Heath Haussamen

I’ve not found a suitable buyer for NMPolitics.net, so I’m shutting down the site. Before I go, I want to leave you with some parting thoughts about the importance of finding common ground.

When I started looking for someone to purchase NMPolitics.net, I wasn’t sure what I was seeking. I knew I wanted my successor to continue the site’s journalistic integrity and its nonpartisan focus. Other than that, I was open to ideas.

Some journalists considered it but passed for various reasons. Two newspapers thought about it but decided the site’s identity was too closely tied to mine. In other words, they think NMPolitics.net and me are inseparable.

While I think otherwise, the decision was theirs to make.

In short, I’ve not found a suitable buyer for this site. Regrettably, that leaves me with one option: to shut down NMPolitics.net. I’ll leave the site up for archive purposes. Nearly seven years of work by me and others exists here. I believe it’s important to continue to provide access to those archives.

So consider this my farewell column. I want to thank you, NMPolitics.net’s readers, donors, advertisers, and others who helped make this site a success for 6.5 years. I could not and would not have done it without you.

I want to leave you with some parting thoughts:

This country works when people come together

We’re in the heat of yet another divisive election season. Countless dollars are being spent on messages that point out how different we are instead of reminding us of what we have in common. Politicians are working to divide us. Other groups are doing it. Many in the media are doing it.

In the power struggle that is the game of politics, they exaggerate our differences and ignore one key fact: What we have in common is greater than our differences.

I’m not downplaying our disputes, which are many. But at the end of the day, even our Republican governor and the GOP U.S. Senate candidate, like most on the right, believe in a government safety net, even if they think it should be smaller than it currently is. And most on the left agree that we need thriving companies, and that winning their business sometimes involves giving concessions, even if they think our government currently gives too much.

Who doesn’t want to live in a society in which we can make enough money to take care of ourselves and our families, get a good education and medical care, and have freedoms including the right to influence how our society operates? And who among us doesn’t want the same for others?

The details are where our differences lie. But when it comes down to it, we inhabit the same planet. We’re all human beings, though we may sometimes think otherwise about those with whom we disagree.

I’ve written on this topic frequently for NMPolitics.net. In my mind, one of the most notable posts came when I covered former Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd’s speech at the 2008 Domenici Public Policy Conference in Las Cruces.

Dodd traveled all the way from Washington to honor his retiring friend – the legendary Republican from New Mexico – and to talk about the civility and respect that once existed in Washington that today is sorely lacking.

“It’s important to know that this country works when people of different ideas can come together to make a difference,” Dodd said.

I firmly believe that. I believe 100 senators honestly debating a policy and looking for compromise can come to a better solution to our problems than me or any other individual can alone.

We can be better than this

But we spend too much of our time instead playing the game and ramping up the rhetoric as we jockey for power. As a result, we live in one of the most divided and dysfunctional times in our nation’s history.

I say to all of you – Democrats, Republicans and others – that we can do better than this. We can be better than this. I challenge you to be better than this.

If we spent our time focusing on common ground instead of fighting, our society would have fewer problems. I really believe it’s that simple.

I’m heading off to focus on New Mexico In Depth – a project I hope will help cut through the rhetoric and focus on what’s most important, and, in doing so, help us understand each other on a deeper level.

Understanding is the key to respect and civility, and to addressing our problems and creating a better society.

If we value our society and our future, developing a deeper understanding of each other is not optional. I hope NMPolitics.net helped some of you develop a deeper understanding of each other. It certainly did that for me.

Onward.

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Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District (Courtesy photo)

‘Family probably had the biggest impact in my life – seeing how you look after one another and how that translates into how you look after the community,’ the Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate says.

When Ben Ray Luján was in elementary school, his paternal grandparents moved into his house. Even though the couple lived next door, Luján’s parents wanted someone with them all the time.

The move didn’t change life for Luján, who fondly recalls a childhood with the constant presence of his grandparents. Even before the move, his family ate most meals with them. He knew their cuentos (stories). He felt how they were valued by their 10 children and the extensive web of Lujáns.

More than anything, he witnessed the power of a family’s love, a love that extended to their community. The couple, who were married for almost 75 years, sang Spanish ditties to each other, sometimes making up lyrics and laughing together.

“They were very much in love – I learned lessons in life about looking after each other,” Luján said. “Everything they did revolved around family.”

When his maternal grandparents were hurt in a major vehicle crash, family stepped up again. Luján’s mom, Carmen Luján, and her five siblings took turns living in the grandparents’ Jacona house for a week at a time. Luján describes that period during his high-school years as a family reunion every week.

“That was how everyone’s world revolved,” he said. “They were our No. 1 priority.”

The value of family and taking care of one another is embedded in Luján’s foundation. That value has shaped his political perspective, including how he approaches his role as a Democrat seeking re-election in the 3rd Congressional District. He’s facing a challenge this year from Republican Jeff Byrd.

“Family probably had the biggest impact in my life – seeing how you look after one another and how that translates into how you look after the community,” he said.

Forty-year-old Luján recently shared stories of his childhood during conversations often interrupted by scattered cell service as he was being driven to community events – a Cochiti Pueblo feast day one time and a parade in Taos another.

Family roots

Luján’s description of his childhood mirrors that of generations of Northern New Mexican natives who grew up in large, intimate families, living together and nurturing the land, animals and water they needed for survival. His father, Ben Luján, happened to be a member of the N.M. House for 37 years and House speaker for more than a decade, but the younger Luján said politics didn’t play much of a role in his early childhood.

He grew up in his dad’s childhood home, next door to his grandparents and down the street from two aunts and uncles. Each generation added a room to the original two-bedroom home Luján’s great-grandparents had built.

Luján was the fourth and youngest child. He was eight years younger than his brother who was closest in age. If he wasn’t with his parents, Luján was with one of the neighbor kids or some of his 26 first cousins on his dad’s side or 13 uncles and aunts who lived in Nambé, Jacona and Pojoaque. Sometimes the Lujáns’ back pasture became the community baseball field.

“There was always someone to play with,” he recalled.

They raised sheep, as Luján’s grandpa had. All the work has been handed down over generations of Lujáns – tending to animals, harvesting a garden, maintaining the acequia. Ben Luján added goats when a friend convinced him of the value of goat’s milk. Ben Ray Luján remembers long milking sessions when goats kicked over their milk buckets and he had to start over.

