New Mexico

Dems turn on MLG after she vetoes entire special projects bill

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Earlier this week, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, vetoed millions in funding for small projects in each legislator’s district. Some of these projects included funds for the Special Olympics, senior centers, food banks, acequias, equipment to solve child abuse cases, and more. 

The bill, which each legislator worked on to provide funding to their individual districts, impacts those who counted on the funding to help New Mexico families. The Governor’s veto could have been in retaliation for the Legislature not passing many of her left-wing policies, such as a 35 to 50 cents-per-gallon gas tax, a radical pro-voter fraud bill, anti-gun measures, and more. Democrats and Republicans are now plotting a potential extraordinary session of the Legislature, which would take three-fifths of the lawmakers in each chamber to support it.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported, “[T]here is “great concern” in the Senate Democratic caucus over the governor’s veto of the so-called junior bill — which would fund an array of initiatives across the state in a year when the state expects record-high revenues — a spokesman for the Senate Majority Office said Democrats would be meeting soon to discuss their options.” 

Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-Gallup), the chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said she was “incredibly disappointed” in the governor’s veto of the junior bill. “Those were all very good projects, both on the House and the Senate side, and I hope we do something about it,” she said.

Lujan Grisham erroneously claimed the projects in the bill were not properly vetted, which was a reason for her veto.

“If they hadn’t been vetted, how would [the governor] know that?” Lundstrom asked. “C’mon now. Give me a break. … I think legislators know what’s best in their own darn communities, and they should be able to fund some of those smaller projects.”

She added, “There are very specific guidelines that are given to the members before they put the request in. There is absolutely vetting and guidance on this. It’s not just throwing a dart at a dartboard.”

Rep. Derrick Lente, (D-Sandia Pueblo), said, “I don’t understand why the political fight would want to be taken.” He supports overriding Lujan Grisham’s veto. 

Even far-left Rep. Roger Montoya (D-Velarde) blasted Lujan Grisham, who endorsed him, for her betrayal of the people. 

“As an unpaid legislator, my team and I drove thousands of miles over the last year, met with leaders from every community that I represent in District 40 — a district that spans 6,000 square miles — and together we identified programs and needs where junior money would have significant and immediate impacts to enrich the lives of my constituents,” he said.

He added, “$360,000 of junior funding that my communities were counting on are gone in the stroke of a pen.”

“It is astonishing to see how weak this Governor has become over the last year,” said House Republican Whip Rod Montoya (Farmington).  “Democrat members of the Legislature were at her beck and call for three years and are now willing to, in an unprecedented manner call themselves into a special session, during the Governor’s first term, to override her vetoes. We typically only see actions like this when dealing with a lame duck Governor who no longer holds sway over their political party.”

Now, as the walls are closing in on Lujan Grisham, her press secretary Nora Sackett claimed in an email to the New Mexican, “The governor’s responsibility is to ensure that New Mexico’s investments directly and meaningfully benefit New Mexicans while maintaining fiscal responsibility, given the once-in-a-generation revenue we have available.”

New ABQ City Council strips Keller’s emergency powers, repeals plastic bag ban

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The newly elected Albuquerque City Council, which now skews to the right, with moderate Democrat Louie Sanchez holding the keys to the kingdom, has made sweeping reforms of the city to the ire of far-left Democrat Mayor Tim Keller.

On Monday night, the City Council voted to nix the City’s plastic bag ban, which has already increased costs for grocery stores and consumers. It now heads to Keller’s desk for a likely veto.

“With spring winds kicking up, no one wants to see plastic bags hanging from trees and blowing down our streets again. The plastic bag ban is one important step to reducing litter, and Council should have waited for the results of the impact study they commissioned instead of taking this premature vote tonight,” said Keller in a statement.

The City Council also voted 5-4 to restrict the mayor’s command during an infectious disease outbreak that “presents a threat (to residents’) health or safety.” 

