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Bedonie responds after Stop MLG PAC files ethics complaint

9 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, it was announced that Stop MLG PAC, a political action committee associated with a Republican Party of Santa Fe County Vice-Chairman Brett Kokinadis, filed an ethics complaint against Republican-turned Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Karen Bedonie over “unlawfully coordinated independent expenditures.” 

The complaint also targeted “Private Persons of New Mexico,” a group that is purported to have paid for advertisements, including billboards but does not have registration with the State of New Mexico as a political committee. 

According to Stop MLG PAC:

The candidate has posted on her individual and campaign’s social media other works similar to the Billboard and signs marked as “Paid for By Private Citizens of New Mexico” (“PCNM”), indicating that the candidate’s committee has potentially:

1) Coordinated with Private Citizens of New Mexico in the production of the advertising materials or;

2) Created the advertising materials for Private Citizens of New Mexico or;

3) The candidate’s campaign committee is operating as Private Citizens of New Mexico and attempting to conceal the true and unreported funding source for paid advertisements or;

4) Coordinated with Private Citizens of New Mexico in the production and paid placement of advertisements and collateral.

“Dark money has no place in New Mexico or politics. Ensuring compliance and remaining transparent and honest with voters is required by law and is every candidate’s responsibility. Like Governor Grisham, Karen Bedonie demonstrates that her campaign believes it is excluded from complying with state law.”, Kokinadis said.

Kokinadis continued, “Bedonie’s campaign appears to be operating under her official committee and with the support of coordinated dark money under the unlawful Private Persons of New Mexico label, potentially to conceal funding sources. Voters are entitled to know who’s funding Bedonie’s campaign.”

The complaint alleges that the Independent Expenditure is unreported, unlawfully coordinated, and attempts to conceal the true identity of the responsible person(s) and funding sources. The PAC told the Piñon Post its case in under preliminary review with the Commission.

Following the complaint and requests for comment submitted by the Piñon Post, Bedonie posted a statement on social media. It reads, in full:

​​Today, we are faced with another carpetbagging attempt to drive fear, tarnish and impede the people’s campaign by wanting to control our dedication to our New Mexican life. The will of this stunt is to stop the only conservative candidate in the race. This highlights the underlying mission of the infiltrated Republican Party. The STOPMLG organization and PAC (controlled and misrepresented by transplant Kokinadis) are peculiarly aligning to stop the only true New Mexican candidate that can beat the incumbent. His organization should stop lying and rename it STOPBEDONIE. 

Let this statement dismiss accusations of “Dark Money” being used to support the Bedonie Campaign based on the simple respect of the First Amendment of the Constitution. It is with great appreciation and enjoyment that I congratulate you on the execution of your FREEDOM and LIBERTY to show your dedication and inspirationtional acts of your beautiful American voices the best way you see fit. 

The criminalization of such acts of FREEDOM shall now take foreground and the accused will now fully realize the dirty hands of the players of their Republican Party of New Mexico. You have done nothing wrong. Rest your worries and know, they can not take my candidacy based on exercising your constitutional right(s). 

This complaint launched as well as the support of the salivating media shows the willingness to silence the “will” of the people and your voices. If this complaint is entertained, let them try to weakly criminalize every New Mexican that chooses the First Amendment from the private proclamations, to the youth who lovingly designed the media in question, to the children who use their allowances to paint rocks. There is no difference, your voice, big or small, matters. Do not let them discourage you. You are the PEOPLE. With all my spirit and confidence, onward we will move. 

The complaint can be read here.

MLG claims to be anti-gerrymandering despite signing extreme gerrymandered maps

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

Far-left Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has once again spoken out of both sides of her mouth — this time about gerrymandering. For those unaware of the term, in essence, it means manipulating the political boundaries of districts to favor one party or class. 

Lujan Grisham signed into law the most partisan, extremist gerrymandered maps imaginable earlier this year. The maps approved for Congress, state House and state Senate were drawn by the dark money Center for Civic Policy, which skewed district lines for political gain.

These changes created snake-like figures in district maps, probably most notably in the congressional district boundaries, which chopped up many communities, such as Hobbs and Roswell, into two or even three districts, while pairing people in the extreme southeast corner of the state with communities that have nothing in common, such as with Santa Fe and the extreme northwest side of the state.

