For the June 6 New Mexico primary elections, SFR will call up candidates in the CONTESTED races to test their knowledge. The rules for 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 below.
Questions:
1. What political office did Jeff Bingaman hold directly before he was elected to the US Senate in 1982?
2. What then-incumbent New Mexico senator did Bingaman defeat and what was that senator the 12th person in history to do?
3. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman are currently the longest-serving Senate duo in the United States. What two senators have the second-longest tenure serving together and which state do they represent?
4. According to the US Constitution, what is the minimum age requirement to become a US senator?
5. Who was the last US senator to switch their political affiliation in the middle of their term in office?
6. Which three states are currently represented by two female senators and how many of those senators can you name?
7. Name the current president of Iran.
8. If you are elected, would you support economic sanctions or military action against Iran if it continues to develop its nuclear program?
9. Do you support oil and gas drilling in Otero Mesa and, if so, under what conditions?
10. What do you think of the current proposals to build a fence and mobilize National Guard troops to bolster border security and are there specific immigration proposals you will advocate if elected?
11. What current or former US senator do you resemble the most politically and/or ideologically?
Answers:
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Joseph J Carraro, 61, is a business consultant and Republican state senator representing Bernalillo and Sandoval counties.
1. Attorney general.
2. Harrison "Jack" Schmitt and I believe he was the 12th person in history to walk on the moon.
3. Hoo boy. It'd have to be somebody pretty old I would think [laughs]…It's got to be either [Ted] Kennedy or [Robert] Byrd, either a Massachusetts guy or a West Virginia guy…I'm going to take a guess. I know [John] Kerry and Kennedy. But is it Kerry or [Jay] Rockefeller? Geez, that's a tough question. I'm going to have to say Byrd and Rockefeller.
4. 61, that's why I waited so long [laughs]. I'll just guess and say 35.
5. Well, the last one I can remember was Jeffords from…I don't know where he's from…but he became an Independent.
6. Well, there's California with Boxer and Feinstein. There's…um…gosh, I don't know. I'm trying to think of all the female senators I know. California is one state and I'll say Nebraska and South Dakota are the other two.
7. The guy's name is Mohammed but I don't know how to pronounce his last name. Amajanad? Ahmanad? Mahajanad? It's something like that.
8. I would say economic sanctions.
9. Yes, provided that the oil and gas companies that are drilling return the land to its original condition.
10. I truly believe that we have to do everything we can to close the borders. Whether its fences, border patrol or other technology, we need to close the borders first…As far as everything else goes, it comes down to having a vigorous screening process for everybody that enters this country. People need to come here with an ID card, a background check and a health check. We have mumps, measles, polio and all these other diseases coming into our country and we don't know where it's coming from. Well, it's coming from Mexico…My family came over from Italy. They had to go through Ellis Island and they had a health screening and if there was something there they were quarantined or sent back to Italy.
11. Pete Domenici is from New Mexico and I would have to say that he is probably the one that I would identify with the most.
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Dr. Allen McCulloch, 51, is a urologist.
1. I believe he was either an assistant district attorney or a district attorney.
2. It was Harrison Schmitt and he was an astronaut.
3. I don't know.
4. 30.
5. I don't know.
6. California and…I guess you're just going to have to flunk me.
7. I can't pronounce it, but I believe it starts with a "J."
8. Yes.
9. I support it under the condition that it's proven economically feasible.
10. I think there can be judicious use of building a fence although I'm generally opposed to coast-to-coast fence building. As far as the National Guard, I support the current use but I oppose militarizing the border under the current immigration threat. I would advocate more resources for border patrol, I would work on administrative services to see if the current immigrant policies are functional and if they're adequately staffed and funded.
11. I'm not going to respond to that. [SFR: Is there a current or former US senator that you admire?] I will give you two if you'll accept two. I think Pete Domenici has done a great job representing all of New Mexico and I think Sen. Bill Frist [R-Tenn.] has done a great job of coming out of the professional world to become an informed and wise leader for the United States Senate.
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David Pfeffer, 61, is an architect and former Santa Fe city councilor.
1. It was probably attorney general.
2. He was a very good man. His name was Harrison Schmitt and he walked on the moon…I believe it was Apollo 17 that Schmitt was on.
3. Wild guess, but it'll be Utah. Orrin Hatch and…I don't know the other one.
4. I think it's 35.
5. The fellow out of Vermont. I can't recall his name but he abandoned his party and became Independent, I think.
6. California, Maine and…ummm…Kansas? Feinstein, Snowe, um…Barbara Boxer is the other one from California and…I'll stop there.
7. Ahmadinejad.
8. If necessary.
9. Yes, as long as the environment is protected.
10. The fence, as proposed by the Senate, is a start. The National Guard, as proposed by the president, is a non-start. I advocate a five-part approach. Step one: Secure the border and end illegal immigration and illegal trafficking into and out of the United States. The second is to conduct a census of all illegal aliens-and I'm using the term deliberately, I do not use the political term "immigrant," I use the actual, factual term "alien"-in the country to determine where they work, what they do, where they live and how many they are. The third step is to conduct a national debate on what our principles are as a nation in terms of immigration, citizenship, asylum, welfare and related issues…The fourth is to rewrite our laws accordingly and the fifth step is to enforce our laws and decide who stays and who goes. The punch line to the whole thing is, "You can't fix the train while it's barreling down the track."
11. [Laughs] Well, I haven't a clue whom I resemble but I could tell you whom I admire. I admired Harry Truman's guts and I admire John Cornyn [R-Texas] in his actions as a freshman [senator].
Answer Key:
1. Bingaman was a New Mexico attorney general prior to being elected to the US Senate.
2. Bingaman defeated Republican Harrison Schmitt, a single-term senator who, prior to serving in the Senate, was a NASA astronaut. During the Apollo 17 mission, Schmitt became the 12th (and last) person in history to walk on the moon.
3. Domenici, R-NM, and Bingaman, D-NM, have been in office together for 23 years. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and John Kerry, D-Mass., and Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., are tied for the second-longest tenure at 21 years.
4. The minimum age for a US senator is 30 years old.
5. James Jeffords, I-Vt., switched his political affiliation from Republican to Independent in 2001.
6. The three states currently represented by two female senators are California (Democrats Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer), Maine (Republicans Olympia Jean Snowe and Susan Collins) and Washington (Democrats Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray).
7. The current president of Iran is Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
