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NM primary election day commences
Polls opened at 7 am today and will remain open until 7 pm for New Mexico’s primary election, in which voters registered in any of the state’s three major parties (Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians) can cast ballots for those parties’ contested races. The winners in today’s races will then proceed to the Nov. 8 general election. Today’s contests include a Republican primary for governor, with the winner facing Democrat incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in the fall, and a Democratic head-to-head race between state Auditor Brian Colón and Bernalillo District Attorney Raúl Torrez for attorney general; the winner in that race will face Republican Jeremy Gay in November. Santa Fe County also has contested primaries for the County Commission, districts 1 and 3; county sheriff; magistrate judge; and a competitive legislative race for District 46. View SFR’s endorsements for the primary election here.
As of yesterday morning according to SFR’s analysis of data provided by the Secretary of State’s Office, 122,125 of New Mexico’s approximately 1.34 million registered voters (about 9%) had utilized either early or absentee voting (although the Albuquerque Journal reports that figure as nearing 12% and the Santa Fe New Mexican reports it at about 10%. Yes, SFR attempted to contact the Secretary of State’s Office at 6 am to reconcile these figures; no, we did not reach anyone). In Santa Fe County, 11,992 voters—close to 11% of the county’s registered voters—had cast ballots: 84.5% in the Democratic primary. But this year’s primary will be the first election in which unaffiliated voters can utilize same-day registration to participate in one of the three major parties’ contests. That means, an unregistered voter, or one who is registered but without a major-party affiliation, can register at the polls as either a Democrat, Republican or Libertarian and vote on the spot. To prepare for the ballot, registered voters can look up their sample ballots on the Secretary of State’s voter portal. The portal also provides voting locations, but a complete list for Santa Fe County, along with drop box locations, can be viewed here and is mapped here (you can also check wait times at each locations). Unregistered or unaffiliated voters can access sample ballots for the major parties in their districts at vote411.org. Santa Fe County Clerk Katharine Clark tells SFR voters sample ballots can be printed on demand at polling locations at voters’ request. “The overwhelming feeling among election workers is the desire to help folks cast their ballots,” Clark said via text message. “And to be as helpful as possible without intruding on the privacy of the vote.” Find more election-day info in SFR’s FAQ and read our complete election coverage here.
PED Secretary health issue requires decreased workload
Due to a personal health issue, Public Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus will be decreasing some of his daily duties. The Albuquerque Journal reports Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Steinhaus, 68, have discussed his health issue and, in response, changes will be made to the department’s structure to accommodate Steinhaus’ needs. “We’re going to figure it out,” the governor told the Journal. “I don’t know quite what it looks like yet.” For his part, Steinhaus said he will be less “visible in communities” across the state, but still working as cabinet secretary. Late last month, three other PED administrators announced departures: Deputy Secretary Gwen Perea Warniment took a position as director of the Legislative Education Study Committee; John Sena, PED’s policy director, will become deputy director of that committee in mid-June; and PED Deputy Secretary Katarina Sandoval is moving to the City of Albuquerque to become its chief operations officer.
Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon 65% contained
Fire officials for the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire emphasized debris removal and suppression repair during last night’s virtual community meeting. “A big part of this incident are these post-fire effects,” Public Information Officer Bill Morse said. “Things that are going to happen after the fire.” Suppression repair, as explained, “is a series of immediate post-fire actions taken to repair damages and minimize potential soil erosion and impacts that are a result of fire suppression activities. This work repairs the hand and dozer lines, roads, trails, staging areas, safety zones and drop points used during the fire suppression efforts. It may also include fence and lock repair if damages were a direct result of fire suppression activities.” Residents whose property was damaged specifically by fire suppression activities can apply for repairs through this form. Residents also are eligible to apply for full-service debris removal. As of last night, the fire was at 317,920 acres and 65% containment. Yesterday, the Santa Fe National Forest announced its Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has begun its Phase 2 assessment of national forest lands impacted by the fire on the east side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Last night’s meeting also included a video showing the role a pack train of mules and horses has played helping firefighters when helicopters are grounded.
