NM primary features bruising legislative races

An election-year battle for control of the New Mexico Legislature is under way and the political middle ground is under siege in several races in Tuesday's primary contests. With all seats in the Democratic-controlled Legislature up for grabs this year, Republicans hope to make gains in the House and Senate to give GOP Gov. Susana Martinez a better chance of advancing her policies. The primary election features contested races for 43 House and Senate seats, and two dozen incumbents face primary opponents. Some seats are open because incumbents decided to retire or run for another office. In several Senate races, there's a sharp ideological clash as moderate Democratic incumbents, including John Arthur Smith of Deming and Phil Griego of San Jose, face challenges from opponents backed by unions, environmentalists and other liberal-leaning interest groups. "The strategy of trying to affect the overall composition of the Legislature and include more liberals is going beyond just trying to elect Democrats in the general," said Brian Sanderoff, an Albuquerque pollster. "They're taking on safe Democratic seats and trying to impact the primaries. It's happened before and it will happen again but it seems to be a little more aggressive this time." Smith, the chairman of a Senate committee that handles the budget, has been targeted by an educational union upset with state spending cuts. An environmental group is spending money to oust Griego, the chairman of the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee, and Democratic Sen. David Ulibarri of Grants...more