The change only allows Keller  “advisories and recommendations” regarding another crisis.

But the Mayor’s chief operating officer Lawrence Rael claimed, “There were some specific … situations that occurred in different areas of the city where we had to move quickly,” according to the Albuquerque Journal. 

Council also voted 8-1 to pass a measure that calls for renegotiating the DOJ settlement agreement. The proposal encourages a new agreement that sets an end date and caps spending.

After these reforms, Councilor Dan Lewis said, “This is clearly a major shift to a more common-sense, conservative approach to leading our city in the right direction.” He added, “Our conservative leadership and Republican strength on Council will mean great things for the future. Government must have checks and balances, accountability and be fiscally responsible. These are the values that conservatives on the Council are promoting, and, because of this, we are taking the right actions and making the right decisions that will mean better things for the great citizens of Albuquerque.”

Lujan Grisham signs radical $8.5 billion Democrat budget into law

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On Wednesday, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the massive $8.5 billion budget passed by House Democrats and a handful of Republicans which funded over $10 million for the “Green New Deal,” $75 million for “free” (taxpayer-funded) college, over $300,000 for anti-gun programs, and more. The budget is the largest ever passed in the history of New Mexico.

Lujan Grisham said while signing the mammoth budget, “This budget makes transformative investments exactly where they’re needed: from historic raises for New Mexico educators and growing the country’s most expansive tuition-free college program to creating a new fund to hire public safety officers and unprecedented funding to fight food insecurity.”

She added, “We are taking full advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to strategically and meaningfully build upon our progress to lift up every New Mexico family.”

Also included in the budget, according to a summary of amendments to the bill from the Senate Finance Committee, are massive increases in funding to already bloated state agencies. Those include, “12 percent for Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, and 16 percent for the Environment Department.”

The budget also “creates new offices to address climate change and regulate cannabis (marijuana), and enforce regulatory duties of the oil conservation division.” These positions will support anti-energy “climate change” policies while promoting the use of recreational drugs.

The far-left budget increases the Governor’s socialist free daycare program by over $15.3 million in taxpayers’ dollars.

The analysis of the bill further notes that with the Economic Development Department, the budget addresses “the agency’s top priorities, such as adding an additional $1 million in recurring job training incentive program (JTIP) funding, filling vacancies in the film department, creating a justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion office and expanding the number of regional representatives available to local communities.” The creation of a “justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion office” is the propagation of Critical Race Theory (CRT) into the state’s framework.

According to the Albuquerque Journal:

Lujan Grisham also vetoed several references to “public health orders” issued by her administration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, though she left intact funding for the State Fair and other entities negatively impacted by the pandemic.

In an executive message to lawmakers, the Democratic governor said some of the vetoed language sought to unlawfully intrude into the executive branch’s managerial duties.

The “Republicans” who voted with the far-left Democrats on the budget in the House include Gail Armstrong (Magdalena), Brian Baca (Valencia), Rachel Black (Alamogordo), Jack Chatfield (Tucumcari), Kelly Fajardo (Tome-Adelino), Joshua Hernandez (Rio Rancho), T. Ryan Lane (Aztec), Bill Rehm (Albuquerque), Luis Terrazas (Bayard), and Jane Powdrell-Culbert (Corrales). Fajardo is not seeking reelection while Black and Powdrell-Culbert face primary challenges. The primary election will be on June 7, 2022.

Five House Republicans face primary challenges, many from the right

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On Tuesday, legislative candidates filed their paperwork to get on the June 7 primary ballot, including five Republicans challenging incumbents for their seats in the Republican primary. 

Many of these candidates are running to the right of the GOP incumbents, such as Piñon Post’s editor and founder John Block, an America-First Republican, who is challenging the incumbent in House District 51 in Alamogordo. The current representative, Rachel Black, was the lone vote against tax relief for small businesses during the pandemic lockdown, voted for the Democrats’ $8.5 billion 2022 budget, voted to raise taxes, along with a laundry list of bad votes.

State Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert (R-Corrales) faces a primary challenge from Frida Susana Vasquez (Susan Vasquez) of Rio Rancho in House District 44. Powdrell-Culbert was also a Republican who voted for the Democrats’ $8.5 billion budget, which funds around $75 million in recurring spending for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s “free” (taxpayer-funded) college, among other waste, such as around $10 million for components of the “Green New Deal.”

State Rep. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) faces off against Elaine Sena Cortez, also from Hobbs, who is running on a platform of getting “money and authority back to local communities,” while also focusing on public safety, small business, oil and gas, teachers, and the unborn, according to her website. Scott has been an active voice in the Legislature against enviro-Marxist bills and other bad measures that affect the Oil Patch-area in District 62. 

State Rep. Randall Pettigrew (R-Lovington), a first-term incumbent, is being challenged by Rebecca Jill Jones of Hobbs in House District 61. Pettigrew’s short tenure in the House gives better hope to Jones in her race, but it is unclear at the moment what issues will be key in her campaign.

Conservative Republican Tracy C. DeLaRosa of Roswell is challenging GOP state Rep. Greg Nibert, also of Roswell, for his District 59 seat. DeLaRosa has been a strong advocate against the policies of Joe Biden and Democrats and has been critical of Gov. Lujan Grisham, who was accused and later settled over $150,000 for sexual assault claims. Nibert, an attorney, works at a fairly large firm that has many contracts with the State of New Mexico. 

2022 is seen as a “shakeup” year for many in the Republican Party to clean house and elect conservative Republicans to replace moderate incumbents, especially in solid red areas of the state like Alamogordo, Hobbs, and Roswell. In total, 62 Republican candidates are running for the House, which is composed of 70 seats.

Eight Democrats face primary challenges from the left. According to the Albuquerque Journal, these Democrats are “Anthony Allison of Fruitland, Doreen Wonda Johnson of Church Rock, Eliseo Alcon of Milan, Roger Montoya of Velarde, Susan Herrera of Embudo, Kristina Ortez of Taos, Andrea Romero of Santa Fe and Ambrose Castellano of Las Vegas.” 

Find the full list of candidates who filed for state representative, among other offices, here.

MLG’s Supreme Court tosses citizen grand jury petitions

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New Mexicans from three counties, Chaves, Eddy, and Lea, filed citizen grand jury petitions last year against scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s misuse of emergency powers during the pandemic.

After Lujan Grisham, in her official capacity, used taxpayer-funded lawyers demanded in November the New Mexico Supreme Court strike the petitions down, that’s exactly what it did. The Court, which is made up of 4 out of 5 judges appointed by Lujan Grisham, claimed the signatures were invalid. They claimed the Governor’s actions were “lawful, noncriminal” activities.

Justices C. Shannon Bacon, David K. Thomson, Julie J. Vargas, and Briana Zamora were all appointed by Lujan Grisham, with Chief Justice Michael E. Vigil being supported by Lujan Grisham. All these jurists are Democrats.

State Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eunice) said to the Albuquerque Journal following the ruling, “They never touched on any of the real issues in the case.” He continued, “The courts aren’t willing to listen to New Mexicans.”

“There’s a lot of people who are very irritated about where we are.”

During Lujan Grisham’s scandal-ridden tenure, she extended the emergency orders first enacted in March of 2020 more than 30 times.

The Governor’s emergency orders resulted in at least 40% of small businesses in New Mexico closing, long breadlines to get food and basic goods over the holidays due to capacity limits at grocery stores, restaurant and closures, among other measures seen by many New Mexicans as cruel.

It is not immediately clear if the individuals leading the push for the grand juries will appeal the ruling. This article will be updated when more information is available. 

New Mexico gets national attention over MLG’s CRT radicalism

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Recently, ABC News highlighted New Mexico’s radical Critical Race Theory (CRT) agenda adopted by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Public Education Department (PED). The new social studies standards were adopted by a process 100% controlled by PED, with a “comment period” for New Mexicans to add their thoughts, although it did not result in the removal of CRT from the standards.

