Democrats

RPNM files lawsuit against Dem gerrymandered U.S. House maps

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Friday, the Republican Party of New Mexico (RPNM) announced a lawsuit filed in New Mexico’s Fifth Judicial District Court against the Democrat gerrymandered congressional maps rammed through by far-left Democrats in last year’s second special session.

“The newly approved redistricting maps dilute Republican voting strength,” RPNM contends.

The current maps dilute the Second Congressional District from an R+14 to a D+5 by plunging Democrat-heavy areas, such as Albuquerque’s South Valley, into the Second District. Congresswoman Yvette Herrell (R-NM-02) currently represents the District, which includes most of southern New Mexico.

In the Democrats’ passed plan, Hobbs is split in two, Roswell is split in three, and there is a possibility that an Albuquerque-area resident could represent every single congressional district, which robs representation from the rest of the state. 

“Immediately after the 2020 election, Speaker Egolf announced his intention to implement a partisan redistricting of our state to reverse Republican gains. Last month, he followed through on that threat. The Democrat’s cynical attempt to consolidate their power by abusing the redistricting process in New Mexico is illegal and wrong. We are bringing this suit to protect the voices of all New Mexicans regardless of their political beliefs,” said RPNM Chairman Steve Pearce.

“New Mexico statute provides for a non-partisan commission to listen to the people across the state and then submit redistricting plans to the legislature. The commission held public meetings, many people participated, and maps were submitted from that body to the state legislature. And yet after months of hard work and hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars spent by the Citizens Redistricting Committee, the Democrats tossed all of that away and jammed through an illegal gerrymander that ripped apart communities of interest, disenfranchised voters across the state, and set up maps where the intent is to let Albuquerque have all 3 congressional representatives. Through this suit we will stand for fairness, the rule of law, and the core principles of our democracy.”

According to the release, “The lawsuit is being filed by Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber & Schreck of Albuquerque, which is also handling the redistricting suits in Colorado.”

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Legislative Update: Extreme Dem bills assigned to committees

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On Wednesday, hundreds of mostly Democrat-sponsored bills were read in on the House and Senate floors, moving far-left legislation to committees to be considered. 

H.B. 6, the “Clean Future Act” by Rep. Nathan Small (D-Doña Ana)

This radical bill that would further cripple energy producers in New Mexico by mandating the Environmental Improvement Board adopt rules that would force the reduction of “greenhouse gas emissions” by 2030 and completely by 2050 was referred to the House House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, to be then considered in the Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee. It has not yet gotten a date on the committee calendar.

H.B. 33, the “Cigarette and Tabacco Products Tax” by Rep. Joanne Ferrary (D-Doña Ana)

The extreme bill that would increase the tax rate on all tobacco products regardless of source, including an excise tax of 20 cents per cigarette sold was referred to the House Health and Human Services Committee to then be considered by the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. It has not yet been assigned a hearing date.

S.B. 21, “CREATING THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE INCOME TAX CREDIT,” by Sen. Bill Tallman (D-Bernalillo)

The bill that create a tax credit for people to purchase unsustainable electric vehicles was referred to the Senate Tax, Business, and Transportation Committee to be heard in the Senate Finance Committee. It has not yet been assigned a hearing date.

S.B. 43,“PROHIBITING LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR A CHILD,” by Sen. Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez (D-Bernalillo)

This bill would allow youths who are sentenced for violent crimes, including murder, to be released in 15 years despite being given life sentences. The bill was referred to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee and then the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Governor’s extreme election reform bill that would make New Mexico elections less secure has not dropped yet, but once it will, Republican legislators must focus on killing it as soon as possible. Also, anti-gun bills are rumored to drop, and the Piñon Post will keep readers informed of all these updates.

Sign up for updates by subscribing to our mailing list at the bottom of this page to keep up-to-date on action alerts and all the latest.

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Senate rams through gerrymandered legislative maps, House passes spending bill

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Thursday was an eventful day at the Roundhouse, with Democrats in both chambers working hard to ram through legislative maps and a billion-dollar spending bill. 

After 10:00 p.m., the state Senate rammed through an updated gerrymandered state Senate map that implements extreme partisanship to winnow away Republicans’ hopes of holding onto critical seats in the chamber. The move came the same day the Senate Rules Committee speedily passed the maps on a vote of 6-4. 

