attempted power grab with Constitutional Amendment 1, and if it does go through, Lujan Grisham will have that much more unchecked power.
Constitutional Amendment 2 would give more power to the legislature to dictate new term limits for any state, county, or district office, other than statewide, in New Mexico, essentially giving the Legislature power to elongate or shorten terms of any office, making it unfair to voters who elected people for a term of X years, and now the will of the people will be changed by legislative fiat simply because they feel like it.
For Congress, if voters want to put balance back into Congress and take away Nancy Pelosi’s radical leadership as Speaker of the House, it is a no-brainer for New Mexicans to vote for Michelle Garcia Holmes (CD-1), Yvette Herrell (CD-2), and Alexis Martinez-Johnson (CD-3). As for the U.S. Senate, if New Mexicans want to send a do-nothing failure of a congressman who has not even been able to pass a single bill into law, they have the choice of giving Rep. Ben Ray Luján a promotion. If New Mexicans want someone who has been committed to them throughout his career and is not a career politician, the choice is clear in selecting Republican Mark Ronchetti for U.S. Senate.
Most importantly, President Donald J. Trump goes up against former Vice President Joe Biden for president, and Trump has visited New Mexico on four separate occasions for rallies in 2016 and this election cycle, whereas Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton before him failed to step foot in New Mexico while running for President. President Donald Trump has proven he cares about us and our issues.
Trump has passed critical funding to help New Mexico during COVID-19, although Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham squandered it. He helped keep our state safe by employing Operation Legend to find and arrest violent criminals who have killed New Mexicans. Trump has built hundreds of miles of border wall right here in New Mexico, helping secure our state and country from violent criminal aliens. He has stood up for our shared values of faith, family, and freedom, working hard to strengthen Religious Freedom, protect innocent human life, be that in the womb or at the end of one’s life, and elevate the voices of patriotic Americans from all walks of life.
Trump is the only president in recent history not to get America into costly foreign wars, he decimated ISIS, cut prescription drug prices, protected gay and lesbian individuals from the persecution of Radical Islamic Terrorists, defunded millions from Planned Parenthood and other abortion mills, brought manufacturing back to America, and put New Mexico on the map as somewhere he wants to succeed and grow.
Today, New Mexicans have two clear choices: radical Democrats who will destroy the very fabric of our nation brick by brick, or Republicans who will respect New Mexicans and put power back into the hands of the people, not unelected bureaucrats. New Mexico has been failing for a very long time under Democrat leadership, and it is high time New Mexicans say “enough is enough.” This election, vote Republican like it’s the last thing you do — it may just be if Democrats are elected today.
I love New Mexico, and I know you do too. Please vote Republican to save our state that we all love so much. I predict a massive red (Republican) wave.
Election sites open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. If you are in line before 7:00 p.m., you are allowed to vote even if you have to wait in line past 7:00 p.m. The Republican Party of New Mexico is offering free rides to the polls. Please call them at 505-298-2662 to set up your ride.
On Monday, New Mexico Republican Party (RPNM) Chairman Steve Pearce announced that RPNM is offering free rides to the polls on Election Day.
Rides will be offered from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. by calling 505-298-2662 to schedule a ride.
Pearce wrote on Twitter, “Do you need a ride to the polls tomorrow? We are offering FREE rides to polling locations across New Mexico on Election Day.”
Do you need a ride to the polls tomorrow? We are offering FREE rides to polling locations across New Mexico on Election Day.
Polls are open on November 3 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and as loong as voters are in line at 7:00 p.m., they are allowed to vote no matter how long they must wait to vote.
Piñon Post readers come from all different backgrounds, localities, and cultures across New Mexico. What binds them together is the desire to seek truth and hold government accountable in New Mexico–a state where too often government leaders are not held responsible to the will of the people.
Last week, the Piñon Post launched our official pre-election survey, which ran from October 29 to November 1, where a sample of 434 readers told us how they voted or how they will vote this election.
