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MLG’s election reform bill passes NM House after initial failure, moves to concurrence

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Saturday, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed SB-4, which was amended to exclude an emergency clause by a voice vote of 44-26 after the unsuccessful attempt at passage of the bill earlier in the day.

The first House floor vote on the measure failed on a vote of 38-32, with Democrat Reps. Eliseo Alcon, Harry Garcia, Miguel Garcia, Susan Herrera, Matthew McQueen, Marian Matthews, Joseph Sanchez, Debra Sariñana, Patricia Roybal-Caballero, Sheryl Stapleton and Brian Egolf voting against the measure.

Upon an immediate move following the failed vote by Rep. Miguel Garcia, the House voted 44-26 to revive the failed bill that he voted against. After a short recess for Democrats and Republicans to meet in their respective caucuses, members returned to the chamber and voted to reconsider the measure.

Republican Rep. Paul Bandy urged the House to vote to refer SB-4 to the House Appropriations Committee, as stated in the rules of the New Mexico House of Representatives. However, the measure died on party-lines after a roll call vote. According to Bandy’s reading of the fiscal impact report (FIR) for SB-4, the bill would cost the taxpayers $3 million, which is why he moved for Appropriations to consider it.

SB-4 passed by a vote of 44-26, with Reps. Alcon, Henry Garcia, Miguel Garcia, Herrerra, Matthews, Roybal Caballero, Sanchez, Sariñana, Stapleton, and Egolf changing their votes to YES. Representative Matthew McQueen and Candie Sweetser were the only two Democrats to vote against the measure.

SB-4, as amended, will now go to concurrence, where the Senate and the House will work to agree on the amended language by the House before the measure is moved forward. The current bill does not include language that would allow county clerks to automatically mail absentee voters ballots, but it does include language permanently allowing “declined to state” voters to change their party affiliation on the day of a primary election, while Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians would not be allowed to.

Don Jr. addresses the Navajo Nation: Native Americans ‘are the original conservationists’

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On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr. spoke to the people of the Navajo Nation suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and spoke fondly about his visit during the 2016 campaign to the Navajo Nation. The address was aired over the radio on KNDN 960AM.

“We recognize out of all the tribes, the Navajo Nation had been impacted hardest by the COVID-19 disease,” said Don Jr., standing in solidarity with the victims of the disease.

“I still have the incredible turquoise necklace Rep. Sharon Clahchischilliage and former Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly gave me,” continuing to speak of how he has enjoyed his time visiting the Navajo Dam and hunting in Indian Country.

“As a hunter, I pursued elk and mule deer in your great state,” said Trump. “The Navajos and the Native Americans as a whole are the original conservationists.” He added, “I know I am the son of a New York billionaire, but I don’t spend my time in the cocktail party circuit. I spend it in the great outdoors.”

“No Navajo child should have to leave the Navajo Nation to pursue the American dream,” said Don Jr. He also said the Trump Victory team and his team will have “staff on the grown throughout the campaign,” something many Republican candidates have not done in the Navajo Nation.

“The person that can bring us back up from under the scourge of this virus, disease, this epidemic, is the guy who did it last time — Donald Trump,” Don Jr. said in conclusion. The son of the 45th President’s address to the Navajo Nation is just one of the ways the campaign looks to reach out to Native people in healing during this COVID-19 pandemic.

After the address, an announcer thanked the President for his efforts on behalf of the Navajo Nation, saying, “130 million in federal stimulus COVID-19 funding.” According to the Navajo Nation Department of Health, there are 6,633 positive COVID-19 cases and 311 deaths.

WATCH: Xochitl Torres Small reveals she’s Mormon in 2007 question to Mitt Romney

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Rep. Xochitl Torres Small represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District in Congress, and for much of her tenure, she has revealed little to the people of the District, with carefully selected words crafted to give an answer, yet not say much. A lot of the time, she repeats the phrase “let’s work together” about a broad issue, while not going into specifics, which makes her sound reasonable — while she goes back to Washington, D.C. and votes 94% of the time with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and 90% of the time with socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

But a newly discovered video of Torres Small in 2007 reveals another side of Xochitl that many New Mexicans may not know — that she was (or possibly still is) a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), or better known as the Mormon faith. According to Pew Research, Xochitl Torres Small’s religion is listed as Lutheran — not Mormon.