After Republicans stalled the vote, Democrats got their wish and passed the extreme partisan bill on a vote of 25-13. The maps implement strange shapes and extreme deviations in population in the name of supposed “representation” for sovereign Tribal nations that exist within New Mexico. 

Sen. Jacob Candelaria (DTS-Bernalillo), claimed he’s considering a legal challenge to the allegedly racist new state Senate maps that are “about the dilution of Hispanic voices.”

“Everyone here should expect litigation over these maps and others, because at the end of the day, while these maps may pass and these maps may have been a product of a lot of backroom dealing, it doesn’t mean they’re right,” Candelaria said during the floor debate, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. “It doesn’t mean they’re legal. It doesn’t mean they’re fair.”

During his debate on the Senate floor, he made strong points about who is truly behind the Democrats’ gerrymandered bill — dark money political organizations:

Between Central and Paseo Del Norte, the Hispanic community is broken up into eight different districts. Why? To give other predominantly Anglo districts more population of ‘safe Democratic votes.’ Mr. President, again, I will not accept this debate tonight that says that this map or whatever version of the map we had is the ‘people’s map.’ That’s a great quote for a dark money political organization to use. It’s a great one. But until you tell me who the people are that funded you, you’re not my people. – Sen. Jacob Candelaria (DTS-Bernalillo)

The new maps now move over to the state House, where they are expected to be pushed through committee and a final floor vote on Friday. There is not a committee time set up for its hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, but it is subject to the “call of the chair,” per the committee schedule. 

On the House side, lawmakers held a concurrence vote on a billion-dollar spending bill, using federal pandemic funds to fund leftist initiatives such as $3.5 million to plug oil wells, $10 million for electric vehicle charging stations, $10 million for highway “beautification” efforts, among some moderately positive things like a hospital in Valencia County, although most expenditures in the mammoth bill had nothing to do with the pandemic or the subsequent recovery.

It passed by a voice vote after little debate despite its extreme expenditures and the latest draft cutting $26 million for broadband access across the state. It now goes to scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk for a signature.

Senate rams through gerrymandered legislative maps, House passes spending bill Read More »

Leftists furious after Senate GOP stalls late-night vote on gerrymandered maps

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On Wednesday, leftists complained on social media after New Mexico Senate Republicans requested a “Call of the Senate,” which requires all senators to be present to vote on a measure. The call was regarding a substitute for S.B. 2, an extremely gerrymandered state Senate map plan that’s creation was cloaked in supposed “representation” for Native American communities, sponsored by Sen. Linda Lopez (D-Bernalillo). However, these changes just skewed Democrats’ partisan map even further to the left.

Republicans in the Senate claimed the Democrats wanted to push through the far-left map “while the people of New Mexico slept.” 

“They did so in an effort to hide their lies and their assault against Hispanic voices and representation. We would not stand for this. If Senate Democrats are successful in pushing their closed door, gerrymandered map to a vote, they will have to do it when the public is watching,” they wrote. 

While two Democrat senators were excused from the floor session, state Sen. Crystal Runyan Diamond (R-Deming) was absent from the floor.

The fringe far-left group “Progress Now New Mexico” whined on Twitter, claiming the move for the full Senate to vote on the measure was a “cowards move.”

The leftist group also shared tweets from the Democrat-linked group “NM Native Vote,” which has cloaked itself as a supposed voice for Native American interests on redistricting, however, it is supportive of socialism and has endorsed candidates like socialist Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.

At the beginning of the New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee meetings over the summer, the Committee shared a tweet from NM Native Vote, writing, “Thanks NM Native Vote — There will also be public comment near the beginning of the meeting on the online public mapping tool, dates and locations for CRC meetings, and rules of procedure. See you there!” 

The tweet has since been deleted, but the Piñon Post reported on it at the time. 

The full vote on S.B. 2 is likely to take place on Thursday in the Senate, while it still needs to pass the state House maps previously approved by the House in H.B.8, which could take longer. The House still needs to take a concurrence vote on a Democrat billion-dollar bill to spend federal funds. Many of those funds earmarked by the Legislature are going to tenets of New Mexico’s “Green New Deal.”

Leftists furious after Senate GOP stalls late-night vote on gerrymandered maps Read More »

Dems send gerrymandered U.S. House map to MLG’s desk

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On Saturday, New Mexico House Democrats rammed through an updated U.S. House map proposal, on a vote of 44-24. 