99.8% of readers will be voting in the upcoming November 3rd election, with only one reader answering that they will not be voting. This statistic shows that the readership base of the Piñon Post is very politically active and excited to make a change at the ballot box.
89.9% of readers have already cast their votes, be they by absentee ballot or through early voting, which ended on Saturday. 10.1% of readers will be waiting to cast their votes on Election Day. Some of this 10.1% figure planned to vote early, as the poll ran during early voting.
A breakdown of respondents shows that 10.6% of readers cast their votes via absentee ballot, 81.1% voted early, and 8.3% will vote on Election Day.
Respondents were then asked which party they will be voting for, with 97% saying they will be voting Republican, 1.4% voting Democrat, .7% voting Libertarian, and .9% voting for another party.
Of the respondents, 84.3% of readers identified themselves as registered Republicans, while 6% are Democrats, 6.5% are Declined to State, and 3.2% are Libertarian.
The massive crossover from Democrats, Declined to State, and Libertarians to the Republican Party, getting 97% support at the polls, indicates that many registered Democrats and other parties will be voting Republican this election. It is important to note that Libertarian Gary Johnson won 9.3% of the vote in New Mexico in 2016, and without a robust Libertarian candidate on the ballot, the Piñon Post reader poll suggests that voters who may have gone either for Clinton or Johnson in 2016, may switch over to Trump in 2020.
A Piñon Post Twitter poll also shows many supporting President Donald Trump over Joe Biden in the General Election, although less scientific.
POLL (New Mexicans only): Which candidate got your vote for President of the United States? 🗳
Polls will open on Tuesday, November 3 at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. As long as voters are in line by 7:00.pm., they are allowed to vote regardless of how long voters must wait outside a precinct. Voters can find their precinct, their sample ballot, and other voter resources by clicking here.
A new Federal Election Commission independent expenditure report from the far-left dark money group ProgressNow New Mexico shows the group spending nearly $20,800 on a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaign to help Democrat Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District race.
The initial filing for $17,800 reads, “GOTV campaign – Every vote Counts Drop It Off” showing that it is “[i]n SUPPORT of Xochitl Torres Small.” Another filing reported an additional $3,000 going to the campaign. As well, the group spent $16,192 against Republican challenger Yvette Herrell on October 6, 2020.
ProgressNow New Mexico is a dark money George Soros-funded group, that also gets funding from other dark money groups, such as America Votes. America Votes is funded by wealthy millionaire and billionaire donors, such as Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, and George Soros. The group’s latest donation to ProgressNow New Mexico was $9,500 on September 27, 2020.
ProgressNow New Mexico is a radical pro-abortion group, supporting abortion up-to-birth and infanticide, calling restrictions on abortion “white supremacy.” The group also has promoted ANTIFA tweets. In July, the radical socialist group supported an Albuquerque ANTIFA group doxxing conservatives by publishing personal information about them online to target them.
Now, ProgressNow New Mexico is backing radical liberal Xochitl Torres Small, who voted to ban handgun ownership for people under 21, impeached President Trump on two counts, refused to back a bill giving basic medical care to children born alive after failed abortions, and is a backer of New Mexico’s mini “Green New Deal.” Xochitl Torres Small faces Republican Yvette Herrell in the November 3, 2020, General Election, where Herrell leads Torres Small by two points in the latest liberal Albuquerque Journal poll.
On Sunday, the Albuquerque Journal released its latest suppression poll showing Joe Biden in a comfortable lead with 54% of the vote, while Trump sat at 42%, according to the Research and Polling, Inc. survey they released.
However, the same suppression poll was massively off in 2016, predicting Libertarian former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson to win 24% of the vote share, with Donald Trump only garnering 31%. The final results in 2016 had Johnson at 9.3%, with Trump at 40%, trailing Hillary Clinton only by 8.3%.