Both of Luján’s grandpas were known for their large, productive gardens where they raised such traditional crops as green chile, tomatoes, corn, zucchini and squash. His aunts planted one big garden they shared as well.

“On the weekends, you’d be out there sun up to sun down, taking a nap with the breeze blowing during the heat of the day, maybe drink some tea or lemonade if you were lucky, and then once it cooled off, you’d be back out there,” he said.

Luján has continued that tradition, planting a garden with his mom between his house and his parent’s home. Luján lives now in his grandparent’s home, next door to his childhood home.

“It’s where I find peace – tilling the garden or land, working the pasture, repairing the barn,” he said. “People say, ‘Why do you do that on your day off?’ It’s not work. It’s therapeutic.”

As much as Luján was born into a life full of Northern New Mexico traditions, he was born into politics. The night he arrived, his dad had won the primary for his second-term as Santa Fe county commissioner. The polls had closed, and his parents were eating dinner at a friend’s house when his mom announced her water broke.

To his young son, Ben Luján was a hard worker who cared for his family and community, not a politician. He was a welder, a jack-of-all trades who was up at 5 a.m. so he could begin whatever task needed to be done on their 3-acre property. The Lujáns’ devotion to their network of neighbors, family, constituents and fellow parishioners at Our Sacred Heart Parish in Nambé was a constant in Ben Ray Luján’s life.

“Those are the life lessons I was brought up with, something that helped shape me and who I am,” he said.

Learning political lessons

Luján hung out at the State Capitol in Santa Fe as a page when he was a young boy, but he didn’t realize the impact a powerful legislator could have until he attended one of his father’s committee hearings on taxes.

Luján was a junior in high school, worried about how his dad would fare during this complex debate over tax policy. Then he heard Ben Luján speak with conviction and compassion. In that moment, Ben Ray Luján learned the importance of being prepared and educated about the issues.

“I remember a technical exchange was taking place but how impressed, overwhelmed and proud I was with the knowledge my dad had,” he said. “It was one of those moments where I was appreciating a different side of him that I didn’t see around the dinner table.”

Another moment that shaped Luján’s view of being a legislator occurred at his breakfast table one day. When someone knocked on the door in the middle of breakfast and asked to visit with Rep. Ben Luján, Carmen poured the visitor a cup of coffee and left the kitchen with her son.

“Here’s this young man in high school, I don’t even think he was voting age, and dad took the time to sit down and talk with him,” he said. “Dad always said, ‘Know when to listen and know when it’s your turn to speak up.’”

While his dad showed him how to be a responsive legislator, Luján said he reflects on his mom’s compassion when voting on legislation. As Congress debates education funding, or Medicare’s future, his mom advises him: Don’t forget the moral argument.

“She said to me, ‘When you look at a policy, you have to remember there are people who are impacted by the decisions you make,’” Luján said.

Luján also understands the significance of water and changing weather for families, like his, who have relied on their land for sustenance. The Lujáns understand the importance of caring for an acequia so their family and their neighbors have water.

It is Luján’s connection to New Mexico’s land that guides his philosophies on the importance of protecting water, investing in solar energy, increasing fuel efficiency in vehicles, reducing energy use to fight climate change, and designating wilderness areas in the state.

“Sustainability is a way of life in New Mexico,” Luján said, citing energy-efficient adobe homes and acequia maintenance as examples.

Finding his way

Luján began his own political path as student senator advocating for Pojoaque High School and then New Mexico Highlands University. Like many children of prominent parents, Luján has had the burden and advantage of being Ben Luján’s son (Luján would never call it a burden). Some speculated whether Luján landed his first political job as deputy state treasurer or won his first election as Public Regulation Commission member because of his father.

“I think everyone makes their own way,” Luján said. “You are who you are as a person because of who your family is. They are a very big part of my life. I would never ever shy away or turn away from the support of my mom and dad or any of my family, for that matter.”

He thinks media has dug into his background more because of his family. “There’s a larger light that’s cast on you, and you have to work that much harder to prove you are capable of providing the services, of doing the right thing, of working hard,” he said.

During his 2008 political campaign, media published stories when one of his opponents claimed Luján was gay and his parents hired an escort for him. The accusation was particularly painful to Luján because it insulted both his parents and his girlfriend, Dawn Peavey.

The couple has been together for almost five years. Whenever Luján is in New Mexico, he said they are together.

Luján and Peavey share a connection over the values of work and family; Peavey cares for her mom in Santa Fe.

“I’d love to have a family,” Luján said. “My brother’s boys were hanging out with Uncle Ben this weekend, and that’s important to me. We’ll see what the Lord has in store for me. We want to make sure if, and hopefully when, we have children, I’ll have the time to spend with them that they deserve.”

Caring for family

As Luján ponders his future, he is still learning life lessons from his parents. Following the tradition of generations before, family members are rallying around his mom and dad as Ben Luján copes with advanced-stage lung cancer.

“Just when you think your mom and dad have taught you all they are going to teach you in life, you realize there is so much more you have to learn about faith, about family, about nurturing,” Luján said. “The strength and courage my mom and dad have shown through this – I can’t even quantify it.”

Throughout Ben Luján’s cancer treatments, his son is reminded of his origins. “When family is needed, family steps up,” he said.

Deborah Busemeyer is a freelance writer living in Santa Fe. Previously she was the communications director at the New Mexico Department of Health. She can be reached at dbusemeyer@gmail.com. A prior version of this article incorrectly said Luján’s father was speaker of the House for 37 years.

Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate Jeff Byrd (Courtesy photo)

Republican 3rd Congressional District candidate Jeff Byrd says his Christian faith has carried him through difficult times and will influence how he votes if he’s elected.

The summer Jeff Byrd turned 16, he ran. And while he ran the three-mile loop around the back pasture of his family’s ranch north of Mosquero, he prayed.

He doesn’t remember specific prayers. “I know I spent a lot of time thinking about who I am and what I want to be,” he said. “That was my time to meditate, think and to pray.”

More than 20 years later, Byrd says his faith is his top priority in life. It’s carried him through his father’s cancer diagnosis, his 17-year marriage to his wife Suzanne and a shift in careers when he took over his family’s ranch after his father’s death. He prayed with his wife and pastor when he was deliberating whether to run for representative of the 3rd Congressional District, a seat currently held by Democrat Ben Ray Luján.

