Pearce Vs. Wilson Debate - Watch it here!

Here is a streaming version of the last televised debate between Senate hopefuls Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, before next Tuesday's Republican Primary. The debate runs for about an hour. Keep watching after the debate for analysis with Gene Grant and THE LINE panelists!

Part 1



Part 2



Let us know what you think about the debate. Just leave us your thoughts in the comments section.

Heather Wilson Vs. Steve Pearce - Watch it Live!!

We have an exciting show in store for you this week. It's the last televised debate between Republican Senate hopefuls Steve Pearce and Heather Wilson. The winner in this hotly contested primary will go on to face Tom Udall in the general election.

You can watch the event live this Friday night, in our normal NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS time slot from 7-8pm. It's an Elect New Mexico special, which will be proceeded by a half hour of analysis and discussion, live from the KNME studio from 8-8:30pm. Join Gene Grant and a panel of special guests, for election coverage you can only find here.

And, if you're not near the TV Friday night, not to worry! We will also stream the debate and live post-debate show right here on knme.org. You can also watch it all live on our NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS website from 7-8:30pm.

We hope to see you then!!!

Episode 138 - CD3 Race (part 2)

The Democrats

What a wild time it has been trying to get all of the democrats in the Third Congressional District race to sit down for an interview. The situation was immediately complicated by the sheer number of candidates in the race. With a total of six democrats, we had no choice but to divide the candidates into two groups. What we soon learned, though, is some of the candidates were much more flexible with their schedules than others. There may have also been a certain amount of hesitation with some of the candidates, about appearing alongside their competitors. I just know that we offered each of the candidates several different options for coming in, and in the end, only three of them agreed to come on at the same time: Jon Adams, Harry Montoya and Rudy Martin. You can watch David's interview with them here:



As for the other three candidates, that was a much different story. Don Wiviott's camp was hesitant to come on from the very beginning. We gave him several different options, and every time campaign officials said Don couldn't fit us into this schedule. Originally, we had Ben Ray Lujan and Benny Shendo, Jr. scheduled for a joint interview last Tuesday. But, Ben Ray got sick, so we rescheduled for this week. Of course, that was before Benny Shendo dropped a bombshell at a candidate forum in Farmington on Monday. Kate Nash at the Santa Fe New Mexican has more on that story on her great blog, Green Chile Chatter. Needless to say, after that forum, Ben Ray did not want to come on alongside Benny. I can understand the hesitation, but not interviewing deprives voters in the third district of the chance to hear where Lujan is coming from before the June 3rd primary. So, we kept after it, offering Wiviott, Lujan and Shendo one-on-one interviews instead. Wiviott was the first to take us up on the offer, and at the last minute we got the other two candidates to agree as well. Actually, Shendo from the beginning was up for whatever we wanted to do. Out of all of the candidates, he was the most agreeable to going on camera with his thoughts and beliefs.

While I was glad that we got the chance to talk to all of the democratic candidates, I was worried we weren't being entirely fair to the candidates that were willing to come on the show and answer questions alongside their campaign competitors. That is a much different environment for a politician, and I respect that. So, what we decided to do was condense the interviews we did with Wiviott, Lujan and Shendo, which you can see here:



We also decided to post the full interviews with Lujan, Shendo, and Lujan here on our website. To watch the Lujan interview in full, click here.



For the Shendo interview, click here.



And last but not least, watch the full Wiviott interview here.



I also wanted to offer the other three democratic candidates the opportunity to conduct similar, and longer one-on-one interviews. Rudy Martin and Harry Montoya took us up on the offer.

Rudy Martin



Harry Montoya



Jon Adams is planning to come in next week, so you can look for that interview as early as next Thursday.

This is an emotional and hardfought race to say the least. I hope that everyone who is registered to vote will remember to head to the polls on June 3rd to make sure their voice is heard!

Wilson/Pearce Roswell Debate - Watch here!!