The new map skews all three districts to favor Democrats, albeit only slightly in the Third and Second Districts. District 3 represented by Democrat Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez is weakened from a D+14 to a D+5, District 2 represented by Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell is flipped from an R+14 to a D+4, and District 1 represented by Democrat Rep. Melanie Stansbury is weakened from a D+18 to a D+11.

Democrats achieved this partisan advantage by extreme gerrymandering, including chopping up communities of interest to meet its partisan agenda. The Third District snakes all the way from the northwest corner of the state down to the southeast corner of the state, including northern Hobbs, Roswell, and Lovington with places like Española and Santa Fe. 

The Second District includes Albuquerque’s South Valley and many of its Republican-leaning areas have been segregated out of the district. The First District snakes down to Roswell while eating up Lincoln and Torrance Counties. 

Although the Democrats may, however, have shot themselves in the foot with the passage of this partisan map, especially with 2022 expected to be a Republican blowout year and their now more vulnerable incumbent Democrats having to fend off Republican opponents who very well could flip the Third District and hold onto the Second District.

“It looks to me like the Senate plan purposefully makes the current competitive districts uncompetitive,” said Rep. Greg Nibert, R-Roswell, during a roughly three-hour floor debate on the bill Saturday. “That is not by happenstance; that is by design, and it is politically motivated.”


Screenshot of the new map passed via FiveThirtyEight.

The governor is expected to sign the partisan map, although it may end up in the courts.

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Legislators advance Dem gerrymandered congressional, state House maps

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On Friday, the New Mexico Senate passed a revised map from what was originally proposed by state Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Doña Ana). The originally proposed map by Cervantes made two D+4 districts in the Third and Second Districts, while one D+11 performing district in the First District. The plan looped the First District with parts of Santa Fe County while it extended all the way down from Albuquerque to Lincoln County.

It put the Third District in a snake-like figure, which went all the way from northeast New Mexico, including Taos and Santa Fe, to Lovington and Hobbs. The Second District would include Albuquerque’s South Valley and parts of Valencia County it once had would be plunged into the First District.

However, the Senate voted on an update from Cervants’ original map he presented, which kept Santa Fe County intact in the Third District and swung it one more point Democrat, leaving it at D+5. The Second District would remain a D+4 district and the First would be a D+11. The First District, in this new map, would snake all the way over to Roswell and include Fort Sumner.

Despite backlash from Republican and independent members, the Democrats rammed it through on a vote of 25-14, with Sen. Jacob Candelaria (DTS) voting with all Republicans against it. 

Candelaria dubbed the map “inherently racist.” “I don’t use those words lightly, but when you are drawing the line in this map, I’ll tell you exactly how it’s drawn: It’s drawn along the wealthy homes along the bosque — million-dollar estates, $500,000 homes. That’s who this map says gets to be part of the Albuquerque ‘community of interest.’ But poor, working-class Hispanic folks in the southeast part of Albuquerque and the South Valley are no longer part,” Candelaria said, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. 

The vote came after a tumultuous Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where most New Mexicans in attendance were against the newly proposed map and virtual attendees via Zoom were not allowed to speak until public backlash forced the committee to allow virtual testimomy. Even Rep. Teresa Leger de Fernandez’s (D-NM-03) brother, Martín Leger, testified against the bill.

In the House, Speaker Brian Egolf and Democrats rammed through the heavily gerrymandered state House redistricting map based on a George Soros-funded group’s proposal, the Center for Civic Policy (CCP). It passed by 43-23. 

The CCP map would create extreme-looking shapes that are traits of heavy partisan gerrymandering. 

“We can’t always get what we want,” Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil (D-Albuquerque) said. “Sometimes we have hard races in front of us, but we shouldn’t be looking at maps in a protectionistic manner.”

Now, the House’s state House map moves to the Senate, while the Senate’s heavily gerrymandered congressional map moves to the House for consideration.

Also on Saturday, all Republicans excluding Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) helped Democrats pass their $1.06 billion spending spree with federal funds, further assisting the leftist agenda in New Mexico.

See the partisan analysis of the congressional maps via FiveThirtyEight here.

