John Block

GOP field of lieutenant gubernatorial candidates grows

Leave a Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

As the 2022 elections are right around the corner, more candidates are jumping into races to make a difference for New Mexico. As the Republican gubernatorial field remains at seven candidates, the lieutenant gubernatorial field is growing, with two more Republicans jumping into the race.

Once the lone Republican candidate for many months, Anise Golden Morper is joined by Isabella Solis, a former Doña Ana County Commissioner, Air Force veteran Zeke Rodriguez, and Anthony (Ant) Thornton, a retired aerospace engineer.

“I’m convinced New Mexico is in trouble, and we’re running out of time,” said Solis. “New Mexico is ranked the 44th worst economy among all the states in the country. We have the 45th worst infrastructure. We’re the 47th worst state for crime and safety, 49th for the opportunity to succeed, and worst of all, we’re 50th in the nation when it comes to educating our children.”

Solis is focusing her campaign on education, fixing New Mexico’s failing economy, and tackling the corruption in Santa Fe.

“We don’t have to stand for it.  We can transform New Mexico from one of America’s

worst states to one of its greatest. We can have schools that teach again.  We can have safer streets and communities.  We can unleash our economy and provide jobs for our people.  We can fix the corruption and hypocrisy in Santa Fe.  We can demand accountability from our leaders.  We can provide a future for our children,” Solis said.

Rodriguez currently owns a shop in Las Cruces that sells “Premium CBD Products” called Continual Growth. Rodriguez announced his candidacy at the end of August at an event in Taylor, Arizona, which he called “the most patriotic town I’ve ever been to. We need more of this everywhere for our great country.” 

He is attempting to run on a parallel ticket with Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Bedonie and is hitting on many of the same issues. These include tackling voter fraud, fixing education, promoting public health, boosting the state’s economy, and championing law and order policies, according to his website. 

Specifically, regarding education, Rodriguez wants to “[e]iminate Marxist ideology” from public education systems, implement an “America First” curriculum into the public school system, and promote school choice, including charter schools. 

Thornton is focusing his campaign on four main issues, including education, public safety, jobs, and election integrity. An experienced aerospace engineer who worked for both Sandia Labs and later Lockheed Martin, Thornton writes on his website that “he became the first African American Director in Sandia’s history.” 

On his website, Thornton writes, “Under decades of Democrat rule, New Mexico has sunk to the bottom in education, economic opportunity and employment. Our Democrat leadership has, for years, instilled corruption in the halls of the Roundhouse, hurled us into fiscal chaos, mortgaged our future and stripped us of many rights. This must stop!”

“We need innovative leadership for the 21st century. A fresh approach requires leaders who demand more for our people, for our children, and for our future. I know that the future of New Mexico can be bright if we elevate our dismal national standing in education, adjust our policies to attract new business in our state, and make our cities safe places to live for our families.”

Regarding Thornton’s law enforcement stance, he writes that “Crime is local and should be addressed by community policing,” including hiring more police officers and properly prosecuting law-breakers. 

Golden Morper, whose campaign theme plays off of her last name, “Our Golden Opportunity,” is a third-generation New Mexican, a Christian, a sister of the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.), a real estate broker, an auctioneer, an ombudsman, and member of the Federation of Republican Women.

Throughout her campaign, she has attended many pro-law enforcement functions and has made respect for law enforcement, including officers from local sheriffs to the U.S. Border Patrol, a key issue in her campaign, amid a national assault on law enforcers, with many far-left initiatives targeted at “defunding” the police.

All the candidates must first make it out of the primary election, which will be held on June 7, 2022. Whoever makes it out of the primary will run on a ticket with the Republican gubernatorial nominee to defeat incumbent Democrat Gov. Lujan Grisham and Lt. Gov. Howie Morales — both left-wing extremists. 

GOP field of lieutenant gubernatorial candidates grows Read More »

Public servants have a duty to protect significant cultural artifacts from evil forces

5 Comments / Opinion / By

On October 12, 2020, domestic terrorists made unprecedented and violent actions, destroying the 153-year-old Soliders’ Monument on the historic Santa Fe Plaza, with police fleeing the scene and letting these bad actors destroy the culturally significant, federally protected monument. 

The obelisk-shaped 33-foot-high monument was dedicated to Union soldiers who fought the Confederacy — something all New Mexicans should be proud of. But instead of protecting the monument, Mayor Alan Webber’s Santa Fe Police Department ordered officers to stop protecting the monument and let the terrorists destroy it. 

