Another democratic trifecta possible for New Mexico
By Makayla Grijalva / NM News Port/ New Mexico may be on track to achieve another Democratic “trifecta” after the 2018 election cycle. A state government trifecta happens when a single political party has control of the governor’s seat and the majority in both chambers of the state legislature— in this case, the N.M. House […]
House District 57: Helean vs. Harper
By Daniel Zuniga / NM News Port/ For the past 16 years, New Mexico’s House District 57 has been republican territory. This election, Republican-Incumbent Jason C. Harper, who has won the past three elections, faces Democrat Billie Helean, who has reason to believe an upset is possible. Helean won the District 57 Democratic Primaries with […]
New Mexico’s first congressional district candidates power up for November election
By Alyssa Bitsie / NM News Port/ The Albuquerque area is gearing up for the election in New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District set for Nov. 6, with contenders Democrat Debra Haaland, Republican Janice Arnold-Jones and Libertarian Lloyd Princeton. The district serves the central area of New Mexico, including most of Bernalillo County with three-fourths in […]
Colón and Johnson face off again (for a different position)
By Shayla Cunico / NM News Port Brian Colón and Wayne Johnson will compete in another election this fall, running for New Mexico State Auditor. If their names sound familiar, it could be because they both competed last fall in the Albuquerque Mayor’s race, both losing to Tim Keller. And in a circular twist-of-fate, it’s […]
Pyskoty and Smith Seek BernCo District 5 Seat
By Vanessa Martinez / NM News Port With general elections set for Nov. 6, Bernalillo County has a recently-appointed incumbent, James Smith and first-time candidate, Charlene Pyskoty in the running for the District 5 seat on the county commission. The county commission is a body of elected officials who execute legislative and executive duties on […]
New Mexico Supreme Court Rejects Newly Reinstated Straight Party Ballot Option
By Makayla Grijalva / NM News Port A unanimous decision by the New Mexico Supreme Court Wednesday, Sept. 12, blocked the option for using straight-party voting in the November 2018 general election. Straight-party voting, also known as straight-ticket voting, is an option on a ballot to fill in one bubble to select all candidates of […]
New Mexico Adopts Straight Party Ballot Option This Fall
By Madison Spratto / NM News Port / New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver announced Wednesday, Aug. 30, that straight-party voting will be an option on the 2018 election ballot, a decision that has already received backlash from various quarters, especially Republicans. Toulouse Oliver said she promised to implement straight-party voting (also called […]
Film Cap Causes Chasm
By Sophie Wickert and Jeremy Zeilik Efforts to repeal the statewide film tax-cap failed in this year’s session of the New Mexico state legislature, raising concerns that New Mexico will lose film and TV business to other states. The New Mexico state government provides a tax incentive of 25 percent to any film that shoots […]
Inequality in STEM fields prompts push for improvement at UNM
By Sarah East and Aleks Mihailovic / NM News Port / The University of New Mexico has a lack of female faculty in science, technology, engineering and math fields. A survey of UNM departments reveals a disparity between male and female faculty members. This shortage of female professors is apparent in the science, technology, engineering […]
Sine die: Bipartisanship was buzzword but not everything was kumbaya
By Trip Jennings and Danielle Prokop / NM News Port / The final legislative session of Gov. Susana Martinez’s tenure passed into history Thursday. What a difference a few months makes. Last May, state lawmakers were in crisis dealing with a yawning budget gap and no money for the state’s universities and colleges or […]
Dummy bills obscure how Legislature works
By Danielle Prokop and Trip Jennings / NM News Port / Lawmakers sometimes use “dummy” bills at the end of each legislative session to resurrect dead bills, to push through eleventh-hour measures or to respond to emergencies. But even veteran observers of New Mexico’s legislative process can find that “dummy” bills obscure an already […]
NM Senator Pushes to Legalize Recreational Marijuana
By Adrianna Vigil, Santana Ortiz and Eddie DeBruyn / NM News Port / New Mexico State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D- Albuquerque, is pressing the bill that would send the choice to legalize pot to state voters. Ortiz y Pino said he believes a state-controlled recreational marijuana industry will benefit the state of New […]