U.S. Senate hopefuls Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce take part in a debate held in Roswell, New Mexico at the Grace Community Church. Click here to watch part 1 of the event:



And, click here to watch part 2:

Episode 137 - CD3 Race (part 1)

The countdown is on to the June 3rd primaries, which means the campaigning will be fast and furious in the coming days. Our goal is to try and help the voters make the most informed decision in each of these congressional races. Of course, that is made more difficult by the fact that there are so many candidates in most of these races.

That is definitely true in the Third Congressional District, where there are a total of 10 candidates now in the running. That includes 6 democrats, two republicans and two independents. That's just too many people to try and tackle in one show. So, with that in mind, we decided to divide up the race over two episodes.

We started this week with the republican and independent candidates. In case you missed our interviews with the candidates, you can watch what the republicans, Marco Gonzales and Daniel East, had to say by clicking here.



And for the independent candidates, click here to watch our interview with Carol Miller and Ron Simmons.



And, don't forget to watch THE LINE panelists weigh in with their thoughts and analysis on the race, here.


Next up is the democrats. Tune in next Friday night at 7pm to hear what all six have to say about the issues that will decide the primary election on June 3rd!

Episode 136 - Senator Pete Domenici

He still has roughly seven months in office, but people are already starting to talk about Senator Pete Domenici's legacy in the U.S. Senate and here at home. More precisely, I hear people worry about the seniority and influence that our small state will lose when Domenici steps down. And make no mistake, these are big shoes to fill when you consider he has cast more than 13,000 votes (something only 6 other people have done). Senator Domenici will have served our state in the Senate for 36 consecutive years when he calls it a career next January. That means he has been in office just a little longer than I have been alive. That is a record of service that cannot be scoffed at.

That said, I also understand that Domenici is not loved by all, and that plenty of people in this state disagree with his politics in some form or fashion. You can respect the man, while not respecting all of his decision. Which leads me to a series of questions for all of you: How will you remember Senator Domenici? Has he been a force for good or bad in this state? And, what will his loss mean for our state moving forward?

Leave your thoughts under the comments section, or email me at infocus@knme.org.

In case you want to watch it again, here is the interview we conducted with the Senator from his offices in Washington. This is the first in depth TV interview he has done about the end of his career since he announced his retirement last October.



And here's our discussion about Domenici's legacy with THE LINE panelists:



Higher Quality version of the Notable New Mexican documentary on Senator Domenici:



Kevin McDonald
Public Affairs Producer

Episode 135 - 1st Congressional District Race

The race to replace Heather Wilson in this congressional district will draw plenty of attention on the national level, not to mention money. But, before the republican and democratic candidates can battle it out at the polls, the two parties have to select their candidates. This week's show is designed to help people make their primary choices.

Of course, time is always an easy. There's never enough of it, even in an hour long public affairs program. I think the interviews David conducted with the republican and democratic candidates was informative, mainly by allowing the viewers to see how they handle themselves, especially when facing difficult questions. Of course there are a lot of important issues in this race as well, including the struggling economy and the ongoing war in Iraq. You can read much more on how the candidates feel about these issues on their campaign websites, which are included below:

Republicans

Joe Carraro
Darren White

Democrats

Rebecca Vigil-Giron
Michelle Lujan-Grisham
Robert Pidcock
Martin Heinrich

We plan to focus on the other big issues as well in the coming weeks. Keep it here for the best election analysis around! And, remember to get out and vote for your candidate in the primary election, which is June 3rd.

The shortage of time this week means our "On the Clock" segment is once again a web-only feature. Click here to watch Gene and the panelists tackle Senator Bingaman's endorsement of Barack Obama, plus the governor's new plan to tie driver's licenses to classroom performance.



And, be sure to tune in next Friday, for an exciting and timely show, featuring outgoing New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici. The state Republican Party will honor his legacy during an appreciation dinner that night. On the show, we'll talk to the senator himself about his time in Washington, and what he would like his legacy to be. We'll also be featuring a documentary that KNME produced a few years ago that gives a lot of great insight on Domenici's impact on Capitol Hill, plus some great images and stories about his formative years here in the Land of Enchantment.