“I generally was able to handle the real stressful times because I was able to share it with a friend, if you will,” he said, referring to his relationship with God.

The 41-year-old Republican recently talked about his faith, his childhood, his jobs and how they all intersect with his political beliefs during phone conversations from his family’s home in Tucumcari.

As a boy, Byrd was naturally drawn to ranch life, a “horse and cow kid,” he said. He wanted to be a cowboy and his older brother wanted to be a mechanic.

“He was tearing apart the lawn mower, and I was messing with the horses,” he said.

He started riding a little Pinto horse when he was a preschooler. In the Byrd family – and in most families living in Harding County – honesty and hard work are important values, Byrd said. He was in elementary school when he started what he calls “any productive work” on the ranch: milking and taking care of the cows, working the wells, improving the corrals and fixing machinery.

Church was a fixture in Byrd’s life as well. His mom took him and his older sister and brother to the local Catholic church, where Byrd became an altar boy. On Wednesdays, he walked to church after school to ring the bells before service. He still remembers the sound of the three bell tones.

Sometimes priests called on him to serve during special services or funerals. He fondly recalled the annual outdoor service near an altar on a cliff rock where he could find arrowheads and eat potluck meals.

His Baptist father read scripture every Sunday evening after dinner from a big family Bible that had their family tree inscribed in the front. “A lot of times he would read verses out loud to us, things that were important or interesting,” he said.

By time Byrd reached sixth grade, he was as big as the high-schoolers – 5’8 and 180 pounds. Kids called him Moose. When a new high-school basketball coach required everyone be in shape to play on the team, Byrd spent that summer running. It was during those runs that Byrd felt his relationship with God develop.

Getting involved in politics

His relationship with politics came a few years later, during college at New Mexico State University. His family has always talked openly about religion and politics, and Byrd doesn’t understand why some people prefer not to discuss the subjects.

“We’ve always talked about both because they are both important to who we are as a people,” he said. “Our culture is driven by who we are as a people. If we don’t keep them in discussion, we lose track of what’s really going on. A lot of people have differing views of how we can achieve certain goals. If we aren’t going to talk about them, how are we going to find a reasonable solution?”

His family hasn’t had a uniform loyalty to either major political party, switching parties over the years. Byrd registered as a Republican when he was 18 and has confirmed his conservative beliefs over the years.

In the rural northeastern part of the state where the only statewide newspaper doesn’t deliver, Byrd gets Texas news, instead of New Mexico. His political focus has been national. Since college, he’s followed federal politics by reading proposed legislation on a congressional website and checking to see how New Mexico politicians have voted.

“I’ve always been one that thinks you need to know who you are voting for, and I don’t generally take one media source as a rule,” he said.

While he tracked politics, Byrd didn’t think about getting involved until much later. But his career did shape how he felt about government. At a small company called Environeering, he was an environmental engineer who felt a part of the business.

When the owners discussed the cost of government regulations, Byrd was in the office listening and absorbing.

“People in Washington are great about saying, ‘It’s not going to cost us anything,’ and yet it does cost to implement new rules and regulations,” he said.

An altered path

Then, a series of events altered Byrd’s career path. Both of his grandmothers died. His father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died three weeks later when Byrd was 28 and traveling often for work. A short time later Byrd was on his way to the airport in New York on Sept. 11 when the terrorists struck the city. That cinched it: He was done being away from his family so much.

He started work at Navajo Refinery while also running his family’s 3,500-acre ranch. In 2008, the family – including now 8-year-old Zachary and Noah, who turned 10 this month – settled in Tucumcari.

The family attends Divine Connection, an unaffiliated Baptist church in Tucumcari. Byrd said his relationship with God has grown in recent years, as he’s shifted from a “Doubting Thomas” to someone who has seen confirmation of God.

“He (God) doesn’t give you a definite path or make you whole, but you begin to understand how you should live and how you should handle yourself in situations around you,” he said. “It’s that understanding that gives you the peace people are looking for.”

Byrd cited two instances that reaffirmed God’s presence to him. One happened in November when a guy told Byrd he had considered running in the race but knew he didn’t have to when he heard Byrd’s name. Byrd had not decided to run yet. In another, a woman he didn’t know embraced Byrd and his candidacy so warmly, he said the “only way that can be is if God is real and working.”

He thinks his Christian faith has enabled him to get along with anyone and relate to different people, whether they are the high-school students he likes to play basketball with or the older people he knows in his community.

He sprinkles his conversation with scriptures and political quotes. When talking about being a true Christian – what he considers his biggest challenge in life – he refers to a President Jimmy Carter quote. When Carter was asked if he cheated on his wife, he said he had in his heart.

“I think everyone could relate to Jimmy Carter because everyone is fallible and makes mistakes,” he said. “I think it’s accepting that we all veer away from true committed relationships at time. Not that we ever ran out and had a relationship with someone else, but your mind pulls you away at times to unpure thoughts. It’s commitment every day. You have to make that decision every day not to go away from your spouse.”

He refers to another former president, Ronald Reagan, as a model for his own political career. “He was well known for saying what he means and meaning what he says and following through,” Byrd said. “Whether people agreed with him or not, he did what he said he would do, so people respected him.”

‘You have to tie it all together’

Byrd is clear about who he is and how he will vote his Christian principles. He is pro-life and doesn’t appreciate so-called Christian politicians who cite Bible verses to justify their decisions and ignore the rest of God’s teachings.

“A big part of your call is to not read one verse and assume you know what it means,” he said. “You have to tie it all together.”

He doesn’t believe church and state should be separated since, he said, that’s not part of the Constitution.

“Obviously the founders believed in Christ,” he said. “They prayed every day as a group. We were founded as a Christian nation. More than half of the sitting presidents have stated that we are a Christian nation.”

He mentions the 2005 lawsuit in which people wanted to remove three crosses in the city of Las Cruces’ official logo. “The first amendment is freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. For years we used the Bible to read out of. How was it constitutional before and now it’s not?”

Whether or not Byrd has a chance to follow his Christian beliefs in elected office next year, he will accept God’s decision. “If I lose, I get to stay and keep working on the ranch and be with the kids here, working with me,” he said.

Deborah Busemeyer is a freelance writer living in Santa Fe. Previously she was the communications director at the New Mexico Department of Health. She can be reached at dbusemeyer@gmail.com.

