Interview points to Sanchez quitting U.S. Senate race

Lt. Gov. John Sanchez

From NM Politics.net - by Heath Haussamen and Gwyneth Doland - UPDATE, Feb. 2, 11:50 p.m. In response to this article, campaign spokesman Corbin Casteel said Sanchez “has made no plans to exit the Senate race.” He said any source stating otherwise is “simply uninformed.” NMPolitics.net stands by this article.
NMPolitics.net - Republican John Sanchez has decided to drop out of the race to replace the retiring Jeff Bingaman in the U.S. Senate, NMPolitics.net has learned.  And while a spokesman said today that Sanchez has “no interest” in running for the First Congressional District seat being vacated by Democrat Martin Heinrich, who is running instead for Bingaman’s Senate seat, Sanchez was less clear in an interview with NMPolitics.net. Sanchez didn’t confirm that he’s dropping out of the Senate race during the interview, but a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Sanchez has made that decision.  During his interview with NMPolitics.net, Sanchez sounded at times as though he intends to stay in the Senate race. For example, he said his campaign team is “preparing for the conventions and then obviously the final stretch in the spring.” But instead of directly answering when asked if he would “swear” that he’s “not dropping out of the Senate race,” Sanchez, the state’s lieutenant governor, said this: “I can tell you as of today I am a candidate for the United States Senate.” “That sounds evasive,” NMPolitics.net replied. Sanchez went on: “And I can tell you that I am not a candidate, though, for CD1.” Read more

Interview points to Sanchez quitting U.S. Senate race