Bipartisanship is not a campaign gimmick

Former Gov. Jerry Apodaca recently endorsed Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce because, according to Apodaca, Pearce will “reach across the aisle” and work with Democrats, he “cares about the welfare of the people” and does not have “rigid reactions” to the issues facing New Mexico.

Apodaca neglected to mention in the piece that his son, Jeff Apodaca, lost the Democratic nomination for governor to Michelle Lujan Grisham, Pearce’s opponent in November. And Jerry Apodaca also failed to disclose that he has been a lobbyist for a multi-state payday lender for many years, an industry Pearce has worked to protect.

Until 2018 in New Mexico, payday loan companies preyed on working families and took advantage of them by charging up to 400 percent interest on short-term loans. But lending from these modern-day loan sharks is often predatory, trapping already vulnerable families in inescapable debt.

Pearce has consistently voted to support payday, car title and other high-cost lenders and to prevent federal regulatory oversight. Jerry Apodaca has long been a paid lobbyist for a Select Management Resources, a Georgia-based payday, installment and car title loan company doing business across New Mexico under the name Loan Max. Lenders like Loan Max trap New Mexico families in continuous cycles of debt with unaffordable loans. This kind of high-cost lending is rampant in our state, and Pearce has a long record on limiting commonsense regulation and consumer protections that does not demonstrate concern for the welfare of New Mexicans and is particularly concerning for a potential future governor.

“I will work with anyone to put our state on the right path, regardless of party,” Pearce said in a written statement. However, Pearce’s lengthy voting record in Congress and in the state Legislature does not bear this out. It’s easy to check via publicly available records.

During his time in the state Senate, Pearce was one of only eight legislators (all Republicans) who voted against a bipartisan bill expanding early childhood education and all-day kindergarten for the children of New Mexico. And he has used his time in Congress to vote against consumer bills aimed at protecting a variety of groups including senior citizens, service members and military families. These votes are the rule, not the exception. Pearce has long been faithful to the Republican Party line, often putting the interests of big business over the people of New Mexico.

Bipartisanship should not be an empty campaign slogan or an electioneering ploy. The burden is on us as voters to do our due diligence and dig deeper than soundbites to examine the records and review the facts. “Bipartisan” could hardly be applied to one of the founding members of the tea party-aligned Freedom Caucus, a group that has a stated practice of noncompromise or negotiation with Democrats. That is the opposite of “reaching across the aisle;” it is, essentially, sticking one’s fingers in one’s ears and pretending the other side doesn’t exist. Pearce’s record does not demonstrate a model for good government in a state as richly diverse as New Mexico.

Pearce’s strong support for predatory lenders and long record of tea party extremism tells a far different story than Apodaca’s unfounded rhetoric. The stakes are too high in this election for us to fall for the idea that a leopard can change his spots overnight. We will learn from our history, build for the future and make up our own minds.