Now, officers who claim to have given the orders, likely scapegoats, say they had no other choice. However, for months preceding the Columbus Day massacre of the monument, extremist anti-Hispanic hate groups such as The Red Nation and the Three Sisters Collective have targeted the monument — even bragging about it being attacked with red paint.

In the time surrounding the devastating fall of the Soldiers’ Monument, violent terrorists targeted multiple Catholic and Hispanic artifacts around the state capital. They spray pained “1680 Land Back” on a statute of Catholic priest Fray Angélico Chávez outside the Museum of New Mexico History in Santa Fe. 1680 refers to the bloody Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which was led by Popé — a murderous man who many Native Americans shun for his evil ways.

In June of 2020, Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber unilaterally ordered the removal of the Don Diego De Vargas statue from Cathedral Park in Santa Fe, another blow to Hispanics who have deep cultural history and connections with De Vargas, who peacefully resettled New Mexico. The Red Nation hate group then held an anti-Semitic rally in Albuquerque supporting Hezbollah-linked terrorist groups.

In October, domestic terrorists desecrated the Cross of the Martyrs in Santa Fe, which is dedicated to the murdered victims of the blood-thirsty killer Popé. A total of 400 people were killed in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, including 21 friars.

The Cross has long been attacked by these domestic terrorists, most recently on the 2021 anniversary of the Revolt, with the monument being not only desecrated with red paint, but with people defecating on it in an act of targeted hate against Hispanic people and Catholics. The Kit Carson statue in front of the federal courthouse in Santa Fe has also been a target of vandalism.

With all these actions taken by these bad actors who aim to wipe out Hispanic and Catholic people who live in New Mexico, the City of Santa Fe, the State Police, and all other law enforcement bodies have a duty to protect our communities against hate crimes. They must stand up against extremism and protect these critically important historic landmarks and culturally significant places by stationing officers to watch all of these landmarks, both to protect them and to show solidarity with Hispanic and Catholic communities that have been targeted. Those who let these acts continue perpetuate hatred, division, and domestic terrorism stemming from evil forces.

Public servants have a duty to protect significant cultural artifacts from evil forces Read More »

There is still time to oppose the CCP’s extreme gerrymandered redistricting maps

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

The New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee held its last public meeting on Friday to hear what the public has to say about redistricting and their needs. The Committee heard from communities of interest from across the state, including Native American, Hispanic, and other communities that offered their ideas for what proper representation means. 

The Center for Civic Policy (CCP), a dark money group funded heavily by out-of-state billionaire financier George Soros, who destabilized the British Pound at the Bank of England, and millionaire Rob McKay, whose foundation had its non-profit status revoked in 2018, is trying to partisanly gerrymander the map to favor one side. 

The group claims its extremely partisan congressional map (Concept H) is the “people’s map,” but it would erase the only Native American member of New Mexico’s congressional delegation — GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell — and likely place in a far-leftist. The map would also segregate the South Valley of Albuquerque into the Second District and lump a large chunk of Albuquerque into a strange district that sprawls all the way to Roswell. The strange shape of the districts also would lump Hobbs with communities like Española and Santa Fe, which have astronomically different cultures and needs.

The CCP’s state legislative map (Concept G) does much of the same, achieving an extreme partisan gerrymander while also erasing rural representation. It would chop communities like Clovis into thirds while not taking into account the needs of energy-producing, farming, ranching, and other communities that are the backbone of the state’s economy. The map also takes into account at least 8 Native American-majority districts to ensure fair representation. The CCP’s map does not have this many Tribal districts.

Members are urged to comment using what Members Lisa Curtis and Robert Rhatigan have had to say at the August 2, 2021 meeting that radical changes should not happen unless there is overwhelming support for such changes:

Board Member Curtis said, “It seems like a radical change to any of the districts — since we’re not an elected body — … the public would have to say ‘we want a radical change.’” Member Curtis said, “there would have to be overwhelming support for a radical change from the current districts” and “We are imposing something on people if we’re doing radical change without the public jumping up and saying ‘this is what we want.’” 

Board Member Rhatigan added, “…unless there’s overwhelming public consensus to change the general composition of our three congressional districts, I’m inclined to draw districts that we have one [representative] in Albuquerque and we have one northern district and a southern district.”

Members of the public still have time to make their voices heard by submitting comment in the Redistricting Committee’s comment portal. Citizens are urged to advocate against the CCP’s maps while supporting the “Rural Representation” map proposed by Megan Richardson and state House map concept B. 

