Albuquerque West Side Representatives

Hey, the Albuquerque Westside has a new House district thanks to the US Census!  Great news.  So, where do we stand?

One Democrat and four (4) Republicans are seeking the House of Representatives’ position for the newly-created 68^th district seat.  For me, the new seat has intense meaning and I tend to vote right of center.  So, what do we know about the candidates?  Practically nothing!

The only information available is the headshots of three (3) of the candidates and a very short synopsis by the Albuquerque Journal.  One of the candidates has absolutely no information available, including no website (Paul Barber).  Mr. Barber’s only information is that he is a former house representative.  No surprise there, so is Ms. Williams -Stapelton and I would not vote for her either (she is a candidate in District 19).  Other than the fact that Mr. Barber is an attorney, no information is available. 

Mr. Max Barnett is running, is a businessman, and has a publicly-friendly information page as does Ms. Claudette Chavez-Hankins who is running as a moderate (can’t we all just get along?).  That leaves Ms. Monica Youngblood whose main qualifications are that she is a businessperson and conservative.  Aside from a headshot, Ms. Youngblood does not want to give up any opinions either.  So, what can we conclude?

Paul Barber is a consistent candidate for public office.  Claudette Chavez-Hankins just wants us all to agree on something (although what she wants us to agree is strangely absent), Max Barnett is ‘trendy’, and Monica Youngblood has a great headshot.  From the information out there, what can we conclude?

Paul Barber is either not serious or expects traditional Republicans to give him the vote because he is a good guy and has name recognition.  Claudette Chavez-Hankins is either really a Democrat or an extremely moderate Republican with endorsements by public Labor organizations like the Firefighters.  Max Barnett?  I have no idea.  Only Monica Youngblood stands out.  Mainly she stands out because she has garnered a host (okay, three) endorsements of other Republican Representatives.  This latter fact gives her an edge in my mind but I could support any of the three candidates who have any information out there (obviously that excludes Mr. Barber who is running on name).  My worst nightmare would be that Barber gets the nomination and runs against Eloise Gift, the Democrat, whose policies likely match the incumbent President’s.

None of these candidates have taken much of a stand on anything!