Legislators advance Dem gerrymandered congressional, state House maps Read More »

Extremely gerrymandered congressional map proposal moves forward

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An extreme proposal, S.B. 1, by Democrats to selectively gerrymander New Mexico’s congressional map while hiding under the guise of “representation” for Native American communities, is moving forward after it passed the Senate Rules Committee on a party-line vote of 7-4.

What the map does: The map completely changes the layout of New Mexico’s congressional map, robbing Albuquerque of the South Valley by plunging it into the Second Congressional District. The First District then eats up chunks of Valencia County, all of Torrance and Lincoln Counties, as well as bits of Otero County. The First District then extends in a snake-like shape all the way north to the outskirts of Santa Fe.

The Third District is even more strange-looking, by eating up northern Hobbs, all of Lovington, Roswell, and much of Artesia, while it extends up to Santa Fe, Taos, and the northeast corner of the state. 

Why it matters: According to FiveThirtyEight’s analysis of the map, it would turn all of New Mexico’s districts to Democrat hands, with the First District a D+12, the Second a D+4, and the Third a D+4. This could rob representation from New Mexicans in rural areas by diluting their voice.

FiveThirtyEight analysis of the new map.

What you can do: The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the newly redrawn congressional district map at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 9. It is unclear if public comment will be taken, but the meeting information can be found here: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88289763031 to join the Webinar, or via telephone 1-669-900-9128 – Meeting ID: 882 8976 3031

Also happening today: The Senate Rules Committee will be meeting on Thursday, December 9 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss redrawing of state Senate maps, which are also heavily Democrat gerrymandered. The details to that meeting are below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88408775084 to join the Webinar, or via telephone 1-346-248-7799 Meeting ID: 884 0877 5084 

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NM Dems advance extreme partisan gerrymandered legislative, U.S. House maps

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It is only the third day of the special legislative session focused on redistricting and Democrat legislators have already rammed through nearly all their favorite state House and congressional maps through their first committees.

On the House side, the Government and Indian Affairs Committee advanced the far-left H.B. 8, which is a model of the Center for Civic Policy dark money George Soros-funded group’s map. The proposal passed on a party-line vote of 6-3 after Republicans fumed at the partisan nature of the map, which deviated more than 10% from district to district, a clear violation of best practices in implementing the Voting Rights Act.

Rep. Daymon Ely (D-Corrales) claimed of the CCP-created map, that “House Bill 8 is a composite of the tribal interest as we heard about them yesterday. The consensus that was reached between the all pueblo council.” The partisan map now moves forward to be considered in the House Judiciary Committee before a final floor vote. That committee is expected for Thursday morning.

This is what the House Democrats’ state House map looks like:

In the Senate, the Rules Committee rammed through another leftist map, S.B. 1, that would plunge the South Valley of Albuquerque into the Second District to weaken the Republican voting share of the conservative district represented by GOP Congresswoman Yvette Herrell. The map would not take into consideration communities of interest, including forcing northern Hobbs into a district with northern New Mexico. Heavy partisan gerrymandering is detected on the map. 

It passed the Senate Rules Committee on a party-line vote of 7-4.

This is what the Senate Democrats’ congressional map looks like:

The House is expected to reconvene on the floor at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, while it is unclear when the Senate will meet again.

The Piñon Post has been working throughout the redistricting process, from the very first committee hearing on the independent redistricting bill, throughout the committee process, to now to advocate for fair maps in New Mexico. Once committee information gets published for tomorrow’s committee hearings, the Piñon Post will update this information on our website in the fight for a redistricting process that values all New Mexicans.

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Four Democrat senators break with MLG, say she violated NM Constitution

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According to a new amicus brief filed in the state Supreme Court supporting a lawsuit regarding scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s unilateral use of federal funds, four Democrat state senators are claiming the embattled Governor defied the Constitution. The case was originally filed by Sen. Jacob Candelaria (D-Bernalillo), who said he will not seek another term, and Sen. Greg Baca (R-Belen), the Senate minority leader.

Senators George Muñoz (D-Gallup), Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces), Jerry Ortiz y Pino (D-Bernalillo), and Daniel Ivey-Soto (D-Bernalillo), all wrote that “New Mexico’s Constitution and previous court rulings make it clear Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a fellow Democrat, should not have sole authority to decide how to spend what’s left of $1.7 billion in federal relief funds,” according to the Albuquerque Journal.

The Constitution states “money shall be paid out of the treasury only upon appropriations made by the Legislature,” except interest or other payments on public debt.