But despite this partisan gamesmanship, Lujan Grisham now claims to be on a “mission to end gerrymandering,” touting an endorsement with the far-left Eric Holder-affiliated “National Democratic Redistricting Committee,” which actually advocates for drawing districts to benefit Democrats.

The partisan group wrote, “We’re thrilled to endorse Gov.@Michelle4NM! Throughout her tenure, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishman has acted as a fierce #DemocracyDefender who signed #FairMaps into law – making her re-election pivotal to New Mexico and our nation.” 

Despite once claiming to support fair districts, leftist members of the state “Citizens Redistricting Committee” pushed through partisan choices for maps. Here is what they originally said: 

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.”

As we previously reported: 

​​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.”

But for everyone who was involved in the redistricting process in New Mexico, it is clear that Democrats shamelessly drew political maps to benefit themselves while doing everything possible to skew the board in their favor through gerrymandering.

Woke local TV station devotes entire segment to ‘proper pronoun usage’

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Wednesday, KOB 4 TV devoted an entire segment on its broadcast to discussing “proper pronoun usage” with a supposed “HR expert,” Heather Talamante of “Tell Us About Yourself Inc.”

The host, Colton Shone, brought up what he called “DEI,” which stands for “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” asking Talamante, “How do you go about the discussion of pronouns?”

Talamante said, “So, essentially, the employee will reach out and say, ‘Hey, this is my preferred pronoun, this is how I would like to be addressed. In the workplace, how we go about it is by respecting their request, Right? So you want to make sure when they say, ‘This is what I’d like to be referred to,’ we address it, and we honor that. And we moving forward, use that term, whether it’s he/she, they/them/their, whatever they would like to be used.”

Shone asked, “Is it appropriate to ask what someone’s preferred pronoun usages are?”

“You probably wouldn’t want to ask. That person would ask you,” Talamante replied. “So, um, if they haven’t fully made the decision on what pronoun they would like to use, let them come around to that decision and then ask. If they haven’t asked yet, it’s not safe to assume. We don’t want to make any assumptions.”

Talamante added, “If you are the employee that is asking for a new preferred pronoun or a pronoun that’s not necessarily natural for individuals yet, just be patient as they learn to use the new pronoun, or to address you by that pronoun.”

“What if someone is refusing to use someone’s preferred pronouns?” asked Shone. 

Talamante responded, “And this will happen. I will be very honest. In the workplace, this will happen. We have feelings about the pronoun, we don’t agree with it, so we don’t know why we have to use it. So it’s important if you don’t agree, to still just use their first name. This isn’t something that would rise to the occasion of getting written up if you refuse to use it, but this could rise to the occasion of bullying. That person may be repeatedly asking you, ‘This is how I would like to be referred. Please stop, you know, calling me he when I would like to be called she,’ and this person just refuses to do it, and that person just has this like tone about it. So just manage it as you can. As the employee, if somebody is refusing, just reach out to your manager or HR, and we will kind of come in and mediate the conversation and make it more comfortable for you.”

Talamante also said when addressing large groups to stray away from gender-heavy terms and stick to saying things like, “Hey everybody,” “hey folks,” and “hey friends.”

The video of the clip posted by the popular “Libs of TikTok” account has already had over 337,500 views as of Thursday morning.

“Navigating proper pronoun usage in the workplace can be tricky but being aware of it can be essential to maintaining respect between you and your co-workers,” wrote KOB 4 in a tweet.

Pro-life pregnancy center to open next to new Las Cruces abortion facility

1 Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Tuesday, pro-lifers from across southern New Mexico gathered at Hillrise Drive in Las Cruces to rally for the protection of human life as a new abortion mill is set to open up in the neighborhood. 

The former Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which was involved in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned the pro-abortion Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey decisions, closed down its location in Mississippi and will reopen later this month as “Las Cruces Women’s Health Organization” (LCWHO) in Las Cruces.

Mark Cavaliere, the CEO of the Southwest Coalition for Life, announced at the rally that his organization has leased a building in front of the new surgical abortion center, so the presence there will help save lives from being taken at LCWHO. 

