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Feature
 V.21 No.20 | May 17 - 23, 2012 
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Primary Election Guide 2012

United States Senator

Republican candidates

Salary: $174,000/year

Term: Six years

Tasks: Drafts and votes on legislation

 
 

Heather Wilson Greg Sowards
Background: She’s overseen the New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department, and then served in the House of Reps from 1998 until 2009. She left to run for Senate but lost in the primaries. Now she’s back for the same seat. Background: Greg Sowards wouldn’t come in for an interview, so we’re not endorsing him and our knowledge about his positions is limited. Here’s what we do know: He’s a U.S. Army veteran. He’s also a small business owner. Possibly most astounding of all: He has 20 grandchildren.
Jobs: Wilson’s philosophy is simple: The government’s role is to provide the incentives and good conditions for small businesses to grow. She suggests doing this through predictable regulations, low taxation, an investment in energy systems and free trade opportunities. Jobs: Who knows? This issue isn’t addressed on his campaign website.
Health Care: Wilson is no fan of the Affordable Care Act. She wants to see it repealed and replaced with a system that allows small business to band together for insurance. Health Care: Sowards doesn’t like the Affordable Care Act. He doesn’t think health care should be addressed at the federal level. He wants to see the law repealed, and on his website he says he’ll “fight to restore the free market to American medicine.”
Reproductive Rights: Wilson opposes abortion rights. She would work to revoke public funding for abortions and believes health care practitioners should be able to refuse performing certain procedures based on their faith. Even though Wilson doesn’t say birth control should be federally funded, she would like to see the Food and Drug Administration consider making it available over-the-counter. Reproductive Rights: Simple. Sowards opposes abortion rights. He also says the government should not provide funding to Planned Parenthood.
Marriage Equality: Wilson defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and she says the primary purpose of marriage, from the government’s perspective, is to produce children. She also says she was one of the few Republicans in Congress that didn’t vote to prevent LGBT couples from adopting. And she tells a compelling story from her time at the Children, Youth and Families Department about a lesbian couple who adopted five children with HIV. Yet she maintains that marriage is about “the potential” for children. Marriage Equality: Sowards doesn’t support marriage equality. In fact, on his website, he refers to LGBT partnerships as “irresponsible lifestyle choices.”
Middle East: There’s still serious risk in Afghanistan, says Wilson, and so for now troops should stay put. She believes most of the United States’ focus, though, should go toward Iran and its efforts to build nuclear weapons. Middle East: We don’t know what Sowards’ positions are on the U.S. role in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria or Libya. But he does say he supports a strong military.
The Alibi Endorses Heather Wilson: Here’s the thing. The Alibi disagrees with many of Wilson’s policy positions, especially on marriage equality and abortion rights. But with the exception of one issue (guess which?), we can see her argument. Wilson may have a different value system, but she’s pragmatic and her sizable intelligence is never in question. Wilson acts on her ideals and is an honest politician. As has been proven in this year’s national election cycle, if you’re voting Republican, you could do a whole lot worse. It’s impossible to tell whether Sowards would have swayed our opinion if he had come in for an interview. Based on what we can glean from his website, we not only disagree with Sowards on every policy position he mentions, we also think he doesn’t have the necessary experience for the job. Do the American public a favor and vote for Wilson in the primary.
Website: heatherwilson.com Website: sowardsforsenate.com
Public Comments (10)
  • What are you thinking??  [ Sun May 20 2012 9:52 AM ]

    This strikes me as a very poor justification for endorsing Heather Wilson.

    But with the exception of one issue (guess which?), we can see her argument.

    No, it's not my job to guess which issue, it's your job to tell us what it is. So what is it?

  • Hmmm...  [ Mon May 21 2012 8:36 PM ]

    Killing little babies?

  • Hello? Anyone work here?  [ Tue May 22 2012 8:08 AM ]

    I would hope that the writers at the Alibi are willing to engage the public on its website? I would also hope that they understood all of the arguments even if they didn't agree with them. I'm thinking they picked Wilson because she's going to win and they figured they may as well pick a winner.

  • for a real regressive senator  [ Tue May 22 2012 8:30 PM ]

    Vote Martin Heinrich! He votes for more military pretty consistently. He recently voted to repeal the Wilderness Act (HR 4089) and for the totalitarian Defense Authorization Act.

  • Vote for the lesser of two evils?  [ Wed May 23 2012 3:05 PM ]

    Is that what you're saying? How can you endorse someone whose policies you disagree with?

  • I agree  [ Thu May 24 2012 8:12 AM ]

    Voting is one thing but endorsing is quite another. I was hoping for a better explanation.

  • I had the same question  [ Thu May 24 2012 11:36 AM ]

    I honestly, truly, still cannot "guess which" one issue is being referred to.

  • Maybe there's some confusion about primaries.  [ Thu May 24 2012 12:15 PM ]

    If you are a registered Republican, you will be voting in the Republican primary. Your choice for Senate is between Wilson and Sowards. Of the two, we endorsed Wilson. Sowards didn't come in for an interview, so we cannot endorse him.

    In the general election, whoever wins this primary race will face off against the winner of the Democrat primary. That's either Martin Heinrich or Hector Balderas. If you are a registered Democrat, you'll be choosing between those two candidates during the primary election.

    I'm sorry if the "guess which" is throwing people off. In the writeup, Wilson contradicts herself on the marriage equality issue. She says marriage, in the government's eyes, is about caring for offspring. But then she tells a story of a lesbian couple taking in five orphans with HIV. It's an odd, logical mis-step for her. Or at least that's the way the editorial board saw it. Her other views are self-consistent.

    We will interview folks and endorse again in October before the general election, when Dem faces GOP faces Green faces Libertarian, etc.

    Thanks for reading!

    Marisa Demarco

    News editor

  • Thanks for responding  [ Thu May 24 2012 10:32 PM ]

    That Heather Wilson! When one endorses a discriminatory position that's contrary to basic American ideals about equality, it's not surprising that one would get caught screwing up.

    So you can't endorse Sowards because he didn't come in for an interview? Isn't that kind of snooty? You could've based your decision on the issues instead of whether or not he came in for an interview couldn't you?

    Since their positions are basically the same, I'd say endorse the new guy - the longer they're in office, the more corrupt they become. Better yet, don't endorse either of them!

  • This message wasn't paid for  [ Mon May 28 2012 11:58 AM ]

    Better the devil you know than the one you don't and since Sowards is selective about what media outlets he deals with... screw him! I assume that the Alibi's readership and staff also includes Republicans, so an endorsement of a Republican candidate is a necessary evil. This doesn't mean you have to vote for Heather Wilson. Although, choosing between her and Greg Sowards is like picking between Hitler and Mussolini. Vote for a Democrat, even if it's Martin Heinrich.

 
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