The video shows a 22-year-old Xochitl asking a question to then-Republican presidential candidate Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead of a November 28, 2007 debate hosted by CNN. The format of the GOP primary debate was one of the first times CNN had “user-generated video” driving debate questions. Here is what Torres Small asked Romney: 

“I’m Xochitl Torres and I’m from New Mexico. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or Mormon, I see serving my own community and communities abroad as a main tenet of my faith and a personal value. So far, we’ve only heard Senator McCain and Governor Huckabee talking about AmeriCorps on a regular basis. Mitt Romney: where do you stand on this issue and do you plan to expand AmeriCorps?

It is unclear what attraction Torres Small had to AmeriCorps in 2007, but Torres Small became an “honorary AmeriCorps NCCC member” in September 2019 when she visited Fort Stanton state monument in Lincoln, New Mexico. It is also unclear why Torres Small was asking Republicans about the AmeriCorps issue, instead of Democrats, who also had a large field of primary candidates.

As for Rep. Torres Small’s Mormon faith, she has not been very public about it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does not list her among the ten LDS members (including her former boss, Sen. Tom Udall) in a 2019 article, saying there are only ten LDS members currently serving — the fewest number in a decade. Currently, there are eight Republican LDS members and two (now possibly three) Democrat members of Congress.

Toulouse Oliver uses COVID-19 spread to help Guv force through election changes in special session

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According to an email sent by New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver to county clerks, she is relying on an expected spread of COVID-19 to push through partisan election changes in the upcoming special session of the Legislature starting on June 18th. 

In the email obtained by the New Mexico House Republicans, Toulouse Oliver writes, “I (and others) have been working closely with the Governor and her staff to ensure that she will place election matters on the call for the special session.”

“I know we all felt hamstrung by the current Election Code during the Primary and, given those limitations (and the likely budgetary implications) heading into the fall when we may have a resurgence of the virus, I think she understands that we as election administrators need more flexibility to manage the election effectively this fall,” continued Toulouse Oliver.

Toulouse Oliver also said the bill she is working with Democrat Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto on to push for election changes, will closely reflect an April letter signed by her and multiple county clerks urging for an all mail-in primary election, with the option for voters to hand-deliver their absentee ballots and the in-person voting options for those with physical disabilities, with COVID-19 as the reason.

According to the latest numbers, COVID-19 has been on a downward decline nationwide, with New Mexico’s cases increasing by over 50%.

The New Mexico House Republicans blasted Toulouse Oliver for utilizing the health pandemic to force through an all mail-in election, writing, “If you thought [New Mexico Democrats] would pass up an opportunity to hyper-politicize our budget instead of focusing solely on solving the economic crisis CREATED by the forced shutdown, YOU’D BE MISTAKEN.”

The New Mexico Supreme Court in a unanimous decision rejected Toulouse Oliver and Ivey-Soto’s partisan petition to have an all mail-in primary election, citing the lack of statutory law to allow such a measure. 

Now, during the Governor’s special session to fix her irresponsible budgeting in the 2020 Legislative Session, she and Ivey-Soto will likely claim changing the Election Code is a budgetary issue, hoping to sneak in all mail-in elections that way, with the hopes of a new COVID-19 resurgence in the Fall. 
Although legislators will be meeting for the special session in Santa Fe, the Capitol will be closed to the public, and no in-person testimony on the critical measures will be allowed. A bipartisan group of legislators is currently petitioning the New Mexico Supreme Court to allow in-person testimony.

Egolf says decision for no in-person comment during special session was ‘unanimous’—it wasn’t

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On Wednesday, while responding to a citizen’s questions about the upcoming special session called by Gov. Lujan Grisham, Speaker of the House Brian Egolf was asked about the decision to not have in-person comment, which Egolf claimed in a Zoom call was to slow the spread of COVID-19.

New Mexico resident Todd Hathorn wrote to Egolf, “Closed means no public interaction.  Actions taken by the Speaker belie the words.  This move to close the session requires a suspension of disbelief.”

Egolf responded to Hathorn, writing back, “That is not true.  We explained in yesterday how the public will participate live by video and give comment directly to committees, by video or in writing.  The public does not offer comment on floor debates…never has.  This was a unanimous and bi-partisan decision.” 

But the Speaker’s comment appears to be false, as at least one Republican representative says they never were asked for their input on the matter, and that they disagree with the closed meetings. 

Rep. Greg Nibert (R-Roswell), wrote in an email to the Piñon Post, “The question was never presented to me.  If asked, I would respond that the Capitol is the people’s house and if people want to attend and take the risk, they should be allowed to do so.”

Other members have confirmed they were never asked their opinion including Rep. Martin Zamora (R-Clovis), Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert (R-Corrales), and Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview).

