Pol - Hilarious shenanigans from my congressional district

[st.cronin]

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Loc...ess-Folo-52008

The contest for the Democratic nomination in the 3rd Congressional District has included mudslinging, rumor mongering and innuendo regarding candidates' qualifications, past business problems and campaign donors. Now, the political fight has strayed into the topic of a candidate's sexuality.

Benny Shendo Jr. caused a stir at a Monday night candidate forum in Farmington when he asked a question of Ben Ray Luján that implied Luján is gay. "You say that you stand up for the people of New Mexico," Shendo said, "and I want to know how you can stand up for the people of New Mexico if you can't stand up to your mom and dad about your lifestyle."

The question was supposed to continue, but Shendo said he was cut off by raucous members of the audience.

Luján's campaign manager, Carlos Trujillo, said Tuesday: "For a fringe candidate like Benny Shendo to use such a personal issue to try to gain political points is despicable and has no place in this race. Obviously Benny's been unable to gain traction in this race so he's decided to stoop to a whole new level."

The exchange comes less than two weeks before the June 3 primary election and at a time when negative campaign ads are starting to fill the airwaves. After candidate Don Wiviott started airing a negative TV spot against Luján last weekend, Luján returned fire this week with an broadcast salvo of his own against Wiviott.

All three Democrats are seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who is running for the U.S. Senate.

Before this week, the campaign was relatively tame, but some observers see the recent activity as no surprise.

"When a candidate is way behind, the risk of running negative ads is diminished," Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff said Tuesday. "If it looks like you're going to lose anyway, you can take your chances. Candidates will have consultants urging them to 'Go negative' to take away votes from your opponents."

Shendo's comment to Luján at the Farmington forum was captured on video.

Luján, a state Public Regulation Commission member and son of state House Speaker Ben Luján of Nambé, responded, "Mr. Shendo, I'm very honored to have parents like I have as you are with your parents as well. It's with great honor that I'm before you because of my great parents. I'm not sure what you are referring to, Mr. Shendo, but I honor my mom and dad, and I believe that I represent them well."

Trujillo said Tuesday that Ben Ray Luján has "a loving and committed relationship with his girlfriend."

Shendo's campaign said in an e-mail later that before he was interrupted, he had planned to continue his question by asking Ben Ray Luján about lifestyle "choice, especially, in this day and age when it's much more accepted to be openly gay in public life, but your parents made you pretend to have a girlfriend at public events, for political reasons."

While Shendo didn't offer any evidence that Ben Ray Luján is, in fact, gay, he said in an interview Tuesday that he raised the issue because Luján has been "purposely and aggressively introducing a young woman at numerous political events as his girlfriend."

Shendo also said he doesn't care if any candidate is gay. "If he is gay, and he's deceiving people, that's wrong," he said. "The voters have a right to be concerned about the deception — not whether one is gay or not. The issue is deception. That's relevant."

Shendo, who earned the third-highest number of votes at the state Democratic Party's pre-primary convention, has lagged behind Ben Ray Luján and Santa Fe developer Don Wiviott in terms of fundraising.

Negative campaigning aside, some members of equal-rights groups said Tuesday that Shendo's move was mean-spirited. "That kind of gay bashing is extremely inappropriate, especially coming from a candidate," said Alexis Blizman, executive director of Equality New Mexico, a prominent gay-rights organization. She said it's wrong to question peoples' sexual orientation, saying, "Until someone tells me otherwise, I take them at their word."

Blizman said her organization hasn't endorsed anyone in the congressional races. "We only endorse in state races," she said. However, she said both Ben Ray Luján and Wiviott "have been supportive of (gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender) issues. Benny Shendo has too."

Linda Siegle, a lobbyist for Equality New Mexico, said, "Whether he's gay or not shouldn't be an issue. Whether he has a girlfriend or not shouldn't be an issue. The issue should be the issues. Why would another Democrat be bringing this up?"

[Young Drachma]

Wow.

[BrianD]

Hilarious?

[Telle]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Hilarious?

I assumed it was sarcasm.

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Wow.

+1

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Hilarious?

I guess the hilarity comes from how tolerant/pc this district is. The drama, in my estimation, significantly benefits Lujan, at least politically.