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (Photo by Heath Haussamen)

‘People are looking for certainty in their lives,’ the congressman says, and, as he seeks re-election, Pearce says he is reaching across party lines to try to ‘bring widely divergent groups together’ to focus on policy and ‘the common good’ instead of politics.

“The truth doesn’t change across time,” says U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce. “Major troubles occur when we don’t follow the Constitution.”

This was the congressman’s reply to my question about whether the United States needs another constitutional convention to update this important document. Although not spoken, his answer was a definite “no.”

Pearce believes strongly that the United States has taken a turn away from the intent of the U.S. Constitution. He wants to see a more literal use of it as a guide for government and the people. He cited Article 1, Section 8, which lays out the powers given to Congress.

Among those powers are still-relevant things such as the ability “to borrow money on the credit of the United States” and citations that involve the military and post offices. Perhaps less-relevant is the power to grant letters of marquee – a document that lets a nation hire mercenaries to retaliate for it against another nation.

As for a constitutional convention, Pearce simply doesn’t seem to believe one is necessary. All that’s necessary is a return to a more literal reading of the Constitution.

‘100 percent focused on the current job’

My 30-minute conversation with Pearce covered a lot of other areas, mostly in brief, and often he cited examples of the work he has done or is doing to help get the nation back on course.

Pearce, who faces a challenge from Democrat Evelyn Madrid Erhard this year, was first elected to the N.M. House of Representatives in 1996. A native of Hobbs, his background is in the oil business, where his father worked as a roustabout. Roustabouts are general maintenance or construction workers, and Pearce said he came from a working-class background.

“When I was in the oil business, I found that there were so many regulations that they were choking off the oil business,” Pearce said. “I could see that my kids and grandkids were not going to have the same benefits that I have had, and that is when I decided to run for state Legislature.”

Pearce said he quickly realized the state Legislature was not the place to try to change the laws and regulations he felt were inappropriate, so he began thinking about running for Congress.

“We were on a trip to France. My wife had just come back to our hotel. She spoke about Joe Skeen (former congressman) retiring due to illness, so we decided to run for that office,” Pearce said. “In 2002, I won a five-way primary and then started to try and work for change.”

Pearce is no longer in the oil tool business, and says he is “100 percent focused on the current job.”

It appears he will try and stay with that job for a while, and has no interest, at least at this time, in running for higher office, such as U.S. Senate, an office he sought unsuccessfully in 2008.

“I’m not thinking much beyond this election right now,” Pearce said. “It is one day at a time.”

Trying to ‘bring widely divergent groups together’

Pearce has received a lot of attention, good and bad, for his support of the Tea Party. He is a member of the Tea Party Caucus, a group of about 60 representatives and senators whose group is “dedicated to promoting what it considers fiscal responsibility, adherence to the (Tea Party) movement’s interpretation of the Constitution and limited government.” Groups such as these are sometimes seen as a move by the Republican Party (all caucus members are Republicans) to hijack the Tea Party movement, according to an article in Politico.

And perhaps it is just coincidence, but the oil and gas industry has been financially supportive of those involved with this caucus, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Pearce said he believes Tea Party activists and their supporters share a lot of the same views held by everyone else. He mentioned his work with others in district besides Tea Party members.

“I’ve spent two years out speaking to a lot of other groups, all for the common good, about two strong points,” Pearce said. “The first is about retirees and how their money is disappearing, and the second is about young mothers who are worried about their kid’s futures. Things are getting much harder for them because of Washington’s politics.”

“One thing we’re trying to do is bring widely divergent groups together, and trying to be more rational. Not all of those we are working with are Republicans,” he said. “What’s going on is hard on both parties. We’re more interested in policy rather than party policies. People say that the two parties don’t work together, that we (Americans) elect people who look like us, and that we don’t sit down to talk to neighbors.”

Pearce said such thinking is inaccurate and perhaps myopic. He thinks it will change over time.

One of the other things Pearce feels might help bring Congress back together is a small group of representatives who meet quarterly.

“We’re reaching across party lines, doing things such as working on a new tax return bill and other objectives,” Pearce said. “It might be a model for the country, something that could really work.”

He continued – “We’re working across the aisle for immigration reform, looking for the best ideas for the country, and trying to prove that through our actions.”

When asked, Pearce noted Massachusetts Congressman Michael Capuano, a Democrat, as one of the first to get on board with the new group.

Economy, environment

My conversation with Pearce turned to the troubles at hand, most especially, of course, the economy and jobs. Over the last year or so, Pearce has sponsored several job fairs in towns around the district, something of which he said he is very proud.

“We’re trying to establish a working base, and the job fairs have jobs that are available that day. We keep hearing that there are no jobs available, and the truth is that there are some,” he said. “We’ll continue to do the job fairs, as they have been successful.”

Pearce has been seen by the left as one of the most environmentally unfriendly congressman in the country, but he seemed unfazed by this and noted his efforts to keep the dunes sagebrush lizard off the federal endangered species list, which put him at odds with many environmentalists.

Pearce said such protection for the lizard “would have killed jobs.” Keeping the lizard off the list was also supported by Democratic U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman, who generally pride themselves on their environmental work and votes. About 90 percent of the lizard’s habitat does remain protected through other agreements.

Pearce also spoke of his participation in a widely publicized and mostly symbolic tree-cutting ceremony in Cloudcroft last fall, which some said was illegal but Pearce said was done to “restore commonsense forest management to New Mexico” and bring power back to local governments. Otero County commissioners said their efforts were to “show the world what an acre of forest land should look like.” The tree-cutting ceremony focused on the possible devastation of the area by wildfire.

Pearce, who has criticized the Forest Service lately for its handling of wildfires, said he wants to continue working with the agency to “make forests healthier.”

Still talking about issues related to the environment, Pearce said he attempts to work for alternative energy, not as main source of power, but as one to enhance the current sources — gas, oil and nuclear.

“We have 5 million acres in New Mexico that could be used for wind energy, but we still have to have oil and gas. We should be energy independent, but the regulations are shutting us off from that,” he said. “We need a commonsense balance, and we just need to start that right now.”

