Governor candidates get heated in debate
Lujan Grisham, Pearce attack each other’s records in second televised forum
ALBUQUERQUE — Michelle Lujan Grisham and Steve Pearce battered each other in their second televised debate Tuesday night, escalating the animosity of the gubernatorial campaign before a statewide audience, and signaling a fiery closing stretch in perhaps New Mexico’s most consequential 2018 contest.
Pearce, who has consistently trailed in polls, hammered his Democratic opponent for her ties to former Gov. Bill Richardson, accusing her of representing a return to “cronyism and corruption” he said had stained the tenure of the two-term Democrat who left office in 2009, and accusing Lujan Grisham of being a derelict Cabinet secretary.
“If she can’t run a department, how in the world can she run a state?” Pearce said.
Lujan Grisham, meanwhile, swung haymakers at Pearce’s congressional record, seeking to link him to the “failed Republican leadership” she said had characterized the terms of Gov. Susana Martinez and undercut his efforts to play the moderate.
“He’s misled you about his support for public schools because he’s voted repeatedly to destroy them,” she said. “He’s misled you about denying New Mexicans access to health care because he’s voted repeatedly to deny access and protections to more than 300,000 children and families. … If that’s not bad enough, he has spent his entire campaign and the debate tonight attacking me instead of having solid solutions.”
Election Day on Nov. 6 fast approaches, and the niceties are no more.
The heated back-and-forth, which covered a array of subjects including state government staffing levels and water security, was by an order of magnitude the testiest of the candidates’ face-to-face clashes, reflecting the intensifying discord of television advertisements aired by both campaigns in recent weeks.
Pearce had voted to “reduce or frankly eradicate” Medicaid services for needy New Mexicans, Lujan Grisham said in the hourlong forum, aired by KOB-TV. The Hobbs congressman “failed” in not addressing roadway concerns in the oil-rich Permian Basin, part of his Southern New Mexico district, she said.
Lujan Grisham has “no clue” about infrastructure needs in the southeastern part of the state, Pearce said. And the Albuquerque congresswoman, he said, was “grandstanding” during recent immigration battles.
Asked about sanctuary cities, the candidates brawled over immigration, Pearce saying he was “totally opposed” to local jurisdictions turning away federal immigration officers and accusing Lujan Grisham of spurning Republican-led compromise bills in Congress over the summer.
“If you can choose to enforce one law and not another law, then who’s to say when we stop that process?” he said, referring to sanctuary cities.
Lujan Grisham castigated the administration of President Donald Trump for its enhanced immigration enforcement tactics, saying its targeted deportation approach had redirected resources away from where they were needed most.
“I will not as governor allow Donald Trump or anyone else to take access or control of any federal agents or local law enforcement agents who should be in our communities or at the border making sure we’re safe,” she said.
Pearce repeatedly invoked the idea of “corruption” in lambasting Lujan Grisham, though he did not zero in on any specific allegation, instead seeking to tag his opponent by association, primarily with Richardson.
Pearce also mentioned Taos District Attorney Donald Gallegos, who came under heavy scrutiny for his handling of the Amalia child-abuse case in September.
“My opponent talks about the law enforcement officials who endorse her — well, this is one,” Pearce said, his voice rising.
Lujan Grisham, appearing exasperated at times by the “corruption” line of attack, called it “just false.”
“You don’t get to work for both Republican and Democratic governors unless you are delivering for the state of New Mexico,” she said. “… He’s working desperately to win this election by lobbing these allegations.”
The candidates are scheduled to face off in one more televised debate on Oct. 24.