,
“We need bold solutions, drastic overhauls and serious reforms,” writes a candidate for the Legislature in an op-ed article.
Bold, huh? Boy, that’s new and exciting. Oh, wait. It isn’t. It’s a standard cliché for everybody who runs for office.
This particular candidate wrote an entire op-ed filled with platitudes and generalizations. Not a single specific policy position was stated. I’m not giving this candidate’s name because it’s not my intent to embarrass the candidate, but rather to remind voters to look further. Lots of candidates do what this candidate did. It’s politically fuzzy language. It’s Republicans saying all Democrats are radical and Democrats saying all Republicans are extremists.
The early voting polls are open and the primary election is in full swing. It’s up to us voters to do a bit of homework to find out about the candidates before we fill in the little black circles on our ballots.
In a primary, we may find that candidates of the same party have similar political views, so what matters may be their prior professional experience, their competencies and their likely ability to deliver. Especially in the Legislature, professional backgrounds matter because legislators bring their knowledge to their understanding of legislation.
Your criteria in a primary might be quite different from your concerns in the general election. It might be to pick the candidate who has the best chance of winning in November.
To oversimplify, in some Democratic primary contests the distinction is moderate versus progressive. The moderate argument is that, in a mixed district, by nominating a progressive in the primary, you may be handing the district to the Republican nominee in November.
In some Republican primaries, the distinction might be today’s Republican orthodoxy versus the old moderate Republican approach or any other variation.
In another recent op-ed, legislative candidate Nicole Chavez identified herself as the endorsed chosen successor of legislator Bill Rehm, who is not seeking reelection. She said she will follow in his footsteps.
Rehm has been an anti-crime champion. So we know what Chavez is going to prioritize. We also might note that Rehm sponsored many good bills that didn’t get anywhere, so a voter in her district might ask her how she plans to improve on his track record.
The candidates in this district have made it easy for voters to figure out who’s who. Chavez is competing with two other Republicans. One is Sara Jane Allen, a local founder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, a national organization that has been active in school board races. You can look up that group and find out its priorities. The third is Patrick Huested, who doesn’t appear to have a website (at least, I couldn’t find one) but who has supplied answers on vote411.org. There’s no Democrat running for this seat, so the winner of the primary will face Democrat Vicky Estrada-Bustillo in November.
In every race you’re voting for Democrat against Democrat or Republican against Republican. You could vote if you are a registered Libertarian, but I doubt there are any contests with two Libertarians running against each other.
And if you are an independent or “decline to state” registered voter, you can vote in this primary by changing your registration literally at the last minute to Republican or Democrat, then changing it back again after this election. It’s a clumsy process but it’s New Mexico’s reluctant first step toward open primaries.
Unlike the general election, the primary ballot is short. It is not cluttered with bond issues or proposed amendments to the state constitution. It shouldn’t take you too long to figure out your choices.
And your vote will help determine how your local community is governed.
Contact Merilee Dannemann through www.triplespacedagain.com.