For example, one standard asks children to “[a]ssess how social policies and economic forces offer privilege or systemic inequity in accessing social, political, and economic opportunity for identity groups in education, government, healthcare, industry, and law enforcement.”

Other standards include language such as, “Demonstrate how diversity includes the impact of unequal power relations on the development of group identities and cultures” Regarding the territorial period of New Mexico, the rules aim to “Determine the role of race and racism in the acts of land redistribution during the territorial period.”

But ABC News branded the new radical standards as a positive development for schools to “focus on social identities and understanding the world through the lens of race, class and privilege.”

The news organization characterized the changes and comment period on the new CRT standards as follows:

Opponents of the new approach expressed fears that children would be labeled as victims or oppressors based on their race.

Some commenters color-coded the entire proposed rule, identifying language that they saw as echoes of critical race theory, including phrases like “unequal power relations,” “privilege or systemic inequity,” and requirements that students identify their “group identity” starting in kindergarten.

The agency also removed “mentions of sexuality, communism, police brutality and gun violence following concerns raised by the public,” said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Maddy Hayden.

The agency decided to keep the privilege, power and inequity language, and even increased the instances of those terms in an effort to make the language consistent across different sections of the final rule, in response to public comment.

These standards will be mandated to begin in the training phase next year, with instruction of the Critical Race Theory standards beginning in the fall of 2023.

Lujan Grisham is currently up for reelection, and her constant scandals, including paying $150,000 to an alleged groping victim may cost her. The further implementation of Critical Race Theory into the schools is not likely to help her chances.

NM GOP rips Dems’ ‘weak’ convention in fiery statement

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On Saturday, the Republican Party of New Mexico blasted the Democrats’ “lovefest” convention held in Roswell, which included scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Lujan Grisham calling herself and Democrats “bada**” despite their failures in the state. 

Here is the NM GOP’s statement on the New Mexico Democrat convention:

This Convention was a weak affair with low turnout and empty seats, showing the waning support of the Governor and the Democratic Party. This lovefest Convention is nothing more than a ‘Democrat Makeover’—underneath the self-congratulations is a real sense of fear and nervousness. These Democrats know they’re in trouble. From Washington to the Roundhouse, progressive Democrats have inflicted pain on New Mexicans and destroyed our great state.

The Democratic Party is an organization that lacks direction. It will continue to promote progressives whose policies hurt New Mexicans year after year. It doesn’t matter who is on the Democratic slate in June. The Democrat members of Congress will blindly follow the disastrous, radical agenda of the Biden Administration that’s destroying America. Here at home, Gov. Lujan Grisham has failed New Mexicans and doesn’t deserve another term. Her progressive policies and authoritarian actions have ruined our state.

The list of her debacles is endless: 40% of our small businesses lost, tax increases, reckless spending, COVID rules (that she personally breaks) that have shattered our economy and stripped citizens of their freedoms, a failed education system, a continuing crime crisis, classrooms filled with untrained teachers, ignoring our border crisis and her call to eliminate our vital oil and gas industry.  This recent legislative session speaks volumes, as the Governor’s wish list went down in defeat. New Mexicans know all this, and voters will make the right decision and boot her out of office in November.

The Democrats are again showing New Mexico their propensity to allow voter fraud. As part of the Convention, people will be voting by phone, absentee ballot and electronically over five days. That’s hardly a secure process.  And why would it take more than a week to count ballots?

The Democrats’ convention was marked by hypocrisy, unsecured elections, and many protesters outside picketing against the Democrats’ agenda.

[READ NEXT: Dem convention: MLG calls herself a ‘bada**,’ breaks self-imposed mask mandate]

Dem convention: MLG calls herself a ‘bada**,’ breaks self-imposed mask mandate

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Democrats’ 2022 convention, being held this year in Roswell, might just be as fraud-ridden as New Mexico’s regular elections, with the leftists opting for letting their attendees get in the event “virtually” while they can mail absentee ballots for their candidates of choice. 