In a later poll the Journal released right before Election Day, it showed Trump at just 36%, with Clinton at 50% The poll underestimated Trump’s performance while overestimating Clinton’s performance, and overestimating Johnson’s performance.
However, the Journal’s latest poll shows President Trump picking up 3% since its previous poll in late August, showing Trump at just 39%, while Biden’s performance has remained the same at 54%.
One interesting thing noted in the suppression poll was that only 89% of Democrats will be voting for Biden, while 92% of Republicans will be voting for Trump.
In recent weeks, massive crowds of Trump supporters have rallied across the state, holding events at the state Capitol Building in Santa Fe, in Roswell, Hobbs, Carlsbad, Las Cruces, Corrales, Rio Rancho, Albuquerque, and everywhere in between.
On the other hand, no events by pro-Democrat demonstrators have occurred, showing massive enthusiasm and support for President Trump and Republican candidates, while Democrats’ enthusiasm lags dramatically.
The voter numbers have backed up the enthusiasm, with the latest early voting numbers showing Republicans outpacing Democrats 193,929 to 175,516 with in-person voting, while Republicans’ absentee ballot return rate has crept higher than that of Democrats, beating them by .5%.
Republicans are expected to outnumber Democrats on Election Day, which will help them close the gap from the Democrats’ large absentee voting numbers. In 2016, despite the polls, Americans sent President Trump to the White House, and it is likely in President Trump’s second election, New Mexico will be a state that helps him stay there.
President Trump and Republicans have noted their excellent chances at flipping New Mexico, with unheard-of enthusiasm in the Land of Enchantment, as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democrats have locked down the state, leading to poverty and economic catastrophe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early voting ended on Saturday, October 31, but polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on November 3rd for in-person voting.
On Friday, the Santa Fe New Mexicanreported that according to the New Mexico Secretary of State, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, county clerks in New Mexico could take up to two days to count ballots after the polls close, raising red flags about the integrity of the November 3rd Election.
The New Mexican reports:
In a virtual news conference Thursday, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver warned unprecedented voter turnout is likely to leave county clerk’s offices counting ballots for at least a day or two after polls close, potentially delaying results in tight races.
She did not rule out the possibility of delayed New Mexico results for the presidential election….
“I’m feeling optimistic that we should be able to get through the absentee vote count within a day or two after Election Day,” said Toulouse Oliver. “I think that we’ll know what we know on election night in terms of the distribution of the votes and the margins of potential victory, and we should be able to make some pretty clear calls on election night in a lot of races.”
There is “no doubt many races around the state will be impacted by outstanding ballots still to count,” she added.
The extra time the Secretary of State is allowing may raise red flags as to the integrity of the election, with the New Mexico Supreme Court rejecting to hear a suit from the Republican Party of New Mexico regarding the Secretary of State barring Republican poll watchers from observing the counting of ballots on election night.
According to the Secretary of State’s data as of October 27, 265,739 absentee ballots had already been mailed back to county clerks across the state, 166,655 being from Democrats, 56,747 from Republicans, and the rest from minor parties and voters who decline to state a party affiliation.
The Democrat Party of New Mexico has already begun its ballot harvesting initiatives, according to Pameyla Herndon, a caucus chair for the party, who urged supporters during a closed fundraising call to harvest votes from senior citizens to favor Democrat candidates.
As of October 30, Republicans outnumber Democrats with in-person early voting, while Democrats outnumber Republicans dramatically with absentee. During the 2018 race in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, thousands of irregularities were found in Doña Ana County, where Republican Yvette Herrell won the race on Election Day. However, once absentee ballots were “counted” later, the race was swung in Democrat Xochitl Torres Small’s favor. An audit revealed multiple signs of election fraud.
Just this year, two individuals have been convicted of voter fraud using absentee ballots, following New Mexico’s long track record of fraudulent election activity, which can be read more about here.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, even more absentee ballots are being cast for the November 2020 election, and the more absentee ballots without oversight from poll challengers are ripe for fraud.