For the Congressional map, citizens should ask for minimal changes in the redistricting of the three congressional districts, supporting Concepts A, B, C, or G. Concept H, the CCP’s map should be advocated against for its clear partisanship. Ex-state Sen. and far-left Committee Member Michael Sanchez took offense on Friday to the words “extreme” and“radical” to talk about the CCP’s maps, which appears to show he is trying to advocate for them.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR TESTIMONY
YOUR ACTION TO OPPOSE EXTREME REDISTRICTING IS VITAL FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR STATE.

Please submit comments by Friday, October 15, when the Committee will adopt concept maps to propose to the Legislature.

If nothing else, the commentary submitted against the CCP’s maps is the most important in defeating the far-left, partisan maps that do the diametric opposite of the Citizens Redistricting Committee’s purpose — to give the power to the PEOPLE, not out-of-state-funded dark money groups.

There is still time to oppose the CCP’s extreme gerrymandered redistricting maps Read More »

In desperate move, embattled Santa Fe mayor cooks up fake news on opponent

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

In a new desperate move by embattled Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber, his campaign is now sending out mailers implying that the Santa Fe New Mexican endorsed him and is opposed to his opponent, City Councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler.

On the mailer, the text of a far-left New Mexican reader’s opinion piece bashing the City Councilor reads, “Vigil Coppler for mayor? Absolutely not,” with the words “My View” in small letters above it, while below it the Santa Fe New Mexican logo is affixed.  

The mailer does not use the word “opinion” or credit the author of the opinion hit piece, written by Lis Lendvai, who erroneously deceived the public about Vigil Coppler’s stance on certain proposals voted on by the City Council.

Editor Phil Casaus said, “Our attorney’s belief is that you can quote The New Mexican and even identify it in text as a source, but I think our concern is the logo.”

Casaus said that for others, the mailer “has the opportunity to imply to the reader that that’s The New Mexican’s viewpoint on Ms. Vigil Coppler, and we haven’t endorsed in this race.”

The Webber campaign lied about Vigil Coppler’s position on masks, with Webber’s attorney Sascha Anderson claiming, “The campaign seeks to educate voters about Vigil Coppler’s vote against the City’s mask ordinance because we feel that if you vote no on something as simple as a mask ordinance you are not qualified to be Mayor.”

Vigil Coppler reiterated she voted against the mask ordinance because it was a “poorly written measure” that “had so many loopholes” and unenforceable provisions. For example, she said, the law allowed police to issue violators a written warning for a first offense. Vigil Coppler said the ordinance didn’t address how police would know whether someone had received a prior warning and that repeat violators wouldn’t admit to previous offenses to avoid a fine.” 

“Instead of Alan Webber running on his own dismal record, he deliberately attempts to distort my City Council testimony on the mask legislation,” Vigil Coppler added.

Anderson refused to tell the New Mexican how much was spent by the Webber campaign on the fake news mailer and claimed it would be disclosed on the campaign’s next report. Election Day for all municipal races in New Mexico is less than a month away and early voting is in full-swing. Election Day is November 2.

In desperate move, embattled Santa Fe mayor cooks up fake news on opponent Read More »

Lujan Grisham calls Republicans ‘climate deniers’ in latest fundraising push

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

In an increasingly nasty and personal trove of emails from scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to her supporters asking for money, she is now bashing seemingly all Republicans as “climate deniers” who she needs to defeat to “keep New Mexico blue.”

The latest jab comes after she called Republicans opposing her candidacy “QAnon lizard people,” the “party of anti-masking and voter suppression,” among other ad-hominem attacks to rile up her far-left base of extremists.

Now, Lujan Grisham is renewing her extreme stance, claiming her calamitous tenure marked with scandal and failure, including 40% of small businesses being killed, is something to be proud of. She said, “I couldn’t be happier with how much our state has accomplished in such a short time.”

She wrote, “If the GOP flips New Mexico red, I’m afraid they’ll undo our state’s progress, halt climate action, and take us down a dangerous road of increased fossil fuel pollution.”

She went on to ask for money from supporters, writing, “That’s why I need to raise $10,000 before midnight tonight to fend off climate deniers and keep New Mexico blue. In a race as important as this one, it’s critical that I hit every goal every step of the way, friend. I’m really counting on you to donate tonight to help me keep taking action to preserve our climate.”

