On Nov. 4, Santa Fe voters will have three choices to succeed Democrat US Rep. Tom Udall in the 3rd District. The rules for SFR's Pop Quiz are as follows: No research allowed and if they call back later with the right answer, too bad. To see who answered correctly (or came closest), check out our answer key.
Questions
1. Name the leader, whip and caucus chairman of the party with which you plan to caucus or conference.
2. How would you have balanced ideology and necessity if you had voted on the first bailout bill?
3. Where is your power base in District 3?
4. The Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology is under the heading of what broader committee?
5. The House has a Committee on Natural Resources, a Committee on Energy and Commerce, and a Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Isn’t that a bit redundant?
6. If elected, you’ll need to be in Washington, DC on Jan. 20. What would you say is a fair price to pay for a nonstop round-trip flight for one?
7. Where is former 3rd District US Rep. Republican Bill Redmond now?
8. Opensecrets.org estimates Tom Udall is worth between $1.1 million and $2.8 million.
Are you worth more or less
Dan East, Republican, 50, president and owner of Cone Construction
1. John Boehner. Whip, that’d be, I think, Bob Blunt and I’m not sure who the conference chairman would be.
2. I would’ve voted no. I think that our leaders are attaching too much garbage to this and they need to be addressing the bill solely by itself.
3. Farmington, Clovis, Portales, Rio Rancho, Clayton.
4. That’s going to be on the Finance [Committee], I would say.
5. It is a bit redundant. That’s again part of smaller government—let’s get rid of the redundancy.
6. $250.
7. He’s in Los Alamos.
8. Less.
Ben Ray Luján, Democrat, 35, Public Regulation Commissioner
1. Rahm Emmanuel is the caucus chairman, Steny Hoyer would be our leader and Clyburn is our whip.
2. [Note: East and Miller were interviewed before the House passed the second version of the bailout bill; Luján was interviewed after.] It was a matter of bringing people together to bring attention to the safeguards that were needed to be a part of this legislation as well as the oversight that should have been part of the original proposal by Paulson. Even today, we hear the members that did support the legislation are now also being very clear about the need for oversight and for investigation to look into the matter to see how we got here and to prevent it from happening. So, that’s what I would have done to try to bring more people together to get the oversight and the safeguards built in as early on as we could to ensure that the American public, the taxpayer money, would be looked after in a better fashion.
3. Throughout the 3rd Congressional District, I have support in many areas. I believe that in the community where I reside, which is northern Santa Fe County and in Santa Fe County, I hope to do well with the people that are a big part of this campaign…We did well in Quay [County] during the primary and we continue to build support in all of the remaining counties.
4. I would say Energy and Commerce.
5. Absolutely not. I believe that each of the areas that the committees cover [deal with] specific issues that allows areas to get the discussion they deserve. Natural Resources talks about issues important to a state on how they cover Native American issues in addition to many others. Energy and Commerce, with what is being discussed in all realms of energy, including telecommunications, some insurance oversight as well, the oversight responsibilities of Energy and Commerce, as well as the important discussion that takes place in and around renewable energy generation, transmission constraints and things of that nature when we’re talking about the future of solving our energy crisis. So, I believe that more people looking at issues helps develop stronger policies and gets more people on board to make sure that we’re going to be moving forward strong with a national energy policy.
6. As little as you possibly have to. With that being said, if I’m familiar with what the costs of the flights are, at this point, somewhere between $300 and $500 is what the going rate is, I believe.
7. Working in the district for one of my opponents, I believe.
8. Much less.
Carol Miller, Independent, 61, executive director of the National Center for Frontier Communities
1. Well, I’m gonna vote for the Democrats for leadership, but I’m either going to attend both caucus retreats or none. That’s what’s great about being Independent. [Democratic leadership:] Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Rahm Emmanuel. I forget Emmanuel’s title; he might just have moved to the DCCC. I actually don’t follow them that much but, on the Republican side, it’s Boehner, I know that, and maybe that’s all I can come up with right now.
2. I opposed it and I’m probably going to oppose the next one. You know, what I’ve been hearing from my friends in [Washington] DC—and you have to understand I’ve been there for the end of Congress a number of years—is there’s always a certain amount of theatrics at the end and I think the campaign is putting the theatrics on steroids. I don’t think anyone really knows what’s happening. Now that other economists have looked at it, there are as many pros as there are cons. I think our problem is that we need trickle-up economics. I’m opposed completely to trickle-down, which this is: If we bail out Wall Street, my little, pathetic IRA will be OK, maybe, but it will take a long time.
3. I think San Juan, McKinley, those two come right to the top because, one, we’ve got a base of support there and we’ve been there a lot and, two, Ben Ray got like 25-something percent of the vote in the primary. So, it helps to go to places where he’s the weakest.
4. That should be Energy and Commerce. That would be my first guess, but if it was wrong, I would look at a couple of others.
5. I don’t know. It appears to me, as a member of the public, that none of them are really doing much. It really depends. Energy and Commerce is where Medicaid is. I mean, there are so many things in that committee. Natural Resources is all the—no, it’s not redundant. I would say it wouldn’t be, now that I actually think about it, if you’re doing the Forest Service and the Interior and Indian Affairs and all that.
6. A fair price is probably what I won’t pay, but I would say about $400 and something. Because I try and get on Southwest because things change. You’d want your return to be a non-penalty. When I worked at the White House, I flew home every week because my daughter was so young. So, I mean, I’ve flown between here and Washington [DC]. I can tell you where to go get a mocha in any airport you’re stuck in.
7. Oh, I talked to him when I was announcing and he is in Los Alamos running an appraisal company for homes and small businesses. I like Bill Redmond. See, I’m a people person. I like everyone. I just don’t think they’re in the right jobs sometimes.
8. Less.
Answer Key
1. Democrats: Leader Steny Hoyer, Whip Jim Clyburn, Caucus Chairman Rahm Emmanuel. Republican: Leader John Boehner, Whip Roy Blunt, Conference Chairman Kay Granger.
4. House Finance Committee.
6. According to Expedia and Travelocity, nonstop round-trip flights from Albuquerque to Washington, DC have jumped to approximately $650, though the candidates’ answers were more or less accurate in September.
7. Former Congressman Bill Redmond now lives in Los Alamos and runs an appraisal business.
