NM Republican Convention Roundup

Heather Wilson

From alamogordonews.com -Heather Wilson carried the day by a wide margin, but she may not have shaken Greg Sowards in the Republican competition for the U.S. Senate nomination. Wilson, of Albuquerque, received 83 percent of the delegate votes at Saturday's Republican pre-primary convention. In raw numbers, she defeated Sowards 654 to 134. With 17 percent of the vote, Sowards was 3 points short of gaining a spot on the June primary ballot. He left the convention immediately and without comment, but in a previous interview he said he would petition onto the ballot if he failed to meet the convention threshold. Wilson, 51, a former congresswoman, used her speech to criticize U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, the Democratic frontrunner for the Senate nomination. She charged that he is part of an irresponsible spending machine in Washington. So fragile is the U.S. economy that "we're where Greece was at in 2008" she said of that insolvent country.  Wilson also asserted herself as a conservative on a social issue, saying "marriage is a union of one man and one woman."  In the race for the 3rd Congressional District, Rick Newton of Taos captured 65 percent of the convention vote. He also delivered the most explosive allegation of the day. Newton charged that the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, actually is a socialist. Newton said after his speech that he meant it literally. "He is a member of the Socialist Party of America," Newton said in an interview.  More News New Mexico

NM Republican Convention Roundup