“Our Constitution creates a separation of powers that vests the appropriation function primarily but not exclusively in the Legislature,” the document states. “Our Constitution also creates checks and balances among all three branches of government, so that no one branch can attain disproportionate power.”

“The Constitution vests the appropriation power in legislators from 112 districts across the state because it is essential to have a diversity of interests represented when the Legislature sets spending priorities,” the four legislators wrote in their filing. “This representation of diverse views would be lost if the appropriation power were vested in one person.”

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, “In their amicus brief, the senators wrote counsel for the governor ‘misconstrued’ a previous court case, ‘as can be seen by actually reading the case rather than grabbing a few lines from it.’ The senators also claimed the governor’s counsel advanced a ‘confusing and erroneous argument’ in a brief filed Oct. 15. Her attorneys argued a ‘suspense fund’ where federal relief funds are being held ‘is somehow separate from the state treasury,’ the senators wrote.”

“The ‘suspense’ argument is disproved by the very statute that the governor quotes in the brief,” they wrote. “How could the governor’s counsel misread the plain text of this statute? The statute says that all public money shall be paid into the state treasury.”

However, Lujan Grisham’s press secretary claimed, “Courts have previously made clear the Legislature may appropriate state, not federal, funds,” She added, “We have no further comment on pending litigation, and the Lujan Grisham administration looks forward to continuing to provide ongoing support for economic rejuvenation throughout the state.”

Four Democrat senators break with MLG, say she violated NM Constitution Read More »

Soros-funded group wants to replace NM’s Citizen Legislature with salaried career politicians

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Despite New Mexico being a small state and not requiring a full-time legislature, a far-left dark money group, Common Cause New Mexico, funded by none other than billionaire George Soros, wants to disassemble the state’s Citizen Legislature and replace it with a full-time, salaried body that will meet all year round. 

Legislators from the Democrat Party and the extreme “moderate” wing of the Republican Party have repeatedly whined about not getting paid, despite them getting daily per diem and a hefty pension once they complete a decade of service to the state. These cries come despite knowing full-well that the Legislature was a body designed for THE PEOPLE and at the time of running for office knowing it was a part-time, unpaid gig.

Socialist Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Doña Ana) claimed in 2019 while sponsoring a bill to pay legislators a salary, that the current system has people “being left out of the system.”   

Sen. Bill Soules (D-Doña Ana), who has been in the New Mexico Senate since 2013, tweeted a picture of a dollar bill, writing, “#nmleg. ‘Another day another ………’. Oh wait.  That’s right.  The New Mexico Legislature is unpaid.  The only unpaid legislature in the country.” 

Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Bernalillo), who failed in her attempt to win a special election for the U.S. House in District One, is already complaining about the Legislature not paying members a traditional salary, chiming in on Soules’ conversation, writing, “Being unpaid and part-time makes this branch of government weak.” 

“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 some of these Republicans will be surprised that primary challengers who want to work for THE PEOPLE will step up and run.

Despite all the misinformation from ungrateful supposed “public servants,” legislators in New Mexico do get reimbursed through a daily per diem for their work, which is $184 a day and 58 cents a mile. They also get a hefty pension for their service. After ten years, it amounts to $10,824.00. 

But Common Cause New Mexico wants to destroy New Mexico’s system, which has worked for over one hundred years and install career politicians in place, which will not only be another cost to the taxpayers, such as the need for full-time staffers, but it will keep representatives and senators away from the constituencies they represent. 

The dark money organization contends, “Elected officials are limited in their abilities to understand complex issues and cannot serve their constituents effectively. With a lack of trained office staff, legislators are left to rely on the expertise of professional lobbyists, who can then exert undue influence.” But the job of a legislator is to do the work of keeping up with these issues and serving constituents effectively. When they run for office, they should have expertise on these issues. That’s the whole job.  

Now, far-left legislators like Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Bernalillo) are lobbying for this proposal to upend the state’s current framework. Leftists are likely to claim this change must come now in the 2022 Legislative Session due to redistricting. If a resolution destroying the Legislature as it currently stands is passed, it would require the voters to approve it at the ballot box.

It is unclear if this would squeak through during the upcoming 30-day session, although scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has called special sessions for non-pertinent issues such as legalizing recreational marijuana.

Soros-funded group wants to replace NM’s Citizen Legislature with salaried career politicians Read More »

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