New Mexico

Moderate GOP legislator Alonzo Baldonado abruptly resigns

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Moderate GOP state Rep. Alonzo Baldonado (R-Valencia) announced his abrupt resignation, according to reports from the Valencia County News-Bulletin and KRQE 13.

Baldonado reportedly said it’s “time to turn the page,” making today, Friday, Dec. 31, his last day as a legislator.

“The politics can be very stressful, but after the session, you go have dinner with people,” he said. “That’s something I don’t think people know exists. They think, ‘Oh he’s a Republican and she’s a Democrat.’ We can get along. It’s not rocket science. It’s about personalities and relationships,” he told the News-Bulletin.

After the abrupt announcement, far-left House Speaker Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe) said, “I have had the pleasure of serving with Representative Baldonado since 2011. Over the years, I have come to appreciate Alonzo as an able public servant who has always put the people first and as a good friend. I wish him and his family all the very best for the future.”

Socialist Democrat House Majority Leader who took over for alleged money launderer Sheryl Williams Stapleton Javier Martinez (D-Bernalillo) said to KRQE 13, “I deeply respect Representative Baldonado’s commitment to public service and I admire how he has fought tirelessly for his constituents. I wish him well in his future endeavors, where I know he will continue to serve his community.”

Baldonado is known for complaining about his job and claiming he does not get paid despite receiving a pension and daily per-diem for his time in Santa Fe. As we previously reported in an editorial:

“Moderate” Rep. Alonzo Baldonado (R-Valencia), while defending Rep. Kelly Fajardo’s (R-Valencia) vote in favor of Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s “mini” Green New Deal, wrote, “For all of you out there that think making votes and not getting paid to do it is easy….I say you go do it.” In 2022, many conservative Republicans will do it, and hopefully, strong patriots who do not cower will run against Reps. Fajardo and Baldonado to bring true representation to the Legislature—actual servants of the people who will not complain about the job they knew full-well they were getting into. 

Now Baldonado will no longer have to complain about “not getting paid,” as his time in the Legislature is done.

MLG signs gerrymandered state House maps into law

7 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Wednesday, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Democrats’ far-left gerrymander state House map that deletes Hispanic representation, creates districts that snake around others, and could boot one of the only Black representatives from her district.

According to reports, the heavily gerrymandered map could give Democrats 45 of the 70 seats in the state House. 

Lujan Grisham claimed, “This is a sound map that is representative and respectful of New Mexico’s varied communities of interest and will, I believe, ensure that the will of the people will continue to be done in that chamber.”

Despite the heavy partisan gerrymander based on a map drawn by the George Soros-funded Center for Civic Policy (CCP), the governor claims it is “representative.” This is despite Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert possibly being kicked out of her seat and Republicans being paired with Democrats in two districts.

Those include — Rep. Greg Nibert (R-Roswell) and Rep. Phelps Anderson (DTS-Roswell), as well as Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil (D-Bernalillo) and Rep. Bill Rehm (R-Bernalillo). 

The maps were not the work of the state’s Citizen Redistricting Committee. Rather, the work of dark money operatives apparently seeking a left-wing political advantage. 

During the closed-door special session in which Democrats rammed through the extreme proposals, public comment was cut off or not accepted at all and no notice was given to the public to addend critical committee hearings on the proposed maps.

Even the left-wing Albuquerque Journal decried the partisanship in the drawing of maps. In a recent editorial, the paper wrote that the maps were drawn for “naked political gain.” 

“So much for keeping like-minded communities together, prioritizing communities of interest, protecting marginalized groups, avoiding court intervention, and not favoring anyone, specifically political parties or incumbents.”

The Republican Party of  New Mexico and New Mexico Open Elections are considering lawsuits to block the maps. It is unclear the status of those at this time. 

Lujan Grisham has yet to sign the state Senate maps, which also drew controversy. She has until Jan. 6 to do so.

Antifa-linked leftists blow a gasket over profile piece on Piñon Post editor

17 Comments / New Mexico, News, Opinion, Politics / By

On the front page of the Santa Fe New Mexican’s Sunday issue, the paper ran a profile piece on Piñon Post editor and founder John Block titled “An unlikely conservative voice needles New Mexico’s left.” 