“There is gonna be a lot of work that needs to be done, and we’re gonna need your help,” said Cavaliere.

During the rally, many prominent pro-life speakers from New Mexico and around the country rallied the crowd of hundreds in the parking lot next to the abortion center. 

“We need to do more than we have ever done before, and we need to press forward in this work until no more women cry and no more children die,” said David Bereit, the Founder of 40 Days for Life.

Other speakers included Mike Seibel, an attorney with the group Abortion on Trial, Terri Herring, the president of Choose Life in Jackson, Mississippi, state Sen. David Gallegos (R-Eunice), Immaculate Heart of Mary Cathedral rector Fr. Alejandro Reyes, Leah Jacobson of the National Guiding Star Project, Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn founder Mark Lee Dickson, and Dominique Davis, the executive director of the Albuquerque-based Project Defending Life.

“There will be 20 to 30,000 abortions in this state,” following Roe v. Wade’s reversal, said Seibel, referencing that around 5,000 abortions happened in New Mexico in 2020 — a number that is growing. “That is the stinky, dirty legacy that we are going to have. We are going to have the abortion villains from all across this country,” to New Mexico. “It’s our job to say ‘no more to this legacy.’” 

The crowd garnered hundreds of attendees, while a tiny handful of scornful anti-life protesters screamed and yelled but were drowned out by the clapping and booming voices of the pro-life speakers. One male pro-abort yelled things like “hands off my body” but was drowned out and ignored after pro-lifers stood in front of him with signs.

Watch a recorded live stream of the rally here: 

KOB 4 poll shows most New Mexicans don’t want more anti-gun laws

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Monday, KOB 4 ran a poll asking New Mexicans if they believed there should be more gun restrictions in the wake of recent mass shootings. 

New Mexicans spoke, and a large majority of respondents gave an emphatic “no,” with 58% saying there is no need for increased firearm restrictions.

41% of respondents said there should be harsher restrictions, while only 1% of New Mexicans were unsure. 

On KOB 4’s Twitter, many New Mexicans commented about the poll, including one person who wrote, “No, we need more guns,” while another wrote, “Common sense dictates that ‘gun control’ only benefits bad people because they head straight to the areas of ‘gun control.’”

In recent years, far-left Democrats in the Legislature have attempted to snatch New Mexicans’ gun rights through extreme measures, including a recent bill signed into law implementing “red flag” laws that go against state and federal constitutional rights.

Other measures have been stricken down, such as one proposal from state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Bernalillo), who attempted to make felons of parents who teach their children how to shoot a gun. That measure died for two years in a row.

However, in the Democrats’ 2022 state budget, those who voted for it passed $300,000 for a far-left “Office of Gun Violence Prevention” to work to erode New Mexicans’ Second Amendment rights.

LA Times: MLG is in for a ‘walloping,’ defeat will be her own doing

21 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

In a recent Los Angeles Times article written by columnist Mark Z. Barabak, he chides Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over her failures in office and gives insight from an outsider into why Republicans have a shot at winning back the New Mexico Governor’s Mansion. 

In the article, Barabak notes how abortion has become a hot-button issue in New Mexico but how Republican Mark Ronchetti has attempted to put Lujan Grisham on the defense due to her support for abortion up to birth policies.

He writes, “Some of the difficulty is Grisham’s doing, a result of scandals involving her personal use of public funds and a sexual harassment settlement she paid to a former staffer. But much of her vulnerability arises from issues like crime, the economy and Biden’s drag on Democrats across the country.”

According to his column, when trying to get the far-left governor on the record for what restrictions she supports on abortion, he noted, “Asked if the governor favored any limits, a campaign spokeswoman responded with generalities about Grisham’s defense of abortion rights.”

But we know Lujan Grisham’s position is for unlimited abortions for any cases up to the second of birth. She affirmed this by signing a 2021 bill that stripped all abortion limits and protections for mothers, babies, and medical professionals.

She reaffirmed this position when pressed by CNN’s Jake Tapper. She responded to his question of what limits New Mexico has despite national polls showing most Americans back abortion limits, with a defense of her policy.

