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A few "political" questions:
Is Albuquerque mostly liberal or conservative?
Republican or Democrat?
What geographical areas lean which way (if there is a difference in the "leaning" of different sections of the city/county...)?
What is the "general" opinion of the New Mexican resident about the health care plan currently being discussed? (I"m talking "majority" here)
How does that narrow or change when you speak of JUST Albuquerque residents? just RR residents? just NE residents?
What are the opinions/votes of your senators/representatives?
ARe your representatives/senators holding town hall meetings? (on the health care plan) Are they concerned about the citizens opinions? (in other words, are they asking their constituents....)
I'm not sharing my personal opinions on any of these...not looking for an argument or cyber-fight.... just want to know where we will be the least of an "oddball". We've narrowed our search based on many many things (commute, safety, vegetation) but someone mentioned to me that this would be a final "test" to narrow down our residence search in the final stages....
Please for those who respond, please oh please, keep personal opinions shrouded in your replies ----I do NOT want to be responsible for starting one of those threads that has to be shut down within 24 hours.
Just share the "political climate" in an "informational" manner as we all know there are very strong opinions on some of these issues.
A few "political" questions:
Is Albuquerque mostly liberal or conservative?
Republican or Democrat?
What geographical areas lean which way (if there is a difference in the "leaning" of different sections of the city/county...)?
What is the "general" opinion of the New Mexican resident about the health care plan currently being discussed? (I"m talking "majority" here)
How does that narrow or change when you speak of JUST Albuquerque residents? just RR residents? just NE residents?
What are the opinions/votes of your senators/representatives?
ARe your representatives/senators holding town hall meetings? (on the health care plan) Are they concerned about the citizens opinions? (in other words, are they asking their constituents....)
I'm not sharing my personal opinions on any of these...not looking for an argument or cyber-fight.... just want to know where we will be the least of an "oddball". We've narrowed our search based on many many things (commute, safety, vegetation) but someone mentioned to me that this would be a final "test" to narrow down our residence search in the final stages....
Please for those who respond, please oh please, keep personal opinions shrouded in your replies ----I do NOT want to be responsible for starting one of those threads that has to be shut down within 24 hours.
Just share the "political climate" in an "informational" manner as we all know there are very strong opinions on some of these issues.
Let me clue you in, you are starting a heated discussion whether you intend to or not. These are very subjects very close to many people's hearts and they can get pretty passionate about them.
Most of NM is considered democrat but on the conservative side, on family issues. In the the ABQ area I would say the most conservative area would be Rio RAncho. You go south, toward Valencia Co and it is all democrats and more liberal.
Not living there anymore I don't know how the politicians feel, my guess as a area, government health care may be pretty popular as there are a huge population of working poor in the area. I do know, for a fact, the seniors in the neighborhood where I used to live are completely opposed to any form of government take over, no matter how small.
Nita
It is more accurate to describe Albuquerque as more of a "Democrat"-leaning town than a "Republican"-leaning town, however, many of the Democrats in ABQ tend to be a more moderate, classical Democrat than the now more left-wing, ultra-liberal Democrat (aka a Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Al Franken, etc.), especially among the vast Hispanic populace, where the folks tend to favor government programs (eg: fiscal liberals) and are in segments in favor of amnesty for illegal immigrants, however, tend to be quite socially conservative.
Overall though, in general terms, I would still describe ABQ as a "moderate" city metro, however, blue-leaning. All things being equal, it is easier to be elected to office if you have a "D" behind your name than an "R".
However, for those that act like Republicans can't get elected in the ABQ region are wrong. Heather Wilson was continually re-elected in New Mexico's 1st District (Central NM including Albuquerque) to the US Congress until she left the seat to run for the Senate, and until Wilson left, that seat was never held by anyone other than a Republican (which was always a political oddity as Democrats outnumber Republicans in ABQ by roughly 56% to 44%).
Pete Domenici was a long-time beloved conservative Republican senator from New Mexico until his announced retirement recently; he garnered much support in ABQ.
Again, many Democratic-voters in Central New Mexico are more "Blue Dog Democrats" (liberal on issues like illegal immigration and government social programs but conservative on social issues like gay marriage, abortion, "big government", etc.).
I would say the area around UNM / Downtown / Nob Hill is where you'll find more of the left-leaning Democrats (liberals more akin to a Pelosi or a Boxer), whereas the Hispanic segments and other regions tend to be more of the moderate Democrats.
Currently, the mayor of ABQ is a Democrat (although I would describe as a moderate, actually fairly pro-growth / business Democrat).
Overall, ABQ has a weird dynamic - a military town, but also a university town. The Northeast is a bit more Republican / conservative, but its mixed. The Nob Hill / UNM / Downtown areas quite solidly Democrat / liberal. The Northwest / Rio Rancho - quite mixed, although Rancho probably leans a bit more right. The southern areas of the city - socially conservative and fiscally liberal.
The city metro - like the state in general - has one of the quirkier, more dynamic political personalities in the US. I will say this - New Mexicans, for better or for worse, tend to evaluate politicians based more on their stances / ideas than their party affiliation than many other regions of the US. Also, everyone in NM seems fairly politically engaged with an opinion, and there still appears to often be a respect given to people of other ideals that you don't find as much in other portions of the nation.
Whether you are a Dem / Republican, lib / conservative, you'll find many folks like you in the region. I wouldn't worry about not fitting in...you'll find many like you no matter where you lie.
Albuquerque is a Liberal city, but thinks conservative.
During the boom of the 60's Albuquerque was a Republican city, that had liberal views. During the transition of the late 80's-90's Albuquerque became a more Democratic city.
There are more democrats in NM than Republicans. There are more dems in the US than Repubs. Repubs can usually hold their own on several larger races (former Gov was repub, former two congressmen of 3 were repubs, land comissioner is/was repub, etc). Dems usually carry all the smaller races by an easy margin. The best way to break up the town is to look at the City Councilors districts and to see who has republicans and who has democrats.
Albuquerque is a swing-city as NM is a swing-state with regards to Dems & Repubs. The NE Heights has more Republicans. This is most noted during elections if you drive around and look at the signs. As others have said, the SE Heights, UNM/Nob Hill, downtown and the south valley areas are liberal. The (north) west side is a mix and so is Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho used to have more older retired folks who voted Repbulican, but now the younger families outweigh the older folks, so the tide is turning more liberal in many areas of Rio Rancho.
Just one note, not to get too sidetracked from the Albuquerque-area issue:
Quote:
Originally Posted by abqsunport
There are more dems in the US than Repubs.
True, but now in all 50 states of the US, according to the Gallup organization (hardly a conservative pollster), self-identified "conservatives" outnumber self-identified "liberals"...in all 50 states! [SEE: ]CNSNews.com (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/52602 - broken link) ].
The reason I bring this up is to illustrate this on the smaller scale to NM (and I now you agree with this)...sure, Dems may have an advantage in NM and ABQ, