24 Hours

Once again I show you one of my favorite news photos of all time. It shows Wendell Wilkie campaigning. It says it all. He didn't win this election, but do you think he was enjoying himself?


The last 24 hours of a campaign can be surreal. Serious candidates work very hard and take risks that most people would not understand. It is a grueling endurance race with manic/depressive events peppered evenly over a six month period. Things get surreal because everything can end as suddenly as driving your car at 100mph into a bridge abutment. Or, you face five more stamina challenging months of campaigning.

I would say that this campaign, at the age of 60, is no harder or easier than my first statewide campaign at the age of 38. The emotions are all there, the ups and downs, and the endless miles in the car. Actually, the only thing that is a little more difficult is sitting for so long in the car.

I am really happy I decided to do this campaign. I will be content with the results whether I win or lose, well I would really rather win. But, I wanted to see if I could still run a campaign and then bring some much need changes to the land office. I felt I have made a good effort.

My campaign manager Jessie Keefe and fund raiser Mario Montoya have done a great job. Jessie will be leaving New Mexico for a new life in Hawaii in June and I will be on the hunt for a manager real quick if I win.

My hat is off to my opponent Ray Powell for running a positive campaign. If he vanquishes me I will be fully supporting him in the general election.

We will all be at the Hilton Inn in Albuquerque tomorrow evening to wait for election results. It could be a long evening and a close race.