Who will take on Trump in November?
Democrats, Republican leaders from New Mexico weigh in
Democrats, Republican leaders from New Mexico weigh in
Democrats, Republican leaders from New Mexico weigh in
As part of Commitment 2020 coverage, KOAT was at an event Saturday night in Albuquerque called Vote, Influence and Represent.
With Super Tuesday just 10 days away, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan and Rep. Deb Haaland talked about the Democratic primary race.
While Lujan, who is running for U.S. Senate, has not publicly endorsed a candidate, he feels the tide is turning in favor of Democrats.
“Democrats are in the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. We've flipped more seats than anyone thought that we could, and we're carrying that energy into 2020, and that's how we're going to beat Donald Trump,” Lujan said.
Haaland is running for reelection this fall.
She has already thrown her support behind presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.
“She's tough as nails. She smart. She's witty. She's running an amazing ground game and I think she would be an amazing president,” Haaland said.
New Mexico GOP Chairman Steve Pearce has also been closely following the Democratic race.
KOAT asked him who he thought would end up as the nominee – Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg, Joe Biden or Warren.
“She (Warren) had a pretty good showing the other night, but she didn't focus on Sanders. She focused on Bloomberg. He's not her competitor. He's competing in the middle lane. He's competing against the moderates. Her concentration on him showed her in good character, but she didn't take any points way from Sanders, which is what she needed to do, so I just believe Sanders is going to be their eventual nominee,” Pearce said.
As for the event Saturday night, it was hosted by the New Mexico Black Caucus.
The goal was to inspire the black community to get to the polls this November.
While Lujan and Haaland were in attendance, it was Rep. Karen Bass, from California, who was the main attraction.
She is the first African American woman to preside over any state legislature in the United States.
She spoke passionately about the importance of the presidential election in November.
“If we don't fix this, we are going to be in trouble for the next two generations, and I say that because the Republican Party has been very clear they're not interested in doing business. We have over 200 bipartisan bills sitting in the desk that Mitch McConnell won't even bring for a vote,” Bass said.
Bass also talked about how crucial an accurate census is by making sure often underrepresented communities are correctly counted.
The census starts next month in New Mexico.