Pearce lauds SF County voters for rejecting tax hike
SANTA FE — New Mexico Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Pearce gave a thumbs-up this week to voters in traditionally Democratic-leaning Santa Fe County.
The reason? Pearce took note that Santa Fe County voters on Tuesday rejected —by a ratio of more than 2-to-1 — a proposed increase in the county’s gross receipts tax.
“The middle class across America, but especially in New Mexico, is just struggling to make ends meet,” Pearce said in a social media video. “So when our governments just continue to spend more money and ask the taxpayers for more, it’s not the answer.”
He also said Santa Fe County voters had rejected “out-of-state values” in shooting down the proposed tax increase, which would have generated more revenue to pay for extra public safety personnel and expand behavioral health services.
Only about 8.4 percent of registered Santa Fe County voters cast ballots in the special election on the proposed tax hike.
Pearce, who has represented New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District for over 12 years, is the lone Republican running for governor in 2018. There are four Democrats running for the post: U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, state Sen. Joseph Cervantes, Albuquerque businessman Jeff Apodaca and Santa Fe alcohol-awareness advocate Peter DeBennedittis.
NOT HACKED: Three months after New Mexico election officials said they had no reason to believe Russian hackers breached — or tried to breach — state voter databases or computer systems during last year’s election cycle, federal election officials made it official.
New Mexico was not one of the 21 states hit by Russian hackers, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The federal agency contacted election officials in all 50 states on Friday to discuss its findings and share specific information about the breaches.
“Fortunately, it appears that New Mexico was not one of the states targeted by Russian hackers last year,” said Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver. “However, cybersecurity threats are still a major concern and should be handled with the utmost seriousness and attention to detail.”
Some of New Mexico’s neighbors were reportedly among the targeted states — including Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma — but there is no evidence any votes were affected.