For those of you voting tomorrow, here are some educational tools you can use. (the links will take you to more detailed information):
1. This is the 2018 Legislative Scorecard, you can print it and take it with you to the polls. The scorecard shows the “grade” for contested New Mexico state House seats. Incumbents were scored on hundreds of votes over the past three years. Challengers without a voting record were given the opportunity to complete a short survey of questions based on NMBC Priorities.
2. We did candidate job interviews on some of the candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House CD1, Land Commissioner and State Auditor. You can see how they answered our hard-hitting interview questions here.
3. Governor Race: Here is a comparison of the two Governor candidates, Michelle Lujan-Grisham and Steve Pearce, based on important NMBC priorities, which couldn’t be further apart.
a) Michelle Lujan-Grisham plans to increase distributions from the Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF) above the economist recommended levels. She also plans to raise the state’s mandated minimum wage, which often leads to increased prices for goods and services, fewer employee hours and/or jobs, and declining business operations.
b) Steve Pearce will leave the LGPF distribution at its current distribution rate to allow growth in perpetuity and lead to an annual distribution from this fund alone of $1 Billion for education and other beneficiaries in the near future. Pearce will keep minimum wage requirements as they are and instead plans to improve opportunities for workers through apprenticeship and other job training.
4.Judicial Race: This page will give you an idea on where judges stand regarding priorities of protecting the public and following the constitution. Some judges have received a “Do Not Retain” recommendation by Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC), regardless of support from court staff and police on verdicts dealing with criminals.
5. US Congressional Race CD2: The amount of money being spent and the increasing pace of ‘attack ads’ in the race for U.S. Congress to fill the seat that Steve Pearce is vacating is unprecedented. You can read more about the false accusations here.
6. Public Safety: Respectfulness, accessibility, solid performance, and transparency are all important issues. NMBC encourages voters in Bernalillo County and around the state to take a hard look at those who want to serve the community in an elected law enforcement position. Information on law enforcement and public safety can be found here.
7. Bonds and Amendments: Sometimes saying “no” is the responsible thing to do. Whatever the bond is supposed to be used for, voters should ask the end users (teachers, officers, firefighters, etc.) “How much money from the last approved bond issue actually made it to your level or the place it was advertised to support?” The answer is probably “not much,” in which case saying no should be a consideration for the current requests.
Regarding a constitutional amendment dealing with our courts’ appeals system, NMBC believes the judiciary system in place now serves the public’s best interest and should not be changed via the constitution. More about both of constitutional amendments can be found at the above links to our website.
Your vote is important and it matters. Tomorrow is the last day to have your voice heard. It can literally come down to YOUR choice. Let’s tell the government how to work for us!
Get Educated. Get Involved. Go Vote.