POLITICAL ROUNDUP
Days until the primary election: 18 Gubernatorial hopefuls to face off in Santa Fe: You have seen the ads. Now see the candidates in person.
The three contenders for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor will face off in a forum at Santa Fe Community College on Saturday morning.
The event with Albuquerque businessman Jeff Apodaca, state Sen. Joseph Cervantes and U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham comes as the candidates make their last push for support ahead of the June 5 primary election.
Organized by the Federation of Democratic Women of Santa Fe County, the event will begin at 10 a.m. in the Jemez Room. The forum will start at 10:30 a.m. and continue until 12:30 p.m. and will be moderated by one member of the federation as well as one member of the Young Democrats of Santa Fe County.
The three candidates will face off again at 6 p.m. Sunday in a live televised forum on KOAT-TV.
Both forums come as the race — which had been mostly staid — begins to heat up.
Las Cruces’ Cervantes launched a television ad this week knocking Lujan Grisham, an Albuquerque resident who has effectively been the front-runner since she announced her candidacy in late 2016.
Vote early, vote often: Six early voting sites will open around Santa Fe County on Saturday.
Abedon Lopez Community Center, 155A Camino de Quintana, Santa Cruz Christian Life Church, 121 Siringo Road, Santa Fe Edgewood Elementary School, 285 Dinkle Road, Edgewood
Max Coll Corridor Community Center, 16 Avenida Torreon, Eldorado
Pojoaque County Satellite Office, 5 W. Gutierrez, Suite 9, Pojoaque Pueblo Plaza
Santa Fe County Fair Building, 3229 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe
These sites will be open from noon until 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturdays until June 2.
Early voting began at the County Clerk’s Office at 102 Grant Ave. on May 8.
The office had already handed out 539 ballots for early voting by 1 p.m. Thursday.
Governor goes to Washington: Gov. Susana Martinez is out of town until Wednesday.
A spokeswoman said the two-term Republican traveled to Washington, D.C., on Thursday for meetings with White House officials. She will travel to New York on Sunday for meetings with the Republican Governors Association and return to New Mexico in the middle of next week, according to her office.
The governor’s aides did not specify exactly which officials the governor will be meeting in the nation’s capital and did not respond to follow-up questions.
But despite her blunt criticisms of President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign, she has not shied from his administration. She sent National Guard troops to the Mexican border, for example.
The Governor’s Office said the state will pay for her travel to Washington, D.C., and the Republican Governors Association will pay for the New York leg of the trip.
Per New Mexico’s constitution, Lieutenant Gov. John Sanchez will act as governor while Martinez is out of the state.
SOS: The Democratic Party filed a complaint Thursday against the Republican candidate for secretary of state, accusing her of incorrectly filling out the very campaign finance reports she would be responsible for collecting from office seekers if elected.
JoHanna Cox, a former prosecutor, will face off against incumbent Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver in November.
In its complaint filed with the Secretary of State’s Office, the Democratic Party said Cox failed to list addresses or occupations for some donors as required by law and did not mention any spending by her campaign.
The party said Cox nonetheless appears to have made T-shirts and signs for her campaign.
“She thinks she can be the chief elections officer for the state and oversee millions of dollars in financial expenditures?” Party Executive Director Joe Kabourek said.
Cox did not respond to a phone call seeking comment Thursday afternoon. She filed her latest campaign finance report earlier this week, reporting 21 donations totaling around $3,800. By early May, she had about $5,000 on hand.
Toulouse Oliver, meanwhile, has about $136,000 on hand.