Is NM governor's race ripe for Democrats?
SANTA FE - The election of Republican Donald Trump may help Democrats reclaim the governor's office in New Mexico, national and local analysts say.
A few national publications, in fact, have already flagged the Roundhouse as ripe for a change in party control when Republican Susana Martinez wraps up her second term as governor next year. State elections are often shaped by the political environment across the country — and that could favor a Democratic candidate, local experts say.
Presidents, for example, frequently face a backlash at elections held in the middle of their four-year terms. Local analysts say the "pingpong effect" — the tendency of Democrats and Republicans to trade off occupancy of the fourth floor of New Mexico's Capitol — could also be at work next year.
"We're not a one-party state," said Lonna Atkeson, a professor at the University of New Mexico and director of the UNM Center for the Study of Voting, Elections, and Democracy. "We tend to pingpong in response to (party fatigue) and in response to public mood."
Read more: http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2017/04/30/nm-governors-race-ripe-democrats/101135688/
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