Taxes were another brief subject, with Pearce noting that the United States has the second-highest corporate tax rate in the world. It’s 38 percent, and it’s actually the third highest behind Japan and Cameroon. When weighted, the U.S. figure falls to about 27 percent, which is on par with much of the rest of the world.

Still, Pearce said the corporate tax rate is one reason the United States loses jobs to other countries.

Taking a break

Although he has little time for himself, Pearce does take a break now and then and enjoys walking in the desert, traveling, reading and baseball.

“I read a lot when I shut off the phone,” he said.

Pearce is a member of the congressional baseball team, and he said he likes to help teach young people when he is at the batting cages.

Pearce laughs heartily when I note that there is a Major League Baseball player of the same name. Baseball Pearce had been batting .254 for the Baltimore Orioles but was released from that team. He now plays for the Houston Astros.

Congressman Pearce quipped – “He is probably getting more hits online than I do.”

‘People are looking for certainty in their lives’

Pearce said he is still not giving up on repealing “Obamacare” and is working to get a balanced budget amendment passed. Both remain on his to-do list if he wins re-election. He said he wants to provide some certainty in America.

“People are looking for certainty in their lives, Pearce said. “If they had more ‘certains’ about what was going to happen, it would surely improve things dramatically.”

Jeff Berg is a Santa Fe based freelance writer who would like to thank the people who donated to NMPolitics.net for making this article happen!

Evelyn Madrid Erhard

Many have a difficult time on America’s ‘uneven playing field,’ Evelyn Madrid Erhard, the Democrat taking on U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., says. She wants to ‘work with farmers, ranchers, the oil industry, whoever it is necessary to work with to achieve balance and to make sure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes.’

“I’m running for congress, and I’m a Democrat,” Evelyn Madrid Erhard offers strongly and convincingly.

I ask Erhard, why now? Here’s what she says:

“I came to Las Cruces in 1975, and for most of that time the district has been Republican. First it was Joe Skeen and now it is Steve Pearce. They’re always with the Republicans – there was the ‘Contract for America,’ Skeen was there for the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Halliburton incidents and so on. Now the Republicans are bringing the U.S. close to failure and deep poverty.”

Her website includes this note: “Their agenda was always to take care of their own interests and the interests of the top 1%. They have supported laws that created corporate loopholes and stripped American workers of pension and health insurance benefits.”

Because of those concerns, and having received leadership recognition from the Democratic National Committee and being invited to participate in Hispanic leadership conferences, Erhard felt that her time to try and make a big difference had come.

Although always a long time political observer – “I remember having an interest in politics starting about the time that JFK was assassinated,” she said – Erhard never really had an opportunity to get involved until the Obama campaign of 2008.

“My husband really encouraged me, even though I was busy all the time,” she said. “He knew that I listened to other people’s stories, and when the Obama office opened here in 2008, he told me to go there.”

She did, and found herself busy as a volunteer from the first day. She helped sign up more volunteers and assisted in arranging campaign events locally for Obama and former U.S. Congressman Harry Teague, who lost to Pearce in the last election.

Her efforts did not go unnoticed, and in 2009, she was one of a handful of supporters to be chosen to meet President Barack Obama at a rally in Rio Rancho.

“He did a talk and there were some pictures of us taken with him,” she said. “He… encouraged me to continue to work hard, and recently has given me his support for my campaign.”

A grassroots candidate’s uphill battle

Erhard faces an uphill battle in her race against the incumbent Pearce. One could argue that the election system of this country always gives short shrift to perceived underdogs or those who don’t fare well in polls or with the media, or who don’t receive proper support from party officials.

There have been no publicly-released polls of this race in part because of the lack of attention on it. To date, Erhard hasn’t accomplished what it takes to generate buzz in today’s political and media worlds. As of June 30, she had less than $3,500 on hand to Pearce’s $815,000.

But one would probably have to look long and hard to find a more grassroots, non-third party candidate for national office than Erhard, the Democratic candidate for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District.

Her campaign is decidedly low key and without a huge advertising budget and any professional handlers as she crisscrosses the district without the use of polished political consultants. “I’m not even aware of what the salary is for this job, is and I don’t want to know,” Erhard noted in our recent interview. “The issues are much more important to me than the salary.”

In case you are interested or want to run for the office yourself next time, the salary is $174,000 a year, with an annual cost-of-living increase. Retirement benefits kick in after five years in office. And the only requirements to run for such an office are to be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and to live in the state that you want to represent. You do not have to live in the district you want to represent until you file to run for office.

New Mexico has three districts, with District 2 covering the most ground (not to mention being the 6th largest in the Unite States), reaching clear up to I-40 in two spots. The area is lightly inhabited and has Hispanic majority.

Erhard’s staff is small and made up of what appear to be younger volunteers. Her media contact person is Mark Steffen, a well-known local filmmaker and media consultant who is working on his first political campaign. Steffen is also her chief assistant, helping to make appointments and accompanying her to appearances around the district. The small budget for her campaign has effectively not allowed for the hiring of any outside consultants.

The ‘uneven playing field’

Erhard was born in Española in 1955, and said, “how I came into the world has a lot to do with how my parents’ lives and careers came together.”

Erhard went on to tell the story of how her parents met prior to World War II, then married and lived with a set of grandparents until her father served in the war as a medic.

“They used to group the men by their skills, and he had some first aid training from high school,” she said. “He was later asked to help with more serious wounds and injuries and became a surgical assistant.”

She noted the boost that the GI Bill gave her father after the war. It helped get a lot of returning vets back into the world and workplace, something that she feels strongly needs to happen now to get present-day Americans and returning veterans back on their feet.

“I wasn’t born into poverty. I did have some extraordinary opportunities while growing up, too. My father became a teacher and basketball coach and my mother worked at Los Alamos National Lab,” she said. “So, I want to try and make sure other people receive opportunities as well.”

Erhard attended New Mexico State University and, after graduating, had her first job at White Sands, working for Lockheed as a technical writer.

But her interests were more diverse than that. She worked for the speech department at NMSU later and also owned a small business in Mesilla, the Patchwork Cat, in the 1980s.

“It did really well the first year, but after that my husband (Tom, a retired drama/theatre professor at NMSU) has some health issues, and the economy was not there,” she said.

They persevered and, along the way, Erhard started learning more about what she labeled the “uneven playing field.”

“I would go to buying shows and the representatives from the ‘big box’ stores would always get a big break, and I was thinking that the (small) shops could have done better,” she said.

