A Rawson Loss Seems Increasingly Likely
November 6, 2008
By Heath Haussamen
With all votes counted except whatever provisional ballots are deemed valid, it appears increasingly likely that state Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson is going to lose, and that could mean a shift in the balance of power in the Senate — and in Santa Fe.
Democratic challenger Steve Fischmann currently has a 505-vote lead over Rawson, R-Las Cruces. Fischmann has 12,853 votes, or 51 percent, to Rawson’s 12,348 votes, or 49 percent.
That led Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, to call Fischmann a senator-elect in a news release, and for Gov. Bill Richardson to call him a newly elected legislator in a statement released by his office. But Fischmann said he’s not ready to declare victory.
“We’re feeling very good about the numbers, but I’m a pretty cautious guy, so I’m not declaring anything,” Fischmann said. “We’ll see how the process goes, but it sure looks like it’s rolling in my favor.”
Rawson, who has served in the Senate since 1987, has not responded to requests for comment. Fischmann said he has not heard from Rawson.
Doña Ana County spokesman Jess Williams said the elections supervisor told him there are approximately 2,100 provisional ballots countywide to be considered, and Fischmann said there are eight provisional ballots from the one precinct in Sierra County that is located in the Senate district.
To read the entire post and numerous other articles about New Mexico politics, go to http://www.haussamen.blogspot.com
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2 Responses to “A Rawson Loss Seems Increasingly Likely”
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Listen to songs from a new CD by Steve Klinger:
Just goes to show negative campaigning works.
Fischmann should be ashamed of calling a decent and upstanding citizen a “corrupt politician”.
I hope he enjoyed the character assassination campaign that he engaged in. What goes around comes around.
I did not vote for Senator Rawson because of his opposition to ethics reform, paving of Fourteenth Street (out of his district) and his stance on public schools while home schooling his own kids. To me those votes and attitude are self serving.