Daily Lobo 11/08/18

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DAILY LOBO new mexico

The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895

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Thursday, November 8, 2018 | Vo l u m e 1 2 3 | I s s u e 2 5

Haaland Dems sweep statewide elections makes history with win By Tom Hanlon and Anthony Jackson

Tom Hanlon/ @TomHanlonNM/ Daily Lobo

Deb Haaland and her daughter Somah (right) pose for a photo with supporters after winning the race for the 1st Congressional District Tuesday, Nov. 6.

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By Danielle Prokop @ProkopDani

@TomHanlonNM @TonyAnjackson Deb Haaland was elected as the representative for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District Tuesday night. She became the first Native American women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, beating out Republican Janice Arnold-Jones and Libertarian Lloyd Princeton. Sharice Davis won her race in Kansas’ 6th Congressional District, making her and Haaland the first two Native American congresswomen. Haaland said her first priority in the House will be focusing on the issues detailed in her campaign, including climate change and health care. “I’m going to congress to fight for the things I talked about for 18 months in my campaign,” Haaland said. “Making sure that we fight climate change, moving to 100 percent renewable energy, making sure every single New Mexican has health care.” Haaland’s other priorities include tax reform, comprehensive immigra-

Small pulls off dramatic victory Democratic candidate Xochitl Torres Small has won the Congressional District 2 race, according to preliminary results from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office.

Collage by Aastha Singh.

A collage of the Democrats who won statewide elections in New Mexico during the 2018 Midterms. Democrats now have complete control over the State Legislature, as well as various state offices.

By Kyle Land and Madison Spratto @kyleoftheland @Madi_Spratto Democratic candidates stole the night in New Mexico state elections, taking a variety of seats of all sizes and significances. Over 680,000 people voted in the 2018 Midterm Elections in New Mexico, a 24 percent increase over the last midterms in 2014. While Democrats won seats in the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and the Governor's seat, they also won variety of statewide elections, securing the Roundhouse's Democratic status going into the January session. Democrats now have complete control over the state legislature, completing the trifecta with Michelle Lujan Grisham's gubernatorial win, for the first time since 2010. Attorney General Democratic incumbent Hector Balderas won his re-election with 60 percent of the votes, against Republican Michael Hendricks and Libertarian A. Blair Dunn. During his acceptance speech, Balderas expressed his satisfaction with the wave of Democratic wins across the state, particularly the governor’s race.

“I’m excited to have a new governor,” Balderas said, referencing governor-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham. “Talk about being (attorney general) for (Gov.) Susana Martinez, that’s been a tough eight years.” Balderas recently condemned the University of New Mexico for a lack transparency in relation to Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) and Open Meetings Act (OMA) violations, and is considering pursuing a criminal investigation against former athletic director Paul Krebs. Secretary of State Democratic incumbent Maggie Toulouse Oliver was re-elected with 56.1 percent of votes, surpassing her Republican opponent Gavin Clarkson who had 39 percent and Libertarian Ginger Grider with 4.9 percent. Three months prior to the election Oliver tried to enact straight-party voting for the midterms, which was later blocked by the New Mexico Supreme Court. State Auditor Appointed incumbent Republican Wayne Johnson lost to Democrat Brian Colón, who won with 56 percent of votes. Colón said, as state auditor, he will fight waste and fraud across the State of New Mexico, including at the University of New Mexico. The Athletics Department was investigated

by the State Auditor in 2017. “We have to get in the office, take a look and see where those audits are and see where those investigations stand to date. Both Johnson and Colón ran for mayor of Albuquerque earlier this year, Colón was out before the runoff election only getting 16 percent of votes and Johnson with 9 percent. This is the first time Colón has been elected to public office. “This has been a long journey for me,” Colón said. Commissioner of Public Lands Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard won earning 49.7 percent of the vote, against Libertarian Michael Lucero who earned 5.7 percent of votes and Republican Patrick Lyons who received 44.7 percent of votes. State Treasurer Democrat incumbent Tim Eichenberg won against Republican Arthur Castillo with 56 percent of the votes. State House While results are still unofficial, Democrats appear to have gained several seats in the State House this year, adding to their already sixseat majority. Speaker of the House Brian Egolf told the Daily Lobo that, with Democrats controlling the State Legislature and the governor’s seat,

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Danielle Prokopi/ Daily Lobo/ @ProkopDan

Xochitl Torres Small says she will not concede on Nov. 6 as votes are counted for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District election. She officially won the race on Nov. 7, defeating Herrell by 1.4 percent

Canvassing will take place on Friday. The water attorney secured her first political office with enough absentee ballots to wash away State Representative and Republican candidate Yvette Herrell. Long lines and an unexpected volume of absentee ballots added more drama to the race. At least three voting stations in Doña Ana county reported long lines at the booths even after 7 p.m., when polls closed. Multiple media outlets called the race for Herrell on Election Night. However, as first reported in the Daily Lobo, the race was too close to call after Doña Ana County Clerk Amanda López Askin called a halt to the absentee vote counts just after midnight. López Askin told the Daily Lobo

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UNM bond projects approved by huge majority By Kyle Land @kyleoftheland New Mexican voters emphatically approved two General Obligation (GO) Bond measures that will provide million of dollars in funding to a multitude of different projects at the University of New Mexico. As previously reported by the Daily Lobo, both bonds will not result in a tax increase, relying instead on a mixture on bond and state funds. “The strong support New Mexi-

cans showed at the polls for both the higher education and library bonds is reflective of the value they place on research and learning,” said UNM President Garnett Stokes. “We look forward to building a campus at the University for New Mexico of which we can all be proud.” Bond B Voters overwhelmingly approved Bond B, gaining over 68 percent of the overall vote. A total of 610,132 people voted on the bond as of the publication of this article, according to the Secretary of State’s website. Bond B will provide $800,000 to

UNM Main Campus to fund different library resources, including collections and the various technologies needed for students to access these collections. UNM’s branch campuses will receive a small amount of funds ranging from $5,000 to $32,000, according to the Bond’s informational website. Outside of UNM, the bond will provide a total of more than $11 million for libraries at schools and universities across the state. Bond D The higher education Bond D, which received much greater fanfare and attention, easily passed

with 65 percent of the vote. The money from Bond D will be divided into three areas: renovation of the Chemistry Building, renovation of existing ROTC facilities and the creation of a Natural Resources Center on the UNM Taos branch campus. The Chemistry Building, which faculty say is plagued by leaky roofs and subpar heating, will receive $16 million for renovations. The website for the bond says general maintenance of the building will also include the creation of new laboratories. The ROTC project will involve

the rebuilding, revamping and in some cases demolition of buildings currently occupied by UNM’s three ROTC programs. According to the bond’s website, the bathrooms in these buildings are not Americans with Disabilities Act compliant and do not provide proper facilities for women. The project has a requested total of $7 million. Kyle Land is the editor in chief for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted by email at editorinchief@dailylobo. com or on Twitter @kyleoftheland.


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