According to House Republican Leader Jim Townsend (R-Artesia), the motion to keep the Capitol closed was made during a WebEx virtual meeting, where there was no way for members to comment. He also noted that Republican Whip Rod Montoya also could not comment during the meeting and he texted the Speaker directly, which let him speak on the matter.

New Mexico Senate Republican Whip Stuart Ingle’s staff confirmed that he was not present for that conversation or vote, so no, it was not “unanimous.”

Speaker Egolf’s claim that the decision was both bipartisan and unanimous is false, since not every member of the House was asked their opinion. Piñon Post has reached out to every Republican member of the New Mexico House and the Senate, with none responding in support of closed meetings as of 11:57 P.M. on Thursday.

The closed-door special session will take place on June 18th, with no public allowed in the Capitol. Also, legislators will be paid per-diem before and during the special session if they choose to work from home.

The Republican Party of New Mexico called this decision “an insult and another hard slap in the face to all hard-working New Mexicans,” Chairman and former Congressman Steve Pearce saying, “The funds are tapped out, but they’ll still find a way to squeeze more for themselves and squeeze the public.”

Leftist groups demand Keller, ABQ City Council defund ‘racist and ineffective’ APD

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Amid the leftist firestorm from Democrats regarding the death of convicted felon Goerge Floyd while in police custody, Democrats have now begun their newest crusade: defund the police. 

The movement comes after rioters in large cities across the country began violently attacking Law Enforcement with Molotov cocktails, rocks, and other objects while burning down small businesses and looting anything they could get their hands on.

Now, Democrat lawmakers who have goaded on such activity, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and Deb Haaland (D-NM), along with Albuquerque Mayor Keller, are being pressured by fringe Antifa-affiliated groups to “defund the police.”

The call comes after Minneapolis, Minnesota City Counselors look to defund their police department, calling police protection a sign of white “privilege.” Leftists have now attached themselves to this once-movement, which is now fracturing the Democrat party.

Activists are now demanding Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and the Albuquerque City Council get on-board with defunding and disbanding the Albuquerque Police Department, calling it “racist and ineffective.” 

The far-left fringe initiative “Defund 12” demands the City Council “vote no on all increases to police budgets, vote yes to decrease police spending and budgets, vote yes to increase spending on healthcare, education, housing, and community programs that keep us safe.” The “12” in the initiative’s name is intended to signify Law Enforcement.

A template email for leftists to send to their city councilors demands the defunding of APD, while simultaneously “providing more support and funding towards our community efforts and organizations that serve our predominantly Black and Latinx communities.” 

“Black and Latinx communities are living in persistent fear of being killed by state authorities like police, immigration agents or even white vigilantes who are emboldened by state actors,” it continues, writing off APD as “racist and ineffective,” and causing “terror” to minority communities.

“Show up for Racial Justice,” another fringe group, claimed calling people destroying cities and targeting cops “looters” or “rioters” is “white supremacy.” The group wrote on Twitter, “White people, talking about protests as “violent” or “riots” or “looting” is white supremacy. Here’s how to call each other in. #EndWhiteSilence.”

Albuquerque’s U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland attended the Houston funeral services of George Floyd, where racist “reverend” Al Sharpton gave the eulogy, which bashed President Trump, claiming he used a church as a “prop.” 

Haaland praised Sharpton’s eulogy and said she’s “in this fight for the long haul,” appearing to stand with those calling for the defunding of police departments across the country. She previously endorsed an initiative from far-left Albuquerque City Councilors Pat Davis and Lan Sena to “demilitarize” police by banning APD from applying or accepting Military giveaways. Mayor Tim Keller joined Haaland in endorsing the leftist measure.

The far-left majority on the Albuquerque City Council may mean the council could push forward a call to disband the APD if enough public opinion shifts in favor of such a measure, although some leftists, such as Democrat presumptive nominee for president have slightly pushed back against complete defunding of police departments.

MLG’s press sec. blasts New Mexicans asking if Guv had salon visits during COVID-19 lockdown

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In late May, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was under heavy fire from New Mexico citizens, local commentators, and even national outlets for disobeying her own stay-at-home order to buy expensive jewelry from Albuquerque jeweler Lilly Barrack.

While the Gov. was adorning herself with luxury jewels, New Mexicans were suffering — and still are — from her strict lockdown orders barring small businesses and working families from providing for their loved ones. However, the Governor allowed big box stores such as Costco and Walmart to stay wide open for business. Over 210 restaurants have permanently closed during the shutdown.

During the lockdown, some commenters, such as Rio Rancho’s “Salon Deluxe” opined that the Governor is still getting her hair and makeup done in Corrales, despite her harsh lockdown on such businesses operating. Others also wondered if she had salon visits during the lockdown, one commentator claiming a hairdresser named Nam Tran in Corrales is doing her hair.