‘The plight of the people’

Erhard’s small business was not meant to be, and after closing her store, she went back to teach at NMSU. That’s where, she said, she began to hear about the “plight of the people,” which has become the fuel for her congressional campaign.

While an instructor in a public speaking class, Erhard talked with a student who submitted an essay that Erhard found moving.

The woman was a non-traditional student, and Erhard asked why she was there.

“She said she had been working for a local company for 20 years, and just recently had been required to go to part-time employment, she had lost her benefits, and had divorced,” Erhard said. “She had two kids and wanted to learn something new or pick up a new trade for another part time job.”

Erhard compared this to her own situation, a fortunate one with some degree of security, and it really opened her critical thinking about was really going on around her. Here’s what she said about that:

“My heart was big enough to know how things were for many other people, but I was always too busy to get involved in helping to change that. I was always paying attention and also tried to share with others how to use critical thinking skills.

“I’d think, here are the issues, and I should study them from both sides. Most of us aren’t shown how to look at things from the other side, so critical thinking is important for me to look at what goes on in politics. It is not necessarily wanting to be right or correct, but to vote for what your needs are.

“I’m not asking for Republicans to vote for me, although that would be appreciated, but rather for them to use their own critical thinking skills when they do vote… what are your needs?”

Erhard noted that she has heard the same story that her former student told her over and over again the last few years.

As a community activist, Erhard was busy again in 2010, working in Southern New Mexico to get people to register to vote. Motivated in part by the passage of SB 1070 in Arizona, the controversial “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” she said she wanted immigrants in New Mexico to know someone cared. She also attended the Hispanic Congressional Caucus Institute, which helped motivate her to run for a top office in her first attempt to be elected.

A would-be first if elected

If elected, Erhard said she plans to take her communication and leadership skills to Washington, and is presently working with all sorts of organizations – Hispanic, women’s groups, and others – to help her break that barrier that so many people face – recognition for their talent and abilities.

New Mexico has a light history of women elected for national office. Other than former congresswoman Heather Wilson, a Republican who is now running for U.S. Senate, only one other New Mexico woman has been in Congress, even though the state has sent representatives to Congress since long before statehood, beginning in 1853.

Georgia Lee Lusk, a fascinating woman from Eastern New Mexico, defeated six Democratic Party bosses to win the nomination for U.S. representative in 1946, then easily won the general election. Her national career was cut short when she was defeated the next election, but she remained active in state politics until 1960.

Another unsung female heroine of New Mexico politics is Adelina Otero-Warren, who shocked party bosses when, as a suffragette and advocate for New Mexico art, education and Hispanic tradition, she won the Republican nomination for Congress in 1922. Although defeated, she was later appointed the head of the state Civilian Conservation Corps by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Erhard would be the first Hispanic New Mexico woman to hold national public office, something many may find hard to believe considering the state’s 150-year political heritage.

‘No one is listening to us’

“I care about you and I know the importance of getting people out to vote. No one is listening to us,” has become Erhard’s personal mantra of sorts.

She is also an advocate of bringing jobs back to the United States that have been given to other countries.

“None of this is good for working people. They don’t have dreams anymore. Dreams of owning their own homes are gone. That has become the norm in District 2. Many of them can’t even afford to buy the stuff that is made overseas,” she said.

“We’re one disaster away from being in poverty.”

Erhard said she’s been “getting ready” to run for Congress for a decade, and recently her husband told her she was ready. In Congress, she said she is more than willing to “reach across the aisle” and work with Republicans on the issues.

“I’ve been paying attention for a long time,” she said. “I want to work with farmers, ranchers, the oil industry, whoever it is necessary to work with to achieve balance and to make sure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes. Everyone needs to pay their fair share.”

Erhard is in a unique position to bring Georgia Lee Lusk’s thought to truth:

“Men will listen to women, but they are unwilling to give them recognition.”

She is determined to bring her dexterity and passion to the forefront to try and work for everyone in District 2, thus giving Lusk’s comment credence by becoming the first Hispanic woman from New Mexico to hold national office.

Jeff Berg is a Las Cruces based freelance writer who would like to thank the people who donated to NMPolitics.net for making this article happen! This article has been updated for clarity.

William P. Soules

I want the citizens of this county to know that I admit my mistake – a violation of the New Mexico Open Meetings Act – and I apologize.

As a candidate for the New Mexico Senate from District 37, I feel it is important to address an issue that occurred during my time in elected office as a member of the Las Cruces Board of Education.

Approximately 10 years ago, I was charged with and convicted of violating the New Mexico Open Meetings Act. While I never intended to circumvent the Open Meetings law, I did participate in a closed personnel session about the superintendent. The court determined that the closed meeting was not properly advertised to the public. Therefore, I was found guilty of a misdemeanor and I paid my fine.

I want the citizens of this county to know that I admit my mistake and I apologize. I believe that sunshine laws are a critical component of the public input process and that these laws help to create a strong democracy. The public has a right to see and hear how their elected officials are performing.

Over the last 10 years, I have watched as the legislative process has become more open with webcasts and publishing of committee votes. If the residents of Senate District 37 elect me as their senator, I will be a leader in strengthening sunshine laws and will actively support efforts that require the Legislature to follow those laws.

The entire process, including conference committee meetings and votes, should be open and transparent. The public deserves its government leaders to open the books and provide accessibility to all citizens.

I have spent my adult life in public service and I will continue to do so. When voters make their choice for the New Mexico Senate District 37, I ask they consider my entire record and not just one incident to which I have admitted to and from which I have grown. I am asking for your vote to serve the good people of Doña Ana County.

Soules, a Democrat, is a candidate for the Las Cruces-area District 37 seat in the N.M. Senate.

Heath Haussamen

It’s time for me to focus on New Mexico In Depth, but I want this site to continue and hopefully to grow. At this point, it has a better chance of doing that if someone else takes it over.

After 6.5 years, I’ve decided to put NMPolitics.net up for sale.

I know I promised a couple of months ago, when we announced the creation of New Mexico In Depth, that NMPolitics.net wasn’t going anywhere. I hope it’s not going anywhere. But recent circumstances have made clear that it’s time for me to move on.

NMPolitics.net has been on hiatus for the last month while I dealt with some serious family issues. Being pulled out of my routine, frankly, helped me realize I had too much on my plate. Something had to give.

I’ve run this site for almost seven years as a labor of love. Building and maintaining an influential political news website has been my full-time work, and the site has grown and turned a profit every year, but, like all small businesses, it has required a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

It’s time for me to focus on New Mexico In Depth and its goal of fostering, promoting and publishing journalism in the public interest. And it’s time to pass the NMPolitics.net torch.

I believe firmly in NMPolitics.net’s two-fold, nonpartisan mission: to hold government and political leaders accountable through hard-hitting but fair reporting while also encouraging policy and political debate that promotes the common good. I want this site to continue and hopefully to grow. At this point, it has a better chance of doing that if someone else takes it over.

So I’m looking for a buyer. I’ve already reached out and started discussions with some but wanted to publicly announce my intentions in case someone I’m not thinking of is interested. Also, I didn’t want to leave you, NMPolitics.net’s loyal readers, hanging any longer. You deserve to know what’s happening.

If you’re interested in learning more about the site and possibly purchasing it, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com or call me at 575.644.5129.

As I think back to NMPolitics.net’s first post, on March 20, 2006, and all the news articles and columns I’ve written and published since, I have fond memories. This site has been an amazing learning experience for me, and I believe it has made a difference for New Mexico.

I still have a handful of articles and columns to publish in the next week or two, so check back regularly. I hope to find a suitable buyer who will continue the site’s nonpartisan mission. I’m excited about what the future might still hold for NMPolitics.net. I will keep you updated.

Know that I won’t sell the site to anyone who isn’t committed to maintaining its journalistic integrity.

Thanks for supporting this site – and me – for the last several years. I remain grateful and humbled.

Haussamen bio │ Commentary page │ Feed

Heath Haussamen

NMPolitics.net is on hiatus due to a family emergency. We’ll be back as soon as possible.

Steve Pearce

Recently, the House of Representatives acted to fully repeal Obamacare. I call on the Senate to follow the House’s lead.

In 2010, Congress passed, and President Obama signed into law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Since day one, this law (commonly known as Obamacare) has been touted by Democrats as a long-term solution to health care in the United States. However, after last month’s Supreme Court ruling, we now know that this is just a new tax on hard-working New Mexican families.

On June 28, the Supreme Court ruled the most controversial provision of Obamacare, the individual mandate that requires virtually every American to carry health insurance, is only constitutional because it is a tax – which the judges declared Congress has the power to implement. Being a tax directly contradicts public statements by the president and Democratic leaders who have always claimed this mandate was not a tax.

The vast majority of these 21 new or higher taxes will fall on those making less than $120,000 annually. Even more surprising, many paying this tax will be those living below the federal poverty line (according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office).

All told, the average American family will pay roughly $4,700 a year in new taxes. To state this in the president’s own terms, the 99 percent will almost exclusively be targeted by this tax. Clearly, this law is a far cry from the president’s promise to not increase taxes on middle class families.

Above the law

Since the Supreme Court’s decision, I have had the opportunity to visit with business owners from New Mexico. During my visits, I have heard about the effects of Obamacare on their businesses and your jobs. The overwhelming consensus is that this law is causing layoffs, suppressing job creation, forcing employers to consider dropping coverage for employees and doing economic damage to communities and job creators across New Mexico.

The president claims to be looking out for the 99 percent. Yet, immediately following the passage of this law, large corporations started lobbying the president to be granted special exemption from this damaging law. In all, over 1,000 big businesses (i.e. the 1 percent) have been granted special favor from the president.

Allowing elite large businesses to be above the law sends a clear message that the president cares more about the 1 percent special interest than protecting middle class jobs.

When companies can buy influence to be above the law, these companies create a competitive advantage over everyone. Over the next few years, local New Mexico companies will be increasingly burdened by the expenses this law requires of them. The majority of businesses cannot afford to pay a lobbyist millions of dollars to grant them special favor with the president. This means wage reduction, layoffs and eventually even closure for New Mexico companies. The economic health of our communities and state should not hinge on special interest and presidential favors or waivers.

Take action

Now is the time for Congress to act to prevent the economic damage this law will create. While I disagree with the Court’s interpretation of this law, I respect its authority to make this decision. However, the courts validation does not mean the American people support the law anymore today than when it was jammed through Congress in 2010.

Congress has the responsibility to listen to the facts and the American people, and take action against this damaging law.

Recently, the House of Representatives acted to fully repeal Obamacare. I call on the Senate to follow the House’s lead. This law must be repealed and replaced with patient-centered approaches before more economic damage is done.

Pearce, a Republican, represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House.

Photo by Heath Haussamen

With voter ID laws becoming a political flashpoint in what’s gearing up to be another close election year, ProPublica has taken a step back to look at the facts behind the laws and break down the issues at the heart of the debate.

Editor’s note: Given the debate over voter fraud and voter ID in New Mexico – one of 20 states that doesn’t require people to show identification to vote – and the recent voter fraud case in Sunland Park, this article seemed interesting and relevant.

Voter IDs laws have become a political flashpoint in what’s gearing up to be another close election year. Supporters say the laws — which 30 states have now enacted in some form — are needed to combat voter fraud, while critics see them as a tactic to disenfranchise voters.

We’ve taken a step back to look at the facts behind the laws and break down the issues at the heart of the debate.

So what are these laws?

They are measures intended to ensure that a registered voter is who he says he is and not an impersonator trying to cast a ballot in someone else’s name. The laws, most of which have been passed in the last several years, require that registered voters show ID before they’re allowed to vote. Exactly what they need to show varies. Some states require a federal government-issued photo, while in others a current utility bill or bank statement is sufficient.

As a registered voter, I thought I always had to supply some form of ID during an election.

Not quite. Per federal law, first-time voters who registered by mail must present a photo ID or copy of a current bill or bank statement. Some states generally advise voters bring some form of photo ID. But prior to the 2006 election, no state ever required a voter to produce a government-issued photo ID as a condition to voting. Indiana in 2006 became the first state to enact a strict photo ID law, a law that was upheld two years later by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Why are these voter ID laws so strongly opposed?