She ended by saying, “Let’s keep up the good work,” despite New Mexico with some of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, a failing economy, and radical “climate change” policies killing jobs — specifically many Navajo jobs — right and left.

[Shop the Lizard People 2022 collection]

Lujan Grisham calls Republicans ‘climate deniers’ in latest fundraising push Read More »

ACTION ALERT: Attend Friday NM redistricting meeting to support fair maps

2 Comments / Action Alert, New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Friday, the New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee is set to meet in Farmington to discuss redrawing state House, state Senate, congressional, and Public Education Commission maps. 

This redistricting year is the first in the state’s history where citizens are allowed to submit their very own district maps along with written testimony for free.

Far-left extremist groups seeking to expand seats to fulfill their partisan advantage, such as the Center for Civic Policy, have proposed heavily gerrymandered maps that would cut communities of interest into sections and partition seats into strange shapes to meet a partisan advantage. One such map is Concept H, which is an extreme partisan gerrymander, making all three congressional districts in New Mexico solid blue by chopping up the South Valley of Albuquerque into the southern Second District and taking away the oil patch from the Second to add to the Third District, making it stretch all the way from Eddy and Lea Counties to Santa Fe and west to McKinley and San Juan Counties. 

Concepts A, B, C, or G should be advocated for at the meeting for their non-radical changes to the congressional plan. 

In the group’s state House and Senate maps, districts would be heavily gerrymandered to span across many counties. In the extremist dark money group’s state House plan, Clovis is chopped up into three districts while District 49 on the western side of the state would span four counties. District 67 would span five counties while many other districts have twisted shapes, indicating an extreme partisan gerrymander. 

Citizens are encouraged to attend this vital meeting (in-person or via Zoom) to oppose these extreme gerrymandered plans, which are proposed and funded by dark money groups to skew the maps politically — a grave violation of the Committee’s purpose: to create fair maps. State House maps to advocate for include Concept B or the Megan Richardson map proposed in the application “Districtr,” which would all create fair maps. Please show up to attend via in-person in Gallup or Farmington or via Zoom.

The meeting details are below:

The Citizen Redistricting Committee will hold a public meeting on Friday, October 8, 2021 from 3pm to 7pm or until adjourned, to provide members of the public an opportunity to share public comment and testimony to the Committee on the proposed concepts of district maps for New Mexico’s offices to be redistricted.

Satellite locations that will be broadcasting this meeting and providing opportunities for public comment are as follows: 

University of New Mexico Gallup Campus, Calvin Hall Auditorium, Room 248
425 N 7th St, Gallup, NM 87301
For more information, click here. 

To submit a public comment, or statewide district plan online, visit the CRC’s Public Redistricting Portal.

For in-person attendance at meetings:

Masks are required for those who have not been vaccinated and encouraged for those who have been vaccinated. You are also encouraged to practice social distancing.

To attend the meeting virtually, please see the details below: 

Agenda & Meeting Materials: https://www.nmredistricting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Agenda-for-2021-10-08-CRC-Meeting-Farmington.pdf 

Please click this URL to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83550539072

Webinar ID: 835 5053 9072

No Password

Dial-in Numbers:

+13462487799,,83550539072# US (Houston)

+16699009128,,83550539072# US (San Jose)

CRC Rules of Procedure 

The Gallup meeting on October 8 from 3-7 p.m. at the University of New Mexico Gallup Campus, Calvin Hall Auditorium, Room 248,  meeting is a satellite location happening simultaneously with the CRC meeting taking place in Farmington, NM meaning that the CRC members will not be physically present in Gallup. The CRC hosts satellite locations to provide community members the opportunity to make public comments or provide testimony on redistricting issues in person with other community members when they cannot make it to the CRC’s in-person meeting locations and or have limited internet access.

ACTION ALERT: Attend Friday NM redistricting meeting to support fair maps Read More »

MLG urges Congress to pass Biden’s radical $3.5T leftist wish list

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is urging Congress to pass Joe Biden’s massive $3.5 far-left spending bill chock-full of socialist freebies, “climate change” extremism, and racist “equity” programs.

According to the Public News Service, “Lujan Grisham is one of several governors asking Congress to pass the Build Back Better Act, the larger of the two Biden administration infrastructure proposals. Congress is hashing out the size of the reconciliation bill, which would put billions toward the fight against climate change.” 