The profile wrote,“Block, who remains convinced Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, has been called the unofficial spokesman of the Republican Party of New Mexico — given to writing incendiary things on politics and politicians that perhaps the party structure would not.”

The piece, which interviewed both Block and those who disagree with him, resulted in absolute pandemonium on social media, with 142 comments on the article itself as of 9:00 a.m. Wednesday with leftists losing their minds over the coverage. The article has since become the most popular on the site.

On social media, the fringe George Soros-funded dark money group ProgressNow New Mexico (PNNM) claimed Block and the Piñon Post are “extremist” and a “general threat to democracy,” urging its followers to frantically demand the New Mexican apologize for the profile piece. 

PNNM has previously shared propaganda from the domestic terrorist group “ANTIFA,” which promotes violence in American cities. PNNM encouraged its followers to doxx conservatives who the group disagrees with — yet it claims the Piñon Post’s accurate journalism is “extreme.”

It encouraged its followers to beg the New Mexican for an apology and to write angry letters to the editor showing the dissatisfaction of the far-left. 

Leftist state Rep. Liz Thomson (D-Bernalillo) has repeatedly bashed New Mexicans, including attacks on Law Enforcement, which she compared to the KKK. She chimed in on Twitter, writing, “It was beyond disappointing for a good newspaper to play into this pathology.” 

One commenter gave a little more sanity to the conversation, replying to Thomson, “So, it’s all good when @thenewmexican reports what the democrats want/like, but when they don’t, watch out 🙄 kinda makes one wonder about truth and unbiased journalism in New Mexico.”

It appears that the New Mexican piece, which was by no stretch of the imagination flattering to Block, has further “needled” New Mexico’s Radical Left and exposed more radicalism from the so-called “tolerant” leftists in the state.

ABQ Journal stuns with rare Lujan Grisham criticism

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Tuesday, the Albuquerque Journal stunned with a rare criticism of scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for her and Democrats’ partisan closed-door special session that essentially threw out all the work of the Citizens Redistricting Committee to draw fair maps.

The Journal’s editorial board, which noted how the piece represents the paper, wrote, “Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham owes retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Edward Chavez and retired Court of Appeals Chief Judge Roderick Kennedy an explanation — if not an apology.”

It noted how Chavez and Kennedy oversaw a 25-member redistricting task force. Legislators had the opportunity to pass fair maps that represented New Mexican communities of interest and keep communities together so they could be well represented. 

“Legislators instead passed a gerrymandered bill with congressional boundaries that split Albuquerque, Roswell and Hobbs for naked political gain,” wrote the editorial board. 

It was noted how Albuquerque’s South Valley was plunged into the Second District, Roswell was now included in the First District, and Hobbs was chopped in half to be part of the northern Third District.

“So much for keeping like-minded communities together, prioritizing communities of interest, protecting marginalized groups, avoiding court intervention, and not favoring anyone, specifically political parties or incumbents.”

The editorial added: 

And, Egolf lived up to low expectations. It wasn’t enough for him that Democrats have super-majorities in both houses of the state Legislature, hold every state office from governor to state treasurer and occupy both U.S. Senate and two of the state’s three congressional seats. He and other Democrats wanted it all and took it at the expense of conservative and rural voters.

Then, the governor joined the gerrymandering circus and cemented these congressional boundaries for the next decade.

“It is my duty to ratify the will of the majority here, which I believe has established a reasonable baseline for competitive federal elections, in which no one party or candidate may claim any undue advantage,” the governor said. Yet, the maps carve the Republican-dominated oil patch into three districts, dilute the rural vote and shift even more political power to central New Mexico. No “undue advantage?”

Lujan Grisham had an opportunity to be a true leader and represent the whole state regarding redistricting but instead yielded to political temptations. For that she owes Chavez, Kennedy, task force and committee members and every New Mexican now lumped into a district that disenfranchises their community interests a real explanation, not a party-scripted response.

Now, as Republicans and New Mexico Open Elections contemplate a lawsuit to buck the gerrymandered congressional and legislative maps, it is unclear what their fate will be, especially as the state Supreme Court is stacked against any opposition due to a majority of justices being Lujan Grisham appointees.