In emails obtained by the Piñon Post, KOAT 7’s Nancy Laflin asked Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s press secretary, Nora Sackett, about the Governor’s trips to the salon, writing, “…viewers have said [Lujan Grisham] has been getting hair treatment at a salon in Corrales before news conferences. Is that accurate, and if so, was she following state guidelines?”

Sackett snarkily unloaded on the citizens asking these questions, writing back: “I understand that you have to do your job, but ‘viewers saying something online’ is in no way any actual proof or reason to suspect something. I am so entirely tired of people choosing to spend their time by making up lies about the governor getting her hair done. She has not gotten a haircut, or had it colored, or had her nails done, or anything else that angry people on the internet would like to make up unsubstantiated nonsense about. Nor has she been to Corrales – again, people making things up online does not make them true. Every day, the governor is taking serious action to do her best to save lives and keep New Mexicans from getting sick, and all people ‘online’ want to do is complain about her hair. She has not gotten a haircut, as salons are closed and non-essential person-to-person interactions are not allowed, and she expects every other New Mexican to continue to adhere to the public health order just as she is doing.

Also for what it’s worth, woman to woman, you can clearly tell that the governor hasn’t gotten her hair cut just by looking at it. I mean come on.”

Sackett also defended Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s breaking of her health order to buy fancy jewels, writing in an email:

“There were no state guidelines broken. It was an entirely contact-free purchase. The governor asked if she could make an order and pay for some merchandise online or remotely – as was permitted under the prevailing health order at the time, see Page 6, Section (3) of the April 6, 2020, public health order. To be clear, none of the state’s public health orders have ‘otherwise restrict[ed] the conduct of business operations … in which an employee only interacts with clients or customers remotely.’ The transaction was entirely contact-less and remote. The store was never ‘opened’ and a good safe process was followed. The governor has of course in both her personal and professional lives adhered to all of the public health measures the state has enacted for the duration of this pandemic.”

The Governor’s staff essentially doing backflips to try and explain away whether Lujan Grisham did or did not break her own stay-at-home order speaks volumes to the level in which they will go to justify her actions — which were dishonest, if not worse. The snark given by Sackett toward everyday New Mexicans asking questions about the Governor following the same orders everyone else should be an eye-opener for citizens looking for transparency in government. 

Abortion up-to-birth group ‘EMILY’s List’ applauds anti-life extremists ousting pro-life Dems in primary

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For Democrat female candidates, an endorsement from abortion up-to-birth dark money group EMILY’s List essentially makes them a shoo-in to win their primaries, as New Mexicans saw last Tuesday with the EMILY’s List-backed, Teresa Leger de Fernandez, as the Democrat nominee who will face pro-life Republican Alexis Martinez Johnson in the November General Election.

During an October high-dollar “happy hour” held for Leger de Fernandez in Santa Fe with EMILY’s List founder Ellen Malcolm, Martinez Johnson helped organize a peaceful protest against the anti-life organization’s event, with state Senate candidate Joey Tiano joining in the picket line.

But EMILY’s List has been working this election cycle to prop up abortion up-to-birth Democrat women to take out pro-life Democrats who went against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s 2019 bill, HB-51, which would have legalized abortion up-to-birth for any reason, and ripped away protections for minors, and not required a board-certified doctor to perform the risky procedure.

And many of EMILY’s List’s candidates were successful, including Siah Correa Hemphill who took out appointed Democrat Sen. Gabriel Ramos in District 28, and Pam Cordova, who took out Democrat Sen. Clemente Sanchez in District 30. Other pro-life Democrats ousted by radical pro-abortion candidates included powerful Finance Committee Chairman Sen. John Arthur Smith, Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Marie Kay Papen, and Sen. Richard Martinez, who was arrested for driving under the influence in 2019. 

EMILY’s List also made endorsements to candidates vying for the New Mexico House of Representatives, many of them winning their primary elections.

On Monday, EMILY’s List tweeted from their national account support for the pro-abortion candidates who took out the pro-life Democrats, writing, “New Mexico is one step closer to a pro-choice majority in the state Senate AND an all women of color U.S. House delegation!”

EMILY’s List has previously been a big supporter of Michelle Lujan Grisham during her run for the New Mexico governorship and is currently pushing for Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, who believes in abortion up-to-birth and infanticide. The organization has taken nearly a million dollars from leftist billionaire George Soros.

