Parties prepare for 2010 pre-primary conventions
New Mexico’s Democratic and Republican parties have set dates and picked locations for their 2010 pre-primary nominating conventions.
Both parties will host their conventions on Saturday, March 13. Republicans have decided to meet at the Albuquerque Hilton Hotel, while Democrats will head north to the Hilton Santa Fe Golf Resort and Spa at Buffalo Thunder.
Democratic Party Chairman Javier Gonzales told party members – in an e-mail sent last week — that he had toured sites from Las Cruces to Santa Fe, but indicated he and his staff, who are anticipating a “significant increase in turnout,” chose a venue with a “greater capacity than was necessary in year’s past.”
“Having the Pre-Primary Convention at the Buffalo Thunder Resort means that the DPNM will save precious resources which can be utilized in the 2010 election season, keep costs to delegates at a minimum and allows the DPNM to host events for delegates on both Friday and Saturday evening at an amazing resort and conference space,” Gonzales wrote.
State GOP Executive Director Ryan Cangiolosi sent an e-mail to Republican candidates telling them the party would allow them to rent tables and sponsor coffee breaks for between $200 and $250 and inviting campaigns to host receptions on the Friday evening before the convention.
Democrats will host 2,160 delegates, including 446 State Central Committee delegates. Delegates, and alternate delegates, will be elected at county conventions. State Central Committee members are automatic delegates.
A similar process is used to pick delegates in the Republican Party, but state central committee members are not automatically included in the 437-delegate count. They also have to win their spots at county conventions, according to Cangiolosi.
St. Cyr is a contributing writer for this site and a reporter at 770KKOB.com. He can be reached at peter.stcyr@gmail.com. A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that the primary is June 2.
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No kidding, wedum59. I just don’t get why the “movers-n-shakers” think south of Los Lunas is not New Mexico. Or wonder why we are so apathetic when it comes to politics.
The DPNM may not need that ‘larger capacity’ if there is another snowstorm, and Democrat activists who are not independently wealthy or subsidized will find this an economic hardship, both wrt to gas and the cost of the rooms.
For me it is a nearly 5 hour drive, 260 miles one way. Let’s see, at 25 mpg, that’s about 21 gallons of gas round trip, or at current prices, something like $55 for gas alone. I won’t be staying in the fancy casino, I expect I will be sleeping in my car. If I am on the SCC in 2011, Gonzales won’t be getting my vote. I believe we used a humble high school gymnasium in Albuquerque in 2004. Seems more the right kind of place for Democrats.