Moderate Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) have said they will not vote for the boondoggle but are willing to compromise on a much more slimmed-down package. Democrats in the Senate are not willing to budge on their leftist wish list. 

Lujan Grisham said while arguing for the passage of the extreme bill, “We then signal to mid-schoolers, to high-schoolers, to current workers that there’s this huge energy future that allows them to tackle and combat climate change, make the state safer, and be in a leading international role.”

The Governor has forced many economy-crippling bills through the Legislature, including the “Energy Transition Act,” New Mexico’s version of the “Green New Deal,” which will completely collapse the booming revenue-generating oil and gas industry, which contributes over 30% to New Mexico’s state budget. 

The ramifications of this bill include lost jobs, especially for Navajo workers in northeast New Mexico, increased energy prices, and brownouts come next Summer. The Piñon Post helped stop radical proposals in the 2021 Legislature, including a 20+ cent per gallon gas tax on the poor. But with billions in funding coming from this far-left bill in Congress, if it passes, it will create more opportunity for the Governor to ram through even more economy-crippling, job-killing proposals.

MLG urges Congress to pass Biden’s radical $3.5T leftist wish list Read More »

MLG’s health chief says mask mandates, restrictive measures could last for years

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During an online update, acting New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase made some eyebrow-raising statements regarding the use of masks and health restrictions, claiming the already restrictive measures could last for years into the future.

“This is going to stretch out much further in front of us than we thought,” said Scrase. He says he expects “a series of punches and counterpunches between the virus and the rest of the world trying to get this under control.”

“We need to think of longer-term solutions to manage this pandemic — things we can live with for one or two or three years rather than clicking on and off mandates,” said Scrase.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported, “Wearing masks indoors for another year or two could be one of those preventive measures we must tolerate, [Scrase] said.”

After the Lujan Grisham regime mandated that all health care workers receive the experimental inoculation for the virus, many nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel were purged from their livelihoods despite them working through the heat of the pandemic. 

Now, Scrase is upset that hospitals are being bogged down and hospital beds not being available.  “Our hospital personnel are incredibly exhausted, discouraged and frustrated, frankly, that they are now managing a pandemic and working extra shifts and endangering their own health for what has become a preventable illness,” said Scrase.

But a pandemic — at least restrictions for one — lasting years does not appear to be good news from Scrase or the Lujan Grisham administration, especially as the 2022 fast approaches and New Mexicans may ditch the forever pandemic by voting for a Republican governor who will not force strict mandates and restrictions.

MLG’s health chief says mask mandates, restrictive measures could last for years Read More »

ACTION ALERT: Attend Thursday NM redistricting meeting to oppose extreme partisan maps

1 Comment / Action Alert, New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, the New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee is set to meet in Albuquerque to discuss redrawing state House, state Senate, congressional, and Public Education Commission maps. 

This redistricting year is the first in the state’s history where citizens are allowed to submit their very own district maps along with written testimony for free.

According to the committee staff, “Use the public input portal to submit a map or written testimony.  The link to do that is here. Submit a Public Comment or Map – New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee (nmredistricting.org) This is the first time that communities have had access to this kind of FREE mapping technology during redistricting to help policy makers better understand and respect what we want and need in terms of representation.”

In order to ensure fair districts are drawn, New Mexicans are encouraged to submit their maps to keep communities of interest together and to ensure the maps do not give any side a partisan advantage. The Committee will listen to concerns from voters and make determinations based upon the public’s input, which makes attending these meetings extremely important.

Far-left extremist groups seeking to expand seats to fulfill their partisan advantage, such as the Center for Civic Policy, have proposed heavily gerrymandered maps that would cut communities of interest into sections and partition seats into strange shapes to meet a partisan advantage. One such map is Concept H, which is an extreme partisan gerrymander, making all three congressional districts in New Mexico solid blue by chopping up the South Valley of Albuquerque into the southern Second District and taking away the oil patch from the Second to add to the Third District, making it stretch all the way from Eddy and Lea Counties to Santa Fe and west to McKinley and San Juan Counties.

In the group’s state House and Senate maps, districts would be heavily gerrymandered to span across many counties. In the extremist dark money group’s state House plan, Clovis is chopped up into three districts while District 49 on the western side of the state would span four counties. District 67 would span five counties while many other districts have twisted shapes, indicating an extreme partisan gerrymander. 

Citizens are encouraged to attend this vital meeting (in-person or via Zoom) to oppose these extreme gerrymandered plans, which are proposed and funded by dark money groups to skew the maps politically — a grave violation of the Committee’s purpose: to create fair maps.