Abortion up-to-birth group endorses Maggie Toulouse Oliver

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Tuesday, Democrat New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver sent an email saying she had gotten the endorsement of the radical abortion up-to-birth dark money group “EMILY’s List,” which only endorses women who support unlimited abortions. 

Despite the Secretary of State’s position not having anything whatsoever to do with abortion, the endorsement out-of-state abortion group means cash will likely flood into the state in the form of independent expenditures to promote Toulouse Oliver’s candidacy. 

“EMILY’s List is proud to endorse Secretary Maggie Toulouse Oliver for reelection,” said Sarah Curmi, vice president of state and local campaigns at EMILY’s List. “Secretary Toulouse Oliver has steadfastly served the state of New Mexico. As secretary of state, she has worked hard to secure fair and safe elections, increase voter access, and create a transparent and efficient state government.” 

In response to the endorsement, Toulouse Oliver wrote on Twitter, “I’m honored to earn this endorsement from [EMILY’s List].” Her team in a subsequent email wrote, “you know you’re on the right team when EMILY’S List endorses your candidate.”

“What you see is what you get with Maggie. With EMILY’s List behind us, we can keep Maggie’s seat,” the email continued. 

As the 2022 race looms around the corner, Toulouse Oliver will seek to keep her job in the Secretary of State’s office after years of a tumultuous tenure. 

She previously ran unsuccessfully for an open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Tom Udall. She ran far to the left in the primary, supporting unlimited abortion, the Green New Deal, “free” health care, and other costly social programs. Toulouse Oliver ultimately dropped out before the primary and threw her support behind then-U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján who won in the general election. 

Conservative activist Audrey Trujillo is running on the Republican side against Toulouse Oliver. No other challengers have jumped in the GOP race.

The most read Piñon Post stories of 2021

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

2021 has been yet another eventful year in New Mexico, with lots of news. Through it all, the Piñon Post has worked overtime to provide New Mexicans with top-notch independent news and conservative opinion for an informed New Mexico. 

This year, we have built an even bigger audience, broken important stories, and done even more to represent New Mexicans in our media coverage. Here are the most-read stories of 2021 from the Piñon Post: 

NMSU professor and fmr. ‘NeverTrumper’ jumps on Trump Train, blasts leftist school president’s letter

NMSU professor and fmr. ‘NeverTrumper’ jumps on Trump Train, blasts leftist school president’s letter

As Gov. MLG signs abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill, she decries ‘dehumanization’

As Gov. MLG signs abortion up-to-birth and infanticide bill, she decries ‘dehumanization’

Democrat state lawmaker snitches on fellow citizens

Democrat state lawmaker snitches on fellow citizens

ABQ restaurant that fought MLG’s draconian edicts says goodbye after judge deals final death blow

ABQ restaurant that fought MLG’s draconian edicts says goodbye after judge deals final death blow

LANL running ‘coercion campaign’ to ‘force’ employees to take COVID shot

LANL running ‘coercion campaign’ to ‘force’ employees to take COVID shot

FOREVER DEPLORABLE: The battle for President Trump has just begun

FOREVER DEPLORABLE: The battle for President Trump has just begun

New Mexico: We’re in an abusive relationship with MLG. It’s time to break up with her

New Mexico: We’re in an abusive relationship with MLG. It’s time to break up with her

Alleged groper Gov. MLG funnels over $62K in hush money to ex-staffer in settlement

Alleged groper Gov. MLG funnels over $62K in hush money to ex-staffer in settlement

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-NM cabinet secretary’s ties to Williams Stapleton expose other top Dems

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-NM cabinet secretary’s ties to Williams Stapleton expose other top Dems

NM ethics board rejects Lujan Grisham’s attempt to dismiss complaint

NM ethics board rejects Lujan Grisham’s attempt to dismiss complaint

Rep. Herrell schools abortionist: Dismembering a baby is ‘exactly’ what late-term abortion is

Rep. Herrell schools abortionist: Dismembering a baby is ‘exactly’ what late-term abortion is

GOP NM state rep. betrays constituents—votes for abortion up-to-birth and infanticide

GOP NM state rep. betrays constituents—votes for abortion up-to-birth and infanticide

