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Albuquerque Journal Sunday, May 4, 2008Five Aiming to Keep Seat in Party's Hands
By Rene Romo, Journal Southern Bureau
LAS CRUCES— Rep. Steve Pearce's bid for the Senate seat opening up because of the retirement of Sen. Pete Domenici created a vacuum that five Republican candidates rushed in to fill.
They hope to succeed the three-term U.S. House incumbent from Hobbs and extend the GOP's hold on the southern New Mexico seat it has occupied since 1980.
The five candidates include: restaurateur, rancher and oilman Ed Tinsley of Capitan; retired Roswell banker Aubrey Dunn; Sierra County real estate agent Earl Greer; Hobbs mayor Monty Newman; and Las Cruces businessman Greg Sowards.
Four of the five Republicans on the ballot for the June 3 primary— Tinsley, Dunn, Greer and Sowards— have never held elective office. Three— Tinsley, Greer and Sowards— have sought the 2nd Congressional District seat in past elections.
All say they believe the district's voters want a congressman who follows in the footsteps of conservative Pearce.
Independent leanings
"They (voters) are looking for someone like Steve Pearce, who holds to their values, but also someone who is not going to be tied to any group, who will represent their interests," said Dunn, a 51-year-old retired banker who was the top vote-getter at the Republican pre-primary convention in March.
Dunn is the son of former state Sen. Aubrey Dunn, a famous legislative power broker in the 1970s. He now operates the 25,000-acre Middle Arroyo Ranch on the Lincoln-Chaves county line, about 50 miles from Roswell.
Dunn describes himself as a fiscal conservative who has signed a pledge to oppose any efforts to raise income-tax rates for individuals or businesses.
All of the Republican candidates stress sealing the border to illegal immigration, and Dunn puts the slogan "Protect the border" front and center on his campaign material.
Dunn has not held elective office but said that, as a banker, through loans and financial counseling, he helped create jobs and develop the economy of southern New Mexico.
Questions have been raised about the fact that Dunn registered independent in early 2007, then switched back to the Republican party late in the year. Dunn also donated to the presidential campaign of Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat.
Dunn said he grew up a conservative Democrat, then registered as a Republican in 1996. He switched to independent briefly last year because of his frustration with "what was happening in Washington," namely what he called out-of-control spending and moves to legalize undocumented immigrants. Dunn said he donated to Richardson's campaign to help sidetrack the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
Business background
Tinsley, who owns a working ranch near Capitan and has a second home in Santa Fe, is making his second run at the Republican nomination for the 2nd Congressional District. He lost to Pearce in a five-man race in 2002.
Tinsley, 51, is the owner of the K-Bob's Steakhouse chain, which has 19 restaurants in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado. He served as a board member of the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association, starting in 1996, and served as chairman of the organization in 2007.
The restaurant association supported failed bipartisan federal legislation that called for creating a path to legal status for some undocumented immigrants, but Tinsley said he never supported amnesty for illegal aliens. Tinsley said he supports beefed-up border enforcement and an overhaul of the temporary-worker visa program.
As president of the restaurant association, Tinsley said he gained critical experience in "how to take issues to Washington and get things done." He said his experience in ranching and in oil and gas development helps him understand the needs of southern New Mexico.
Tinsley and his wife operate the Flying W Diamond Ranch near Capitan, which has been in the Tinsley family for 50 years. "Diversity of experience demonstrates I can connect with all aspects of our district," Tinsley said. "We don't have enough businesspeople in Congress," he added later. "We have too many politicians."
'Passion' for N.M.
Like Tinsley, Greer also lost to Pearce in the 2002 primary. He said he is running again in part because of his "passion for the state" where his family has deep roots.
Raised on a ranch in Winston, Greer's family on his mother's side stretches back to the Spanish settlement of New Mexico. Greer, who speaks Spanish, said he is the only Hispanic candidate running for the congressional seat this year. Greer, 51, said Republican voters appreciate the job Pearce has done, but they are upset with Congress.
"When Republicans took control of Congress, they started spending like Democrats," Greer said of the former Republican majorities. "When Republicans took control of Congress, they did in fact lose their identity. We've got to get it back. We've got to be fiscally conservative."
Greer said he supports a flat tax, eliminating congressional earmarks and trying to balance the federal budget.
Greer is a real estate broker, has served as president of the Sierra County Economic Development Organization and supported a recent sales tax increase in Sierra County to support construction of a state spaceport about 30 miles south of Truth or Consequences.
He has also served as president of the Bernalillo County Farm Bureau and on the New Mexico Livestock Board. Greer's Web site says he would pursue his agenda "with values that made this country great: love of God, love of family and of country, and love." He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said he prays and reads Scripture daily and would be guided by his religious convictions.
Local solutions
Las Cruces businessman Sowards, 58, has revived a campaign slogan he first used in 1996, when he challenged the late Rep. Joe Skeen for the party's nomination: "Short, bald and honest."
Sowards said he challenged Skeen 12 years ago as a "patriot, not as a rebel," and he is seeking office again with the same goal of helping return the nation to what he believes was its original vision.
A key goal is to shrink the size and influence of the federal government, Sowards said. He said he would like to see the Internal Revenue Service eliminated, the income tax replaced with sales taxes and the federal education department eliminated.
"No Washington solution can solve a local problem," he said. "I'm a conservative. I believe conservative principles are the answer to our problems on a national, local and personal level."
Sowards supports tightened border security and the deportation of the more than 12 million undocumented immigrants estimated to be living in the United States today. He said the U.S. should stay in Iraq until a government is established "that is not a vacuum for terrorism."
Sowards owns four Kid's Country Child Care Centers and a manufacturing business.
Sowards is one of three Republican candidates who have lent their campaigns substantial amounts of money: Dunn lent his campaign $300,000; Tinsley, $200,000; and Sowards, $325,000. Sowards said he had not solicited or accepted any campaign contributions but would do so if he wins the primary. Experience in office
Newman, whose term as mayor of Hobbs ended in March, is the only one of the Republican candidates who has held elective office. The 53-year-old Newman was appointed as a trustee to the New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs and then was elected to a six-year term. He was elected to be a Hobbs city commissioner in 2002 and then mayor in 2004.
Newman said his experiences have prepared him for the next step: Congress. He has worked in real estate since he was 22, and, after moving his family to Hobbs from Clovis in 1978, oversaw a successful business while weathering the ups and downs of the oil-patch economy.
"My community service, my elective positions, my business experience ... makes me uniquely qualified to represent the 2nd Congressional District,"
Newman said. Newman said voters he has spoken to are looking for "someone with integrity, someone people believe they can trust." "I think they are looking for a congressman who will be in the district a lot, who is willing to visit with the voters and has a proven record of making things happen," Newman said.
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