Feature Pointer

Look into the future with the Alibi’s 2008 Election Guide

Jeff Drew

Sen. Barack Obama is—above all, perhaps—a source of inspiration. He is the first leader of our generation who has had the presence and politics necessary to kindle something that died in many Americans: Interest. Empowerment. Hope. Not since the days of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. has a political figure so captivated national attention. He couldn’t have come at a better time.

Tina Larkin

If Rep. Tom Udall is elected as one of New Mexico's two senators, he would bring his brand of moderate pragmatism to the table. He was the state's attorney general in the '90s and has been a congressperson in the House of Representatives since 1998. He's worked on bipartisan efforts to preserve wilderness in New Mexico.

Tina Larkin

If Martin Heinrich is elected to serve as our congressperson for the First Congressional District, New Mexico would gain a moderate progressive in a seat that’s held a hard-right conservative for the last decade.

Tina Larkin

If Jason Marks keeps his job as the Albuquerque area representative for the Public Regulation Commission, he'll continue as a methodical examiner of the state's utilities, telecommunication and insurance industries.

Job Description: One of five justices that has superintending control over all other courts and attorneys in the state.

Job Description: Writes budgets and crafts laws pertaining to schools, prisons and governmental agencies.

Job Description: Writes budgets and crafts laws pertaining to schools, prisons and governmental agencies.

Job Description: Represents the county in all cases not already provided for by law. Appoints officials to vacant seats. Crafts the county budget. Sets policies, ordinances, resolutions, zoning and business regulations in unicorporated areas.

Job Description: Conducts all elections within Bernalillo County. All public records are also filed with the County Clerk’s Office.

Job Description: Acts as the property tax collector for Bernalillo County, the City of Albuquerque, Albuquerque Public Schools, the State of New Mexico and other taxing agencies in Bernalillo County.

Job Description: Prosecutes on behalf of city government.

Job Description: The governor appoints judicial vacancies, but those appointments must run in a contested, partisan election in the next general election. If they are elected, they thereafter run in nanpartisan retention elections. In the Second Judicial District, only felony DWI and domestic violence cases are heard.

Job Description: The governor appoints judicial vacancies, but those appointments must run in a contested, partisan election in the next general election. If they are elected, they thereafter run in nanpartisan retention elections. Metro Court presides over civil actions under $10,000, first felony appearances, misdemeanors, misdeamor domestic violence cases, misdemeanor DWIs and all other traffic violations.

Job Description: Builds and maintains flood control structures to alleviate flooding problems within Greater Albuquerque.

These are statewide and appear on every ballot

The Alibi endorses all bonds proposed this election cycle. Here's a breakdown of what you're being asked to vote for.

Yes

Bernalillo, Sandoval and Valencia Counties are all being asked to raise their gross receipts tax by one-eighth of 1 percent to fund regional transportation. Gross receipts taxes are what New Mexico uses instead of sales taxes. They are imposed on businesses, but most businesses pass them on to the consumer, and so they generally act as a sales tax. Gross receipts taxes vary between counties, but Bernalillo County's is now 6.75 percent.