COVID-19 by the numbers
New cases: 2,307 (includes the weekend); 540,931 total cases
Deaths: 19; Santa Fe County has had 300 total deaths thus far; there have been 7,844 total fatalities statewide. Hospitalizations: 127. Patients on ventilators: 12
Yesterday, Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber issued the latest COVID-19 emergency declaration, which a news release said the mayor intends as the city’s last such proclamation. The City Council will consider at its meeting tomorrow a resolution extending the emergency proclamation to June 27. “We’re starting to see what the transition from a pandemic to an endemic looks like, and today’s proclamation reflects that,” the mayor said in a statement. “Here at the outset of the high season for summer events and gatherings, many people in the community remain at risk of infection and disease, so we all still need to be careful and considerate. I urge everyone to keep up the COVID-safe practices that have served our community well—get your boosters and wear masks in crowded indoor settings. People are still hurting from the social, emotional, and economic effects of the pandemic, and the city will to continue to offer support wherever we can.” The proclamation includes having the utilities department “identify and announce a schedule for notice regarding the lifting of the ongoing moratorium on water shut-offs”; and a plan to transition the city’s current city-wide encampment policy for unhoused people to one that potentially uses a designated city property, such as the Midtown campus, as a sanctioned camping area.
Case rates: According to the most recent DOH report on geographical trends for COVID-19, Mora County has the highest daily case rate per 100,000 population for the seven-day period of May 23-29: 50.1, followed by Santa Fe County with 44.7 and Grant County with 44.1.Community levels: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “community levels” tracking system—which uses case rates along with two hospital metrics in combination to determine the state of the virus on a county level—classifies nine NM counties as “yellow” or medium for risk: Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, Mora, Harding, Sandoval, Bernalillo, Cibola and Grant counties. The rest of the state remains “green” for low community levels. The CDC updates its community levels on Thursdays. CDC recommendations for individuals and communities based on the community level rankings can be found here.
Resources: Vaccine registration; Booster registration Free at-home rapid antigen tests; Self-report a positive COVID-19 test result to the health department; COVID-19 treatment info: oral treatments Paxlovid (age 12+) and Molnupiravir (age 18+); and monoclonal antibody treatments. Toolkit for immunocompromised individuals. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
In the second episode of the new podcast Both/And: A Sexual Violence Prevention Podcast, host Jess Clark, director of sexual violence prevention for the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, interviews Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe, author of Red Paint—The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk, on how “writing about sexual trauma both broke and then healed her.” Submit questions or comments about the podcast, a project from the coalition and the state health department, to jessc@nmcsap.org.
No place like home
St. Louis Magazine includes three Taos sites in its assemblage of house museums and gardens to visit this summer. The three Taos locales include Blumenschein Home and Museum, the Kit Carson House and Museum and Couse-Sharp Historic site. The Blumenschein property traces back to 1898 when artists Ernest L. Blumenschein and Bert G. Phillips decided to stay in Taos after a wheel on their carriage broke and they ended up stranded nearby. “Thus began a great experiment in American art,” the museum’s website says: “Blumenschein and Phillips spread the word about the incredible beauty of Taos and urged other artists to come and see for themselves. Shortly thereafter, many artists came and saw; some of them came and stayed.” Today, the house contains the Blumenschein family’s extensive art collection. The Kit Carson museum is Taos’ oldest museum and “offers guests a journey through time to the mid-1800s,” while the Couse-Sharp Historic site features “the home and studio spaces of E.I. Couse and J.H. Sharp, two of the founding members of the Taos Society of Artists,” their art and other historic objects.
Reading the road
Summer reading and summer travel collide in this NPR story featuring book recommendations for all 50 states (plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia), chosen by poets laureate, state librarians, bookstore owners and more to provide “quintessential reads that illuminate where they live.” In the case of New Mexico, State Library Southwest Collections Librarian Amy Schaefer chose My Penitente Land: Reflections on Spanish New Mexico by Fray Angélico Chávez, which, she says, “transports readers into the austere, yet mesmerizing New Mexico landscape while beautifully illustrating New Mexicans’ religious and cultural complexity.” Her other two must-reads are John Nichols’ The Milagro Beanfield War, which “gives readers an incredibly funny, yet poignant experience of poor, hard-scrabble, rural New Mexicans’ battles against encroaching threats against their rights, land, water and way of life,” and Querencia: Reflections on the New Mexico Homeland edited by Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, Levi Romero and Spencer R. Herrera: “a deep dive into what it means to be from a place, and to be deeply tied to and love a landscape.” Share your own suggestion for which book best represents New Mexico here.
Stay cool
Another hot one today, according to the National Weather Service, with sunny skies and a high temperature nearing 90 degrees; east wind 5 to 15 mph becoming west in the afternoon. The health department yesterday issued a news release reminding people to stay hydrated, stay inside in extreme heat; and be on the look-out for symptoms of heat-related illness.
Thanks for reading! The Word’s own summer book-stacking frenzy has begun, with Elif Batuman’s sequel to The Idiot next on the list.