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, delegates to the Democrats’ convention have until Wednesday to mail their ballots, with the final results of convention winners being announced on March 13.

In contrast to the Republican convention held last weekend in Ruidoso which resulted in results being announced the day afterward, Democrats will just have to wait. 

According to the New Mexican report: 

Delegates will be able to vote through an electronic ballot or by phone until 9 p.m. Wednesday. From Thursday to Friday, Democratic Party staff will be “validating and curing ballots,” van Dijk wrote.

The following Saturday, a representative from each campaign will have the opportunity to observe ballot counting via Zoom “as is required in our rules,” she wrote. Results will be announced when the convention is called back to order March 13.

The convention crowds, according to attendees’ social media photos, appeared tiny, likely due to the Democrats’ forced jab mandate for all who decided to go. Vax cards were “required for entry.”

Also, Democrat Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Jessica Velasquez said, “All convention attendees are required to wear a face mask at all times.” According to photos from the event, many had broken the Democrats’ rules — including the Governor. 

Roswell’s newly elected far-left Democrat Mayor Tim Jennings, who previously served in the state Senate and voted for partial-birth abortion multiple times, spoke at the convention. He joked, “I get to be mayor on the day of all days: April Fools’,” according to Daniel Chacon of the New Mexican. 

Scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took the stage with people holding “MLG” signs and wearing buttons with her signature loud cowboy boots that were passed out during the event, according to reports.

“It’s really good to see over the podium without a box and to see all of you in person, all together,” said Lujan Grisham. 

Lujan Grisham said, “Stand if you believe that we have the power to be our badass selves and win!”

Also during the convention, the Governor had a cringe-worthy dance with attorney general candidate Raúl Torrez.

Far-left state Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard noted how there are anti-MLG protesters outside, claiming in her speech, “We have security in the building today. We’ve got protesters outside because our governor — [Michelle Lujan Grisham] — dared to do the right thing and follow the science and keep us safe.” It is unclear what supposed science Lujan Grisham was following by forcibly masking children, closing down businesses, and making New Mexicans stand in bread lines to buy food over the holidays. Likely, many of those reasons are why protesters picketed the scandal-ridden Governor.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, Roswell Mayor-elect Tim Jennings, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, and many others did not follow the Democrats’ mask mandate:

During Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s speech, she said, “When I ran to be your governor and won, I mean, sorry, your congresswoman.” She corrected herself, saying, “When I ran to be your congresswoman, I apologize …”

NOTE: Article photo via a screenshot of Daniel Chacon’s Twitter video.

MLG signs socialist ‘free college’ bill costing taxpayers $75M annually

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On Friday, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed S.B. 140, which would create a mammoth $75 million per year recurring expense to the state’s taxpayers to fund “free college” through what is being called the “Opportunity Scholarship.”

The far-left bill, which does not include any limits on “free” tuition is forcing taxpayers to shell out even more money. And the merits required to receive the tuition are embarrassingly low, only requiring a 2.5-grade point average, which means students can get low grades and still have their tuition covered. 

“SB140 does not provide a semester or year limit on funding. Rather, the program allows funding up to 90 or 160 hours until the student completes an undergraduate degree or degrees,” analysis for the bill reads.

It should be noted that all representatives who voted for the Democrats’ far-left $8.5 billion budget voted for funding this “free” college initiative by passing the budget. Those representatives include Republicans, such as Gail Armstrong (Magdalena), Brian Baca (Valencia), Rachel Black (Alamogordo), Jack Chatfield (Tucumcari), Kelly Fajardo (Tome-Adelino), Joshua Hernandez (Rio Rancho), T. Ryan Lane (Aztec), Bill Rehm (Albuquerque), Luis Terrazas (Bayard), and Jane Powdrell-Culbert (Corrales).

