State Political Profile: New Mexico
Governor
Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson is heavily favored to win re-election to a second four-year term. However, Richardson can't afford to take the campaign lightly - anything other than a comfortable win in November would be a serious blemish on his political resume, particularly for someone looking to jump into the 2008 presidential race.
For their part, Republicans made a sudden shift in course in late June, when Dr. J. R. Damron, a Santa Fe radiologist, announced that he was resigning as the GOP's nominee. He was immediately replaced by John Dendahl, best known as a combative partisan during his eight years as Republican state chairman.
Dendahl, 67, is a Santa Fe businessman, also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for governor in 1994 and headed the state's economic development and tourism agency under Republican former Gov. Garrey Carruthers. As of late June, he was lacking in money to run his campaign _ with "a few thousand dollars" on hand, he said. That's in contrast to the $7.5 million Richardson has raised.
In 2002, Richardson ran the most expensive campaign for governor in state history. He raised $8.2 million and spent $7.3 million on his primary and general election campaigns.
Richardson publicly remains coy about his national political plans, saying he is keeping his options open and is focused on his re-election. Richardson, however, isn't pledging to serve a full second term if returned to the governorship.
U.S. Senate
Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman is seeking re-election to a fifth term. He faced no opposition in the June primary and would appear to hold the upper hand on his GOP rival, Dr. Allen McCulloch, a Farmington physician who is making his first bid at an elected office. McCulloch credited his win in the primary to his ability to reach Republican voters by focusing on education, health care, tort reform and energy issues.
U.S. House
Incumbents are running for re-election in all three congressional districts, but Republican Heather Wilson's race in the Albuquerque-area 1st District will be the most fiercely contested.
Wilson has been a target for Democrats nationally in recent years. She won re-election in 2004 with 54 percent of the vote. However, she appears headed in 2006 for her toughest campaign because of GOP woes nationally and a prominent Democratic challenger, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, who can't seek re-election to her statewide office. Wilson, unlike Madrid, is a veteran of several, expensive hard-fought campaigns.
Republican Rep. Steve Pearce won his second term in 2004 with 60 percent of the vote and has become firmly established in the 2nd District of southern New Mexico. Democrat Tom Udall appears very safe in the 3rd District of northern New Mexico, the most solidly Democratic area in the state.
Statewide, Democrats have a 1.5-to-1 edge in voter registration over Republicans. In each congressional district, Democrats outnumber Republicans. However, the 1st and 2nd district seats have long been held by Republicans because of the voting behavior of moderate-to-conservative Democrats who are the swing voters in the state.
Other State Races
All statewide officers are up for election in 2006: governor, lieutenant governor, land commissioner, treasurer, attorney general, auditor and secretary of state. There are no incumbents in the races for attorney general, treasurer, secretary of state and auditor.
A kickback scandal engulfed the treasurer's office in 2005, and that could cast a cloud of public distrust over other areas of government and become a campaign issue. The political risk is greatest for Democrats, who for years have dominated most state offices other than governor.
Legislature
All 70 seats in the state House are up for election. Democrats currently hold a 42-28 majority. The party should have little difficulty maintaining its control of the House.
Ballot Issues
Voters in November will decide whether to adopt a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal a defunct section that prohibited Asian immigrants from owning land. A similar proposal was defeated by voters in 2002.
-- Associated Press
