GOP Campaign Pulling Staffers

Personnel Shifted To Denver, Nevada

Three key Republican National Committee staffers in New Mexico working to elect Mitt Romney are being moved to other states where the national party believes Romney has better odds of winning.

The RNC’s deputy communications director Tim Miller on Thursday confirmed the party is transferring its New Mexico Victory team director, a Hispanic outreach coordinator and the state team spokesman to Colorado or Nevada.

New Mexico once was considered a so-called battleground state for the presidential election, but polls show Romney trailing President Barack Obama here by 5 to 14 percentage points, and neither campaign has been particularly active in the state.

Recent polls in Colorado and Nevada show Romney potentially within 2 percentage points of Obama in those states, according to the website RealClear Politics.

“It was a judgment call based on that,” Miller said. “I think our view of New Mexico is that the president has lost a lot of ground there, but he still has the lead.”

The moves are part of a broad national effort by the RNC to increase pressure in states where the election is closest, Miller said.

“Right now in Colorado and Nevada, those races are so tight we want to make sure we’re maximizing our resources there,” he said.

Winning Colorado and Nevada would add 15 electoral votes toward the 270 necessary to win the presidency on Nov. 6. The candidate who wins in New Mexico receives five electoral votes.

The high-level RNC staffers being moved out of New Mexico began working in the state in June. Romney’s own campaign never based any of its staff in New Mexico, although Romney paid a visit to the state for a rally and fundraiser in Hobbs last month.

Miller said the RNC will continue to evaluate the state of the presidential race in New Mexico, and may reallocate resources back if Romney pulls closer to Obama in future polls

A Journal Poll conducted in New Mexico Sept. 3-6 showed Obama leading Romney 45 percent to 40 percent, with 8 percent of likely voters undecided. That poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, showed Romney closer to Obama than any other taken within the last two months.

However, Romney trailed Obama by 30 percentage points among New Mexico voters who identified themselves as Hispanics, the Journal Poll found.

Obama carried New Mexico with 57 percent of the vote in 2008.

Miller said other RNC staff in New Mexico, including one remaining Hispanic outreach coordinator, will continue working on behalf of Romney here. The seven Romney campaign field offices in New Mexico opened by the RNC will also remain open and active, he said.

RNC New Mexico victory team spokesman Clay Sutton, who is transferring to Denver this weekend, said the shift doesn’t mean Republicans are giving up on winning in New Mexico.

“As far as what it changes in New Mexico, it’s probably not as big a deal as it seems like,” Sutton said. “…We’re not writing off anything here for Gov. Romney.”