Wednesday, December 09, 2020NM Polling Held Up In Troubled Year, Plus: Downsizing UNM Sports As Deficits Mount And Roswell Digs In The final R & P poll was released a mere two days before Election Day. That was after the vast majority of votes had already been cast, so that improved the accuracy of the final survey which was one of two the firm conducted during the cycle. In the presidential contest in NM, the final poll had it 54 to 42 for Biden. The final result was Biden 54 and Trump 43. In the US Senate race the final Journal poll had Ben Ray Lujan at 52 and 44 for Republican Mark Ronchetti. The final result was Lujan 52 and Ronchetti 46. In the closely watched southern congressional district R & P recovered from its 2018 call when it had Republican Yvette Herrell on top by one point in their final survey. Dem Xochtil Torrres Small won that race 50.9 to 49.1. In this year's rematch the final survey had Herrell getting 48 and XTS 46. The actual election results were 54 for Herrell and 46 for XTS. That was a much larger margin than the public polls predicted but R & P counts it a win when they have the winning candidate in the lead in their final survey and that they did. CLUB TEAM? As the UNM athletic department confirms it will run another multi-million dollar deficit this year and as the Lobo football team struggles, we get this from UNM Regent Robert Schwartz that could catch the eye of lawmakers at the next legislative session: . . . We are either going to have to cut the athletic budget. . . or we are going to cut the academic budget, because there are not enough resources to cover everything. . . ” Schwartz said. Schwartz suggested cutting NCAA football and converting the program into a club team, which would eliminate the costs of scholarships and expensive coaching while still allowing the team to continue to operate. . . Schwartz said this would be “the best compromise for UNM that allows us to participate appropriately in intercollegiate sports in a way that doesn’t cost us nearly as much. . .” Such a proposal would have been immediately shot down just a couple of years ago but the earth under UNM is rapidly moving as it faces declining enrollment and a fan base that is not as large or as enthusiastic as it once was. A "club team" that Schwartz proposes would keep the pigskin flying, but. . . College club sports are any sports offered at a university or college that compete competitively with other universities, or colleges, but are not regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and do not have varsity status. . . Many times, club sports are student-run and receive little financial aid from the school. An estimated 2 million student athletes compete in club sports. So far Schwartz is the lone Regent cozying up to the club concept. ROSWELL DIGS IN The city of Roswell, sporting one of the highest per capita rates of Covid in the nation, saw its City Council last week vote to open all city facilites to the public in violation of the state's Public Health Order. That brought this from reader Richard Flores: Roswell has made a name for itself over the years, for notable events, notable people, etc. From the alien landing, to the 1956 little league world champs, to Roger Staubach, Robert O. Anderson, Nancy Lopez, Robert Goddard, Peter Hurd, among others. But today, Roswell stands tall in open defiance to the New Mexico Public Health Order in the midst of a devastating worldwide pandemic in a county with a positivity rate in excess of 20%. Que verguenza! (What a shame!). A spokesman says city facilities have not reopened yet as the city manager is trying to figure out how to implement the order. This is the Home of New Mexico Politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020 |
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