***image2*** New Mexico was a swing state and it may just stay that way.
If history is indeed written by the victors then New Mexico Democrats in 2004 might be scarce in future political vestiges. For now, their legacy, and that of a campaign season suffused with a new era of suffragism, has barely ended.
Rewind the year in pictures and each political candidate appears with New Mexico mountains behind him in the snapshot. The state's five fickle electoral votes made it a must-see for candidates, their spouses, children, step-children, celebrities and political leaders from the not-so-distant past [Cover story, Oct. 13: "Diary of an Election"].
It also made it a hotspot for the national media, who covered the state frequently. "I could have spent, if I wanted to, three-quarters of my time on the phone with The New York Times and The Washington Post and The LA Times," says Brian Sanderoff, president of the Albuquerque-based Research and Polling company, whose three polls accurately predicted the elections this year and who was in such hot demand Fox News interviewed him at his house.
For Dems, this was go time. Gov. Bill Richardson, once considered a potential VP, presided over the summer convention in Boston (Cover story, Aug. 4: "What a Party"] and, back
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home, hosted Kerry and Edwards and Clinton-oh my-as they, up until the bitter end, beseeched voters to make a change in the White House. Though Kerry lost, party officials say gains were made. "Despite the presidential election, the Democrats in New Mexico fared rather well," says Matt Farrauto, communications director for the New Mexico Democratic Party. "The vast majority of our legislators earned re-election, and our judges won retention. From an operational standpoint, the party has an infrastructure as a result of the concerted efforts of all of our New Mexico volunteers and that is something to be proud of and will help us win in the future."
A confluence of factors contributed to New Mexico's political opacity, such as Al Gore's squeaky win in 2000 and the state's high population of Hispanics-considered a key voting bloc. Both parties in 2004 believed they had what it took to win the state (Cover story, Aug. 25: "Swing State Psyche"]. Sanderoff believes New Mexico, like the rest of the nation, revealed a geo-political divide in its rural versus urban areas, with the former going Republican and the latter tinting blue.
Certainly, the state made gains in franchisement, with voter registration jumping by more than 100,000 in the course of the year to just over
1 million and voter turnout coming in at just over 70 percent, beating the national average by a good 10 percent. Still, for election officials, it was not an easy year. "From the vantage point of the state, and probably the county clerks, it certainly was one of the most challenging elections ever," says Denise Lamb, director of the State Bureau of Elections. "The country was polarized, the state was polarized, the political parties were polarized."
As for the latter, that might not change too soon. Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb's request for a recount in New Mexico has not received support from Democrats like Gov. Richardson, who has stated he does not believe a recount will change the outcome, in which President Bush won the state by nearly 6,000 votes. Richardson has, however, called for a variety of election reforms, including uniform election standards and the creation of a paper trail. Concerns over improperly counted votes plagued this election cycle (Cover story, April 14: "Inside the Black Box") and remain. Recount activists have rallied at the Capitol in recent days and press on, with a hearing expected this week by the State Supreme Court.
"We hope [the court] reads the law as we have," says Rick Lass, a Green Party member who ran a successful state primary race last June. "I think voters have the right to know their votes are properly counted."
