Op-ed
By Merilee Dannemann Four years ago, county commissioners in Otero County caused a minor national embarrassment for New Mexico by refusing to certify the primary election. One commissioner claimed he had proof. With no reason given, he didn’t trust the voting machines. Eventually, threatened with legal action including possible
Op-ed
By Merilee Dannemann | Triple Spaced Again If you have never heard of the term “loss ratio,” consider yourself lucky. That means you have never had to learn a certain unpleasant truth. “Loss ratio” means how much insurance companies have to pay for losses and other expenses compared to how much
Merilee Dannemann
By Merilee Dannemann General election season is now in full swing, and without doubt the hottest contest in New Mexico this year is the race for Congressional District 2 between Democratic incumbent Gabe Vasquez and businessman Greg Cunningham. While only voters in that district can vote for that member of
Op-ed
By Merilee Dannemann New Mexico voters in many districts will find that voting this November is a little simpler than they expected. Legislators are making one decision easy for about half of New Mexico voters. In our House of Representatives, there are currently 42 Democrats and 26 Republicans. Slightly more
Op-ed
For Rio Rancho’s municipal election in 2024, voter turnout was 7.08%. That is, at least in part, due to its former mayor, Gregg Hull, who is now the Republican nominee for governor of New Mexico.
Op-ed
By Merilee Dannemann Some years ago, New Mexico’s Senate Judiciary Committee had the nickname Fernando’s Hideaway. The nickname came from a song called “Hernando’s Hideaway,” published in 1954, from a Broadway musical comedy called “The Pajama Game.” The song, with an enticing tango rhythm, is still a
Op-ed
by Merilee Dannemann “Pre-existing condition.” Remember that term? Fifteen years ago, you heard it all the time on the news. It was the issue that scared the daylights out of millions of Americans who couldn’t get health insurance, or whose insurance was impossibly expensive. A pre-existing condition
Vote
by Merilee Dannemann New Mexicans, it’s time to focus attention on your own local community. Statewide local elections are coming in a few weeks: November 4, the first Tuesday in November. Local elections are usually more important than most of us realize, especially now as conflicting national priorities may
Opinion
By Merilee Dannemann Lack of immigration law is intolerable. A dairy farm in southeastern New Mexico was more or less put out of business a few weeks ago when 11 workers were arrested for alleged immigration violations and the farmer had to fire an additional 24 workers. The workers allegedly
News Column
March, 2025 By Merilee Dannemann A special session for healthcare When the medical malpractice bill, Senate Bill 176, was killed in its first Senate committee, after more than 40 days of delay in that committee, I wondered whether that failure by itself would be enough to trigger a crisis response.