It's crunch time for the candidates of NM Primary 04'. The electorate is starting to break toward their favorites and I have reports from the political insiders across New Mexico on what's happening.

FROM SANTA FE:

"Joe, it appears lawyer Peter With is going to take the Max Coll House seat. I sense the vote starting to break his way because the district is rich and he so is he. (Carol Robertson) Lopez is well-known as a city councilor, but much of her council district is not in the Coll district. Also, Wirth has thrown the most money at this thing. Look for him to pull it out."

FROM RIO ARRIBA COUNTY:

Here's an insider report on the fight for the Dem nomination for the NM Public Regulation commission seat featuring the son of House Speaker Ben Lujan: "Art Rodarte is putting the pinch on Ben Lujan Jr. Bob Perls is going to get a huge share of the Anglo vote in Sandoval County and elsewhere and Ben may end up splitting too much of the Hispanic vote with Rodarte to bring this thing home. Perls' Anglo opponent is much weaker than Lujan's Hispanic opponent. Look for this thing to go down to the wire."

BACK IN SANTA FE:

Forget about Roman Maes losing the seat. It looked like it was possible a couple of months ago, but it's breaking hard for Roman. He will win easily"


FROM ABQ'S NE HEIGHTS:

"It's hand-to-hand combat between Republicans Larry Larranaga and Rob Burpo. A poll floating around has Larry up buy five points. But Burpo used to represent the district and may peel Anglos away from Larry. But Larry has solid name ID and hit the mailboxes this week with a big campaign piece. This one is still too close to call, with Larry getting a slight edge only because he is the incumbent."


FROM ABQ'S FAR HEIGHTS AND EAST MOUNTAINS:

"Joe, I see Republican Kathy McCoy taking the House seat being vacated by Ron Godbey. She has the solid backing of Godbey. Mario Burgos has shown some good stuff on the trail, but he may not have the roots in the district to see it over the top. McCoy has worked with neighborhood organizations for years and she is drawing on that support. I score this nomination fight for her as well as the November election because the seat is heavy Republican."

FROM ABQ'S SOUTH VALLEY:

"Joe, This is an absolute shoot-out in the Valley. We have eight candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the county commission seat that has been held by Steve Gallegos for eight years. No one, and I mean no one, can predict who is going to win this thing. Cris Sanchez and Teresa Cordova are the frontrunners with Art DeLaCruz also in the game. Gallegos is backing Cordova but this thing is really wild and unpredictable."

Thanks to all my contributors. We will have another recap of these races and more before Election Day.

PARIS ON THE RIO GRANDE

I had the chance recently, courtesy of the U.S. State Department's International Visitors Program, to sit down for an extended chat with Sophie Larmoyer, a Paris-based journalist who covers foreign affairs for the radio network Europe One. She was here to study our wonderful world of La Politica. It seemed silly to talk about French fries minus the "French," and the short-lived boycott of French food and wine following France's refusal to support the Iraq war. It seemed especially so when we reminded each other that the 60th anniversary of D-day and the invasion of France via Normandy during WWII will be commemorated this summer, an invasion that many New Mexicans engaged in and which reinforced the centuries old bonds between our two countries.

So pass the French fries and have a sip of Bordeaux, and let's not lose sight of who our friends really are.

Make our site---www.joemonahan.com--one of your 'favorites.' Bookmark it now and send a link to interested friends. Want to advertise to NM's large political community? E-mail me or call 505-243-4059 for details. And thanks for e-mailing me your news tips and comments. There's a link at the top right of this page.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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