Here are the meeting details:

The Citizen Redistricting Committee will hold a public meeting on Thursday, October 7, 2021 from 3pm to 7pm, to provide members of the public an opportunity to share public comment and testimony to the Committee on the proposed concepts of district maps for New Mexico’s offices to be redistricted.

Satellite locations that will be broadcasting this meeting and providing opportunities for public comment are as follows: TBA

To submit a public comment, or statewide district plan online, visit the CRC’s Public Redistricting Portal.

For in-person attendance at meetings:
Masks are required for those who have not been vaccinated and encouraged for those who have been vaccinated. You are also encouraged to practice social distancing.

To attend the meeting virtually, please see the details below: 

Agenda & Meeting Materials: https://www.nmredistricting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Agenda-for-2021-10-07-CRC-Meeting-IPCC.pdf 

Please click this URL to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83550539072

Webinar ID: 835 5053 9072

No Password

Dial-in Numbers:

+13462487799,,83550539072# US (Houston)

+16699009128,,83550539072# US (San Jose)

CRC Rules of Procedure 

With it being offered in-person or virtually, there is NO reason you should not be in attendance. The future of our state relies on your action.

ACTION ALERT: Attend Thursday NM redistricting meeting to oppose extreme partisan maps Read More »

Dems using dark money groups to push for heavily gerrymandered redistricting maps

5 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Over the past few days, New Mexicans have read unconfirmed reports claiming Concept H, a heavily gerrymandered map, is the alleged frontrunner in the redistricting process. The congressional map designed by the leftist Center for Civic Policy would throw the South Valley of Albuquerque into the southern Second Congressional District and have the First District move all the way down to Roswell in Chaves County. The Third District would move from Hobbs all the way north, putting astronomically differing southern and northern communities together in one district.

With the far-left group’s current map, which is heavily gerrymandered, it would skew the Second District Democrat, stealing the seat from Republican hands and taking out current GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell.

Extremist dark money pro-illegal immigration groups such as “NM OLÉ,” a shady George Soros-funded organization that has advocated for election fraud and against security in New Mexico elections. 

The group has advocated for congressional maps that would split Albuquerque into the Second District, claiming the South Valley’s Hispanic population would be better represented in the southern district.

Nena Benavidez, a paid activist for the group, said, “I am here to ask that this committee commit to present a congressional map — especially in CD2 — that will represent the majority population, which is Hispanic and Latino. We are asking for the chance, choice, and opportunity to elect the people who best represent us and our communities.” 

But the Redistricting Committee, which is supposed to take into account communities of interest as a paramount factor, would have a hard time explaining how Hobbs and Santa Fe are a similar community of interest while the South Valley of Albuquerque has any similarity to Mesilla, Las Cruces, Alamogordo, or Carlsbad, which the Center for Civic Policy map proposes. Democrat groups have already lauded it for its partisanship:

New Mexico House Speaker Brian Egolf has already stated that he wants to partisanly gerrymander the Second District to take out the current Republican incumbent, saying, “So this is the last election for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District with a map that looks like it looks now.” He added, “So next time it’ll be a different district and we’ll have to see what that means for Republican chances to hold it.”

Egolf was against a citizen redistricting committee, saying to the far-left group “Retake Our Democracy” that the independent committee would weaken Democrats’ advantage in the Legislature, “and the [Democratic] agenda goes out the window.”

He said he could not comprehend why “Democrats want to unilaterally disarm and give advantage to the people who are trying to make the world a dirtier place, take rights away from people, make it harder to vote — all the things that we oppose. I don’t want to make it easier for them to do it.”

Then, he voted for the act to create the committee after massive backlash. Only two members of the Legislature opposed the final bill: allegedly corrupt former second-ranking House Democrat Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton (D-Bernalillo) and Rep. Eliseo Alcon (D-Milan). The final bill gave the Legislature carte blanche power to reject the Committee’s maps, a massive flaw in the legislation.

New Mexicans are now asked to contact the New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee and ask for fair maps that keep the congressional boundaries pretty much the same and keeps communities of interest together, such as north, central, and southern New Mexico. Districts partisanly gerrymandered, like the one proposed by the Center for Civic Policy, would do the opposite of what the Redisctricing Committee was intended to do. Comments should be made in the Comment Portal. 

Dems using dark money groups to push for heavily gerrymandered redistricting maps Read More »

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