The 2020 November election will be a defining moment between radical abortion up-to-birth extremism and a culture of Life in the Land of Enchantment. It is unclear if the Democrats who lost their seats to anti-life extremists will back the Republicans running against their former challengers. A leftist opinion column in the Santa Fe New Mexican speculated that Sen. Clemente Sanchez may back the Republican running for District 30, who coincidentally shares his surname of Sanchez. 

The Republican Party of New Mexico has gone to great lengths to recruit quality candidates for most legislative races, which will be a strong offense to the far-left Democrats in November’s General Election. After Tuesday’s Republican Primary, women of color will be running for all three congressional districts, with Michelle Garcia Holmes (CD-1) and Alexis Martinez Johnson CD-3) being of Hispanic descent and Yvette Herrell (CD-2) being of Cherokee descent.

Alexis Martinez Johnson wins CD-3 GOP Primary

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On Saturday, Santa Fe County finally finished counting absentee ballots after a judge allowed Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar to continue counting absentee ballots in the nail-biter GOP primary for the 3rd Congressional District.

Ultimately, after final votes were tallied, Santa Fe’s Alexis Martinez Johnson won the Republican Primary for the 3rd Congressional District by 572 votes over former Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya. 

Martinez Johnson garnered 16,385 votes to Montoya’s 15,813. She will face far-left abortion up-to-birth extremist Teresa Leger Fernandez in November’s election. Leger Fernandez has the support of the pro-abortion dark money group “EMILY’s List,” which helped her win her primary against disgraced former CIA operative Valerie Plame in the Democrat Primary. The 3rd District leans Democrat by eight points on the Cook Partisan Voting Index. 

Another tight race decided by the late counting of ballots in Santa Fe County was that of the Republicans vying for New Mexico’s 39th Senate District, which ultimately went to candidate Joey Tiano over Susan K. Vescovo by exactly 100 votes. Tiano garnered 2,121 votes to Vescovo’s 2,021.

Tiano will face far-left state Sen. Liz Stefanics in November’s General Election.

MLG forming ‘racial justice’ council to pay for NM’s ‘embedded injustices’

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On Thursday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced she is forming the “Council for Racial Justice,” which will be comprised of black leaders and a “racial justice czar.”

Far-left House Majority Leader Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton will serve on the council, and no doubt champion the Governor’s left-wing initiatives.

According to Grisham, the United States has to “own what slavery did,” saying, “until we own that sin…that disgrace, we don’t have the opportunity to move forward.” She also said New Mexico needs to “re-educate” law enforcers.

In a press release, Lujan Grisham wrote, “While New Mexico is no stranger to police violence, hunger, poverty and inequality of opportunity are other embedded injustices within the state.”

The Governor also described “institutional racism” as a “cancer untreated” and slavery as an “original sin.” She also called it a “disgusting truth.” During her press conference, Lujan Grisham further elaborated, saying, “We have seen our Native American brothers and sisters face untold disproportionate struggle. We have generational work to do in restoring educational outcomes for minority and disadvantaged populations in our state. The system will not reform itself.”

It is unclear who will fund this council, or how much the initiative is supposed to cost the taxpayer, but it will no doubt be a setback to the state’s budget. 

Earlier Thursday, Gov. Lujan Grisham ordered state flags to half-staff to commemorate the death of a Minnesota man, George Floyd, and “all other victims of systemic racism and police violence.”

Commentary

However, New Mexico is a state with one of the largest minority populations (61.1% in 2014) and growing. The claim that somehow New Mexico is not “woke” enough for the Governor is a blatant mischaracterization of New Mexico’s culture of respect, family values, and acceptance of one’s neighbor. 

It is also irresponsible for the Governor to punish the people of New Mexico for the “original sin” of slavery — when slavery has been abolished for 155 years. Not a single person alive today is responsible for the horror of slavery, and to somehow guilt every single New Mexican into feeling guilty for something we have zero control over is irresponsible and ignorant.

Lujan Grisham needs to quit auditioning for Joe Biden’s running mate by virtue-signaling her way through the governorship. Instead, she needs to focus on the real issues that New Mexicans care about — and those do not include “social justice.” By pointing out our differences, Lujan Grisham is bringing more attention to the physical traits that make us different, such as our ethnicities — not helping heal any wounds that actually need attention. 

Furthermore, the Governor throughout her abusive reign has further divided the people and Law Enforcers, by using the State Police as props to deliver cease and desist orders to small business — creating tension between the men and women in uniform whose jobs are to keep us safe, and the people who should think of Law Enforcers as the heroes that they are supposed to be.

Shame on Gov. Lujan Grisham, and shame on those participating in helping her refuel the race war in this country that was slowly healing until Democrat rule in our country.

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