Conservative Koch Brothers targeting New Mexico, Taos County sheriff race

Far-right political organizations, funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers and friends, have targeted New Mexico to flip this state red for Republicans. Advertising directed at Hispanic Voters, traditional Democrats, warns them of “progressives” who want health care and a social safety net for those at risk. Paid by “dark money” from out-of-state organizations, Republicans want to keep New Mexico economically dependent on unregulated oil, gas and other resource extractions.

Closer to home, conservative extremists are using the Taos County Sheriff election to gain a political platform. Jani Davis attended a Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity “Grassroots Bootcamp,” one of several state-wide efforts to recruit advocates. These groups go by the names of Concerned Veterans for America, the Libre Initiative, Freedom Partners, Generation Opportunity and the Independent Women’s Forum. Managed by the Rio Grande Foundation in Bernalillo, these groups wave the flag and cite the Constitution to disguise their pro-corporation mission.

AFP supported and benefit from the SCOTUS Citizens United decision. They seek anonymity for political donations, so citizens will never know who is funding attack ads. Just a year ago, AFP, Concerned Veterans of American and the Rio Grande Foundation challenged New Mexico campaign reporting requirements as stifling personal “right to privacy.”

In our country, you can say and do what you want, if you accept the responsibility inherent in such freedoms. Members of AFP want freedoms without accountability.

Americans for Prosperity has hosted four Taos “workshops”; their folks walked with Jani during the Taos Fiesta parade.

They coached her rhetoric of “law and order” to disguise this candidate’s lack of management experience; some of her talk at the sheriff’s forum comes straight from their playbook. Asked if she would honor the immigrant-friendly resolutions of Taos County and the town of Taos, Davis answered, “I’m not going to pick and choose laws and statues based on something other than the Constitution of the United States and the New Mexico Constitution”; neither of these documents address immigration policies.

Davis declares she is a Republican, not conservative enough for some and too liberal for others. Davis is wrong. She is, by her association with AFP, an extremist candidate with scant experience, trained to talk a good talk. Like everything else the extreme right presents, it’s an illusion that pretends to serve while exploiting citizens and resources. AFP has one clear goal: profit for the wealthy.

Their goal in supporting Ms. Davis is to gain an extremist right-wing victory in Northern New Mexico and then to expand this influence for the 2020 elections. They don’t care about Davis or her supporters.

Davis voters should ask why she would attend an AFP training when this group is vehement in their opposition to LGBTQ rights and protections. Their national legislative arm, ALEC (American Legislative Education Council) consistently opposes protections for minority, gender identity, ethnic groups or workers.

Last, Americans for Prosperity is anti-environment. They deny climate change. They exploit natural resources and extract the profit – without paying New Mexico a fair rate for oil and gas wells, and not paying for the damage to scarce water resources that fracking does.

AFP opposes renewable energy development which can strengthen our economy and bring jobs. AFP has given pro-environment Sens. Heinrich and Udall pitiful scores of 2 percent and 4 percent, respectively, as a “lifetime grade” on their Senate records while giving Rep. Steve Pearce a score of 86 percent. Certainly, that is evidence of a blatantly pro-profit, anti-environment bias of Americans for Prosperity. In Washington, D.C., Steve Pearce is well-known as a darling of fossil fuels industries.

Davis says she will demand state funding to increase staffing and technology at the Sheriff’s Office. The budget session of our legislature is not for another 16 months. If Americans for Prosperity’s agenda takes hold, diminished corporate taxes and low fees on wells and fracking sites will take much-needed revenue from our state and choke the very funds Davis says are necessary to protect our county.

Either Jani Davis is naïve about AFP and its agenda, or she supports their goals. If she is naïve, she does not have the judgment to be Taos County Sheriff. If she adheres to Republican values of profit-over-people, degradation of public lands, exploitation of natural resources, misogyny and racism, she does not deserve our votes. It’s that simple.

New Mexico has suffered under a Koch-funded and supported governor. Don’t invite the attitude of exploitation to move to Taos.

Cristy Holden is a member of Taos Progressives, a Taos resident and former Republican who left the party in 1992.