Voting law advocates contend these laws disproportionately affect elderly, minority and low-income groups that tend to vote Democratic. Obtaining photo ID can be costly and burdensome, with even free state ID requiring documents like a birth certificate that can cost up to $25 in some places. According to a study from NYU’s Brennan Center, 11 percent of voting-age citizens lack necessary photo ID while many people in rural areas have trouble accessing ID offices. During closing arguments in a recent case over Texas’s voter ID law, a lawyer for the state brushed aside these obstacles as the “reality to life of choosing to live in that part of Texas.”

Attorney General Eric Holder and others have compared the laws to a poll tax, in which Southern states during the Jim Crow era imposed voting fees, which discouraged the working class and poor, many of whom were minorities, from voting.

Given the sometimes costly steps required to obtain needed documents today, legal scholars argue that photo ID laws create a new “financial barrier to the ballot box.”

Just how well-founded are fears of voter fraud?

There have been only a small number of fraud cases resulting in a conviction. A New York Times analysis from 2007 identified 120 cases filed by the Justice Department over five years. These cases, many of which stemmed from mistakenly filled registration forms or misunderstanding over voter eligibility, resulted in 86 convictions.

There are “very few documented cases,” said UC-Irvine professor and election law specialist Rick Hasen. “When you do see election fraud, it invariably involves election officials taking steps to change election results or it involves absentee ballots which voter ID laws can’t prevent,” he said.

One of the most vocal supporters of strict voter ID laws, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, told the Houston Chronicle earlier this month that his office has prosecuted about 50 cases of voter fraud in recent years. “I know for a fact that voter fraud is real, that it must be stopped, and that voter id is one way to prevent cheating at the ballot box and ensure integrity in the electoral system,” he told the paper. Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to ProPublica’s request for comment.

How many voters might be turned away or dissuaded by the laws, and could they really affect the election?

It’s not clear.

According to the Brennan Center, about 11 percent of U.S. citizens, or roughly 21 million citizens, don’t have government-issued photo ID. This figure doesn’t represent all voters likely to vote, just those eligible to vote.

State figures also can be hard to nail down. In Pennsylvania, nearly 760,000 registered voters, or 9.2 percent of the state’s 8.2 million voter base, don’t own state-issued ID cards, according to an analysis of state records by the Philadelphia Inquirer. State officials, on the other hand, place this number at between 80,000 and 90,000.

In Indiana and Georgia, states with the earliest versions of photo ID laws, about 1,300 provisional votes were discarded in the 2008 general election, later analysis has revealed.

As for the potential effect on the election, one analysis by Nate Silver at the New York Times’ FiveThirtyEight blog estimates they could decrease voter turnout anywhere between 0.8 and 2.4 percent. It doesn’t sound like a very wide margin, but it all depends on the electoral landscape.

“We don’t know exactly how much these news laws will affect turnout or skew turnout in favor of Republicans,” said Hasen, author of the recently released The Voting Wars: From Florida 2000 to the Next Election Meltdown. “But there’s no question that in a very close election, they could be enough to make a difference in the outcome.”

When did voter ID laws get passed — and which states have the strictest ones?

The first such law was passed as early as 2003, but momentum has picked up in recent years. In 2011 alone, legislators in 34 states introduced bills requiring voters show photo ID — 14 of those states already had existing voter ID laws but lawmakers sought to toughen statutes, mainly to require proof of photo identification.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has a helpful breakdown of states’ voter ID laws and how they vary.

Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas and Pennsylvania have the toughest versions. These states won’t allow voters to cast a regular ballot without first showing valid photo ID. Other states with photo ID laws offer some more flexibility by providing voters with several alternatives.

What happens if a voter can’t show valid photo ID in these states?

These voters are entitled to a provisional ballot. To ensure their votes count, however, they must produce the mandatory ID within a certain time frame and affirm in person or writing they are the same individual who filled out a temporary ballot on Election Day. The time limits vary: They range anywhere from up to three days after the election (Georgia) to noon the Monday after the election (Indiana).

Are there any exceptions to the photo ID requirement?

Yes. Indigency or religious objections to being photographed. But these exceptions don’t automatically grant a voter the ability to cast a regular ballot: In Pennsylvania and Indiana, voters will be given a provisional ballot and must sign an affidavit for their exemption within the given time frame. For a more specific breakdown of all exceptions, see this state-by-state summary.

Why is the Justice Department getting involved in some cases?

Because of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires that states with a history of discrimination receive preclearance before making changes to voting laws. Texas and South Carolina passed strict photo ID laws in 2011 but were refused preclearance by the DOJ, which argued that these laws could suppress turnout among minority voters.

Texas went to court recently to challenge the DOJ decision; a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is expected to issue a decision by the end of the summer. South Carolina heads to oral arguments in the same court in September.

Are there any other legal challenges to such laws currently in the works?

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit to prevent the Pennsylvania voter ID law, signed into law by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in March, from taking effect. The lawsuit claims that elderly, disabled, low-income people and the homeless, plus married women who have changed their names, transgender individuals, and students who have photo IDs that don’t list an expiration date, will find it difficult to obtain proper ID before the November election.

Have any states attempted to enact strict voter ID laws but so far been unsuccessful?

Yes. In Wisconsin, two judges have blocked enforcement of the state’s photo ID law. An appeal in one case won’t be heard until after the November election. Meantime, Democratic governors in Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire and North Carolina have vetoed strict photo ID bills passed by their Republican-led legislatures last year.

Are there other voter ID laws in effect that ask for but don’t necessarily require photo ID?

Yes. In these so-called “non-strict photo ID states” — Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Idaho, South Dakota and Hawaii — individuals are requested to show photo ID but can still vote if they don’t have one. Instead, they may be asked to sign affidavits affirming their identity or provide a signature that will be compared with those in registration records.

Why has there been such a recent surge in voter ID legislation around the country?

This report by NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice cites primarily big Republican gains in the 2010 midterms which turned voter ID laws into a “major legislative priority.” Aside from Rhode Island, all voter ID legislation has been introduced by Republican-majority legislatures.

Republican figures have championed such laws. For instance, Mike Turzai, majority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, recently praised the state’s legislative accomplishments at a Republican State Committee meeting last month. “Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done,” he said.

A spokesman for Turzai, Steve Miskin, told ProPublica that Turzai was “mischaracterized” by the press. “For the first time in many years, you’re going to have a relatively level playing field in the presidential elections” as the result of these new laws,” Miskin said. “With all things equal, a Republican presidential nominee in Pennsylvania has a chance.”

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Find it online here.