She said to Tapper, “There are no restrictions. given that we interpret and I agree that, again, per this new Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, is this is a privacy right and a personal decision between a woman and her doctor. and to interfere in any of these medical decisions creates, and it has, unknown, untold reductions in civil liberties for any number of individuals.”

These extreme positions adopted by Lujan Grisham, among other issues, such as the economy, are likely to be her downfall, Barabak predicts.

He concluded his column by writing, “Then Democrats are probably in for the walloping they’re desperate to avoid.”

Toulouse Oliver touts support from dark money enviro-Marxist groups

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Last week, far-left Democrat Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver announced to her campaign donors that she had snagged the endorsements of the enviro-Marxist groups, the Rio Grande Chapter of Sierra Club, and Conservation Voters of New Mexico(CVNM).

Toulouse Oliver argued in her fundraising plea that if Democrats reelect her as secretary of state, then that will help “climate change” alarmist Democrats win elections in the state. 

“The people of New Mexico are proud of our environmental heritage, and we want to make sure our politicians reflect those values. From record-breaking temperatures to bigger and stronger wildfires – we are seeing the effects of the climate crisis on our doorstep. We need to be able to rely on our elections to be safe, transparent, and accessible in order to elect representatives who will take action on the issues that matter to us,” her team wrote. 

“That’s why we’re proud to be endorsed by the Rio Grande Chapter of Sierra Club and Conservation Voters of New Mexico!” 

CVNM is the state affiliate of the Soros-funded League of Conservation Voters, which has been a big player in state races across the country. The group’s affiliated political action committee (PAC), Verde Voters Fund, spent big in the 2018 midterms, as well as in 2020. The dark money “social justice” group, like others Toulouse Oliver has been funded by, launders its dark money through its 501(c)4 organization and then donates to the PAC, thereby washing the money clean of its origins from public view. According to the New Mexico Campaign Finance System, the Verde Voters Fund has $117,629.56 cash on hand. 

The Sierra Club is a dark money fringe group funded by many sources, including billionaires George Soros and Mike Bloomberg, as well as a Tom Steyer-affiliated PAC, Next Gen Climate Action. 

As we previously reported about Toulouse Oliver taking money from dark money-funded PACs:

On her donation pages, Toulouse Oliver constantly writes, “Maggie Toulouse Oliver serves the state of New Mexico as Secretary of State, where she is dedicated to fighting for clean and fair elections devoid of dark money and outside influence.”

She also writes on the official New Mexico Secretary of State website, “I’ll keep working to shine a light on dark money wherever possible.”

However, her latest campaign filing proves that her supposed “fight” against “dark money” is a big lie. In the fourth primary report she filed with her office on July 7th, the Secretary of State listed a $5,200 donation from “Open Democracy PAC.”

The organization is almost exclusively a front group that is funded by a dark money 501(c)(4) organization, “Sixteen Thirty Fund,” or sometimes written as “1630 Fund,” according to filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

According to POLITICO, “The Open Society Foundations, founded by liberal mega-donor George Soros, also lists nearly $17 million in 2020 grants to the Sixteen Thirty Fund on its website.” 

Now, it appears Toulouse Oliver is doubling down on getting support from dark money sources despite claiming to be “fighting” against dark money in New Mexico politics.

MLG, who promotes socialist policies, claims Republican Ronchetti is a socialist

11 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

This week, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham bashed her Republican opponent, GOP nominee Mark Ronchetti as a “socialist” for his plan to give New Mexicans back part of the proceeds of energy produced in New Mexico — a plan adopted by conservative Alaska.

According to a press release from the Ronchetti campaign:

When the oil and gas industry does well in New Mexico, taxes from the industry go into the black hole of the state government budget. This dynamic also creates an unpredictable pattern of budgeting — when oil prices are high, government spending massively increases, creating shortfalls when oil prices fall. This fiscally irresponsible approach leads to either painful budget cuts, or higher taxes when the price of oil inevitably falls.

By rebating a portion of the tax revenues generated by the oil and gas industry back to the people of New Mexico, hardworking taxpayers will benefit directly from a healthy, strong energy industry, while simultaneously making our state budgeting process more fiscally responsible.

Lujan Grisham claimed in a statement on KOAT 7 that the plan was a “fiscally irresponsible socialist scheme.”