According to the fiscal impact report for S.B. 140, “House Bill 2 as passed out of the Senate Finance Committee also contains $63 million in nonrecurring funding and $12 million recurring funding for the opportunity scholarship program. Altogether, that would leave the new opportunity scholarship fund with approximately $99.5 million.”

Lujan Grisham had a photo-op at Western New Mexico University in Silver City to sign the legislation, joined by far-left advocates of the fiscally irresponsible bill that is a slap in the face to people who paid their way through college without a socialist program’s help.

“Saddling students with insurmountable debt means they can’t start businesses, can’t buy houses; they don’t have real choices about their future,” claimed Lujan Grisham.

Republicans who voted for the actual free college bill include Reps. Gail Armstrong (Magdalena), Brian Baca (Valencia), Kelly Fajardo (Tome-Adelino), Jason Harper (Rio Rancho), and Luis Terrazas (Bayard). Those Republicans who were excused for the vote included Reps. Rebecca Dow (Truth or Consequences) and Joshua Hernandez (Rio Rancho). In the Senate, Republican Senators Bill Burt (Alamogordo), Crystal Diamond (Deming), Ron Griggs (Alamogordo), Gay Kernan (Hobbs), Mark Moores (Albuquerque), Cliff Pirtle (Roswell), and Joshua Sanchez (Grants) joined the radical Democrats in supporting the socialist free college bill.

MSM joins AG, SOS in all-out smear campaign of Otero County election audit

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Canvassers from the New Mexico Audit Force in Otero County are knocking on doors to gather data to help with the County’s audit of the 2020 election, simply asking whether a voter is registered at a certain address and if that voter cast a vote in November 2020’s election. 

While they seek the truth, the mainstream media is working in tandem with Democrat Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and Democrat Attorney General Hector Balderas, who recently deployed a panicky letter scaring Otero County voters into not participating in the audit. 

According to one Otero County Commissioner, leftists from the east and west coasts have already begun sending them emails trying to delegitimize the audit.

On Wednesday, the Santa Fe New Mexican inflamed the chaos with an article erroneously claiming voters are being “harassed” by canvassers. The article cited a heavily edited TikTok video, which was reported with the following:

But in a TikTok video shared on social media this week, a voter recorded volunteers at her door who said they were “with the Otero County Commission.” The video, which was edited, only shows the voter, not the volunteers at her doorstep.

“You represent our commissioners?” the voter asks.

“Yes,” one of the volunteers responds.

The volunteer later says she is among about 60 canvassers “checking that your experience in voting in the 2020 election matches what the Secretary of State’s Office says, so did you vote in 2020?”

Although nothing inaccurate or harassing happened at the doorstep encounter shared in the likely inaccurate video, Democrats have seized on it and are now fear-mongering Otero County voters into not participating. 

The apparent voter who recorded the TikTok video said, “I need somebody to explain to me how this isn’t [expletive] illegal.” The audit is not illegal. It was sanctioned by the Otero County Commission and no evidence showing anything but what was requested by the Commission has been asked of voters. 

Toulouse Oliver piled on while speaking to the New Mexican, saying the audit “… has folks just very concerned about how protected their personal information is.” This statement is ironic because just last month, the Secretary of State was advocating for a bill to weaken the security of elections by measures such as adding social security numbers to ballots. Other measures she advocated for included ballot harvesting, unsecured ballot drop boxes, and allowing third parties back-channel access to New Mexico’s voter rolls.

The New Mexico Audit Force has already exposed “ghost votes were cast by people that didn’t exist at the address they were voting from or were cast on behalf of a real registrant without their knowledge,” according to David Clements, one of the leaders of the audit. It also exposed mass swaths of voters not at the address provided and requiring removal. These figures come out of the first 1,000 doors knocked in Otero County:

Data table courtesy of Professor David Clements.

1 … 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 … 195

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