DNC chair talks up Haaland, encourages local Democrats
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, delivered pep talks to campaign workers, volunteers and local candidates Tuesday during a swing through Rio Rancho and Albuquerque.
He highlighted the potential for Democrat Deb Haaland to be the first Native American woman to win election to the U.S. House — a distinction she might share, he noted, if fellow Democrat Sharice Davids wins her race in Kansas.
Perez spoke for 20 minutes Tuesday to 75 to 100 Democrats gathered inside the party’s office on Juan Tabo near Constitution NE, in Albuquerque. He urged them to keep working hard for three more weeks, through the Nov. 6 election.
“It’s our democracy as we know it that’s on the ballot,” Perez said.
Perez served as labor secretary under then-President Barack Obama, and he headed the civil rights division of the Department of Justice.
During Tuesday’s visit, he mentioned some of his DOJ work touching on New Mexico, including the 2010 prosecution of the first defendants to be charged under a new federal hate crimes law. Three men pleaded guilty in the case, which centered on the branding of a swastika on the arm of a disabled Navajo man.
TOO MUCH FUN? Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham has been known to make a joke or two about her height. She is, after all, pretty short.
And she isn’t afraid to dance in public. But is she, well, too fun-loving to be governor? The state Republican Party this week released an ad that questions whether Lujan Grisham is serious enough to handle New Mexico’s problems.
The clip includes shots of Lujan Grisham in-line skating, dancing at a parade and hula-hooping — in between news clips about Albuquerque’s high crime rate, the number of children in poverty and the death of a boy who didn’t get the medical help he needed.
“The issues facing New Mexicans are serious,” the narrator says. “We need a serious leader.” It’s a paid digital ad. The Lujan Grisham campaign didn’t take it lightly.
“The real question is, is Steve Pearce serious enough,” said Dominic Gabello, campaign manager for Lujan Grisham.
He said Pearce hasn’t “bothered to be briefed” on a landmark court ruling that found that New Mexico had failed to provide a sufficient public education for at-risk students. “If Pearce isn’t serious enough to care about the education of New Mexico’s children, how can he be governor?” Gabello asked.
The advertising war between Lujan Grisham and Republican Steve Pearce is picking up, of course, as Election Day approaches.
Pearce recently aired an advertisement that questions Lujan Grisham’s tenure as a Cabinet secretary for the state Health Department, and Lujan Griham aired one accusing Pearce of misrepresenting her record.