This is coming from the same governor who approved robbing the Land Grant Permanent Fund of billions to pay for socialist “free” daycare, approved $75 million annually for socialist “free” college (including for illegal aliens), and has promoted full-blown socialist policies, such as the state’s “Energy Transition Act,” also known as the Green New Deal to implement the socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-style policy.

Ronchetti responded to Lujan Grisham on Twitter, writing, “Michelle Lujan Grisham calls our plan to give oil and gas rebates to New Mexico families ‘socialism.’ She’s more worried about her bloated government budget than she is about your family budget. MLG has already grown state government 40% since taking office and if she gets her… way again, she will nearly DOUBLE state government. My approach is to take surplus oil and gas revenues and give New Mexico families a rebate. It’s your money to begin with.” 

The scandal-ridden Democrat Governor is polling within single digits of Ronchetti and is in a vulnerable position going into the November election. Lujan Grisham has been under heavy scrutiny for wasting taxpayer money, settling a $150,000 groping allegation, and for killing 40% of small businesses with her COVID-19 lockdown. 

The attack on the Republican nominee appears to be in an attempt to crush his credibility despite other Republican states adopting policies to return oil and gas revenues back to the taxpayers. Also running for governor is Libertarian Karen Bedonie, a former Republican.

Otero County unanimously declares itself a pro-life sanctuary

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, the Otero County Commission passed a resolution on a vote of 3-0 to declare itself a sanctuary county for the unborn.

The resolution reads, in part, “That the Board of County Commissioners of Otero County, New Mexico, hereby recognizes and declares the full humanity of the preborn child through all [stages] of life up and until a natural death and declares Otero County, New Mexico, to be a sanctuary for life where the dignity of every human being will be defended and promoted from life inside the womb through all stages of development in life up and until a natural death.”

“[T]he Board of County Commissioners of Otero County, New Mexico, hereby resolves to enforce this resolution by all means within its power and authority, in accordance with its responsibility as the people’s elected local representatives,” it concluded.

There were many individuals in the audience who spoke regarding the resolution. Local conservative activist with LEXIT, Ben Luna, Piñon Post editor and NM House District 51 Republican nominee John Block, and other members of the community supported the resolution. 

One woman spoke of how she killed her child in an abortion before she saw the horrors of the procedure. She said she only knew what was truly happening when she worked at an abortion facility and one of her friend’s babies was aborted. She saw the foot and ankle of the dead baby and realized the humanity of the babies in the womb.

Some pro-abortion individuals, many of them claiming to be atheists, opposed the resolution, while others tried to twist the words of the Founding Fathers to further their arguments. 

The Otero County Commission also considered election integrity resolutions. This article will be updated once information on the passage of these has happened. 

Pelosi shills for Teresa Leger Fernandez as Hispanics continue to flee Dem Party

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While U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has a massive 49% unfavorability rating, according to Statista, that’s not stopping her from supporting vulnerable Democrat Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico’s Third Congressional District in her bid to keep her seat in November.

Pelosi recently tweeted out, “#DefendOurDemocracy: Re-elect Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, Democrat in #NM03.”

In a June 25 fundraising email on behalf of Leger Fernandez, Pelosi wrote, “So… I’m asking you to step up in this moment of crisis” by donating money to the New Mexico Democrat.

She then pled to Democrat donors to help raise funds to reelect Leger Fernandez so far-left congressional Democrats can “codify” the pro-abortion Roe v. Wade decision into law.

According to Catholic Vote, both Pelosi and Leger Fernandez, who claim to be members of the Roman Catholic faith, have an “F” grade on the Catholic organization’s rankings.

Now with Pelosi shilling for Leger Fernandez, it appears the House Speaker is desperately trying to hold onto hard-to-win seats.

In the latest round of redistricting, Leger Fernandez’s seat was changed from a D+14 partisan swing to a mere D+5 after New Mexico House and Senate Democrats gerrymandered the Second Congressional District more Republican for partisan political gain.

The vulnerable Democrat now faces a rematch between Republican Alexis Martinez Johnson, who has recently been getting national headlines as Hispanics continue leaving the Democrat Party. This exodus was further exacerbated this week when Jill Biden compared Hispanic and Latino Americans to tacos.

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