Legislator who defeated friend says things will never be the same

Representative Dennis Kintigh

From the Alamogordo Daily News - SANTA FE -- Strange as it sounds, winning can hurt. That is why state Rep. Bob Wooley is not savoring his victory in this month's primary election. Wooley won in his first try for public office by ousting his friend and fellow Republican, state Rep. Dennis Kintigh. Wooley said he found the campaign awkward, the taste of victory anything but sweet. "I don't think Dennis and I will ever have the same relationship," he said of the man who was his officemate at the Capitol. That is the oddest part. Both campaigns were squeaky clean. Neither man said a discouraging word about the other. But running for office causes stress and strain. That may be especially true when you like your opponent, and you realize that defeating him was never your goal until the redistricting maps were drawn up. Wooley was appointed to the House of Representatives last year by Gov. Susana Martinez. Kintigh was a two-term incumbent. Redistricting forced these two sitting members from Roswell into competition with one another. Read more

Legislator who defeated friend says things will never be the same