‘Keep quiet’: Archbishop Wester reportedly covered up, fumbled pedophilic sexual abuse cases

‘Keep quiet’: Archbishop Wester reportedly covered up, fumbled pedophilic sexual abuse cases

Pro-abortion Democrat state senator denied Communion by pro-life Las Cruces bishop

Pro-abortion Democrat state senator denied Communion by pro-life Las Cruces bishop

EXCLUSIVE: Details from Gov. Lujan Grisham’s ‘private meeting’ with communist Chinese official

EXCLUSIVE: Details from Gov. Lujan Grisham’s ‘private meeting’ with communist Chinese official

MLG’s reelection bid goes south as she bizarrely calls protesters drowning her out ‘lizard people’

MLG’s reelection bid goes south as she bizarrely calls protesters drowning her out ‘lizard people’

Who is standing up for our Law Enforcers? They need our support now more than ever

Who is standing up for our Law Enforcers? They need our support now more than ever

Emergency temporary restraining order filed against Sandia Labs over jab mandate

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021, New Mexico Stands Up! attorneys Ana Garner and Jonathan Diener, along with Norred Law firm of Arlington, TX filed a complaint and a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC d/b/a Sandia National Laboratory and Honeywell International Inc. in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas.

According to a press release from the group, “The Plaintiffs are employees of Sandia, and the SNL Workforce Freedom Alliance, an association of several hundred employees. The TRO motion asks the Court to enjoin SNL from firing, suspending without pay or taking any other negative action against employees for not accepting the experimental COVID vaccines.”

The complaint alleges that Joe Biden’s executive orders mandating vaccines and other pandemic “safety” measures for all federal contractors and subcontractors are without legal basis. The complaint notes that these orders are, therefore “illegal and unenforceable, as held by several recent federal courts.” 

The complaint further alleges that there are no vaccines currently available in the USA that have been FDA “approved,” and therefore, all COVID vaccines are “experimental and thus cannot be mandated under federal law.” It writes that mandating PCR tests and face masks violates employees’ right to bodily integrity and right to life and liberty under the Constitution.

“Even if there were a public health emergency, no government can force or compel any human from taking a medical intervention without consent. The ‘emergency’ was a deception of tyrannical government. It is time to stop this abusive government overreach,” said attorney Ana Garner. 

This is a developing story…

CBS reporter: ‘Crushing’ lockdowns like those in NM have hurt our children

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Over the weekend, CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford blew the whistle on the most underreported story of 2021, which she claimed resulted in a “crushing” impact on our country’s children.

“My kids hear me rant about this every day, so I may as well tell you guys. It’s the crushing impact that our COVID policies have had on young kids and children, by far the least serious risk for serious illness,” Crawford said.

She spoke about how healthy teenagers have “a one-in-a-million chance” of catching and dying from the virus, noting how they have a greater chance of perishing in a car accident. 

“They have suffered and sacrificed the most, especially kids in underrepresented, at-risk communities. And now we have the surgeon general saying there’s a mental health crisis among our kids,” Crawford said. “The risk of suicide attempts among girls now up 51% this year. Black kids nearly twice as likely as white kids to die by suicide.”

“I mean school closures, lockdowns, cancellation of sports. You couldn’t even go on a playground in the D.C. area without cops shooing the kids off…. Tremendous negative impact on kids, and it’s been an afterthought. It’s hurt their dreams, their future, learning loss, risk of abuse, their mental health,” Crawford added.

In New Mexico, school lockdowns and clapping down on sports have had a tremendous impact. In April, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham finally lifted a one-year ban on in-person learning. 

As we previously reported:

The damage the Governor’s lockdown caused was much more painful than merely the year of education many children lost altogether. Hundreds of children in New Mexico took their own lives in 2020 and early 2021, with New Mexico ranking the second-worst state for suicides. As for teen suicides, New Mexico ranked as the fifth-highest state nationwide in 2020. In July 2020, New Mexico hit a boiling point as the state with the highest rate of suicide in the nation, with the rate for children ages 4-15 increasing by 88%.

The Albuquerque Journal reported that around 12,000 “missing” children were going without instruction at all during the pandemic. 

Early in the pandemic, many students cried out about their lack of access to education, with some children having to camp outside of their shuttered school to get wifi access to complete assignments. Many New Mexico children went over an entire year without an education. 

The New Mexico Public Education Department’s updated guidance includes “indoor sports is 100% mask wearing” According to the report, “Outdoor sports, including football, has now been changed back to recommended mask wearing.” 

During the summer, students were forced to wear masks while running in 100-degree heat due to the edict from the Lujan Grisham regime. The body count continues to climb in New Mexico, with children taking their own lives and being the subjects of bullying because of the mask mandates. But the strict policies remain in place despite national outcry over how they negatively effect the state’s children. 

Triggered by ‘Let’s Go, Brandon’ chant, legislator claims Trump is a ‘flagrant piece of s**t’

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Far-left state Rep. Liz Thomson (D-Bernalillo) has long been an opponent of conservatives and pretty much anyone who remotely disagrees with her. 

Thomson has long been known for her personal attacks against fellow New Mexicans, demeaning them as “uneducated” for asking questions about the virus jab and claiming in one rant, “Anyone who continues to back the orange traitor (apparently referring to President Donald Trump) after the terrorist attack, is forever branded with a scarlet S for seditionist.” 

She also called concerned parents asking questions about the jab for their kids “low iq voters.” Then, Thomson snitched on fellow citizens to the attorney general regarding pandemic mandates. 

She then compared law enforcers to the Ku Klux Klan and called law-abiding gun owners “thugs.”

Now, she has continued in her personal and explicit political Twitter rants, this time jabbing at 45th President Donald J. Trump.

Thomson shared a post reading, “When you say ‘Let’s go, Brandon’ you might as well advertise yourself as a nearly politically illiterate, unoriginal, cult-following fool who wandered willingly behind the flock of the loudest voices around you into hating a man that you don’t actually know anything about.”

The post continued that Trump was a “flagrant piece of s**t.”

Thomson wrote, “This is spot on.”

During the recent special legislative session dedicated to redistricting, Thomson responded to her fellow legislators who said the maps being proposed were partisan and gerrymandered. She said, “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” Thomson now appears to continue to have a “fit” on Twitter over President Trump, who she still can’t stop hating. 

Dem senator wants fed dollars spent on costly bullet train, PED expansion

1 Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Legislators hurriedly passed hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic cash for leftist pet projects during the second special session, such as $10 million to build electric vehicle charging stations and $15 million to the Department of Finance and Administration for “energy-efficient affordable housing.” 

But for one Democrat senator, all that spending wasn’t enough to fulfill his wish list of priorities he thinks New Mexico needs. 

State Sen. Bill Soules (D-Doña Ana) wants even more investments in social programs, including an expansion of the Public Education Department, which has already been under fire for its overreach in local school boards.

Soules wrote that he wants to “[e]xpand our Public Education Department (and thinking) from K-12 to include the nurturing of future students in the developmental phase of infancy and early childhood. Fully fund prenatal and infant care and services and all early childhood programs for 100 percent of infants.” 

He wants to also “[f]und county-based capacity-building centers committed to identifying gaps in the vital services in rural and urban areas. Invest in the community schools model to make every school fully resourced for our most vulnerable students.” It is unclear what exactly he means by “county-based capacity-building centers” for “vulnerable” students, but he doesn’t give a price tag.

But possibly one of the most costly investments Soules imagines be done with federal dollars includes, funding “a bullet train to move consumers from Santa Fe to Las Cruces, plus Mexico and Colorado.” 

A bullet train is one of the most expensive investments imaginable. According to Forbes, for Amtrak to create a high-speed rail train in its Northeast Corridor route, it would cost $500 million per mile. Forbes writes, “High-speed rail is the ‘fetch’ of transportation ideas.”

More conservative estimates of $154 million per mile for a bullet train, would mean a price tag of over $34 billion just for a bullet train from Albuquerque to Las Cruces (about 222 miles).

While many leftist legislators propose costly new initiatives for New Mexico, many working families in the state are still struggling to get back on their feet following brutal pandemic lockdowns from scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The Governor’s lockdown resulted in at least 40% of small businesses closing and New Mexico remains one of the states still with a high unemployment rate. 

1 … 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 … 194

Stay Updated

Scroll to Top