Ad by national teacher unions takes aim at Steve Pearce

SANTA FE — Two national teachers unions are taking aim at Republican gubernatorial nominee Steve Pearce in a new television ad blitz.

The TV ad, which began airing Tuesday and is scheduled to run for two weeks, represents the latest outside spending in New Mexico’s gubernatorial contest. Both Pearce and Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham have also aired TV ads of their own.

Already, separate political committees linked to the Democratic Governors Association and a national environmental organization have launched ads targeting Pearce, who has gotten little help from national GOP groups.

The TV ad launched Tuesday by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association features Loyola Cartinas, a first-grade teacher at an Albuquerque elementary school who is also listed on the Albuquerque Teachers Federation’s website as a member of the union’s executive council.

The ad claims Pearce voted in 2005, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, for a budget bill that cut education funding.

It also asserts he supports U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ school voucher program, although a 2016 Journal story cited to back up the claim only includes general comments from Pearce about President Donald Trump’s picks for his Cabinet.

In the race for governor, Pearce has said he would increase state dollars going into New Mexico classrooms. He has also pledged to suspend the state’s current teacher evaluation system and appoint a task force of teachers and other education officials to come up with possible changes to it.

However, leaders of the national teachers unions, whose state chapters have both endorsed Lujan Grisham, have said those campaign promises don’t align with Pearce’s record on education-related issues.

The two teachers unions are spending slightly more than $131,000 — via their political arms — to air the television ad on several Albuquerque network stations, according to public filings.