Lt. Governor John Sanchez
“It would be immoral to watch the federal government keep spending more money than it’s taking in,” Sanchez told Capitol Report New Mexico. “That’s why I’m announcing my candidacy.”
The 48-year-old will try to wrest the GOP nomination from former Congresswoman Heather Wilson and two darkhorse Republican candidates, Greg Sowards of Las Cruces and Bill English of Alamogordo. Wilson has been assiduously racking up endorsements from big-name Republicans across the state in recent months. So what makes Sanchez different?
“This really isn’t the time for that,” Sanchez said, “this is the time for me to announce my candidacy. We’ve got almost a year to go before the election.”
Actually, there’s more than a year to go before the Republicans and Democrats make their respective choices and more than four months after that before the general election in November of 2012.
The Democrats figure to have their own “knock down, drag out” as current US House member Martin Heinrich squares off against state auditor Hector Balderas and Albuquerque activist Andres Valdez.
While Sanchez may be reluctant (for now) to discuss how he matches up with Wilson, it appears clear from talking to his supporters that he’ll go after Wilson from the right, as Steve Pearce did back in 2008 when Pearce edged out Wilson in the GOP nomination for New Mexico’s other US Senate seat that Democrat Tom Udall now holds.
For some Republicans, Wilson lacks conservative bona fides. Expect to see Sanchez highlight his dedication to small government principles, especially on fiscal issues and his own experience as a contractor in the Albuquerque area for the last 29 years.
“We need a pro-business, conservative business leader to come to Washington,” Sanchez said. “There’s only so much you can cut, though. The real solution is that we need to grow our way out of this [economic slump]. Not through just raising more taxes but raising more taxpayers.”
One possible issue — in both the Republican and Democratic races – in the upcoming campaign may be ethnicity.
It’s been 34 years since a Hispanic last held one of New Mexico’s US Senate seats (going back to Joe Montoya back in 1977) but Sanchez deflected questions about whether that could play a factor in the primary or general elections.
“I think what people are looking for is a candidate who can relate to the challenges facing the average New Mexican, regardless of background,” Sanchez said. “Someone who understands what it is to need a job but also to create jobs.”
Clearly, Sanchez was ready way before Tuesday to make jump into the race. After all, his campaign was already set to release this highly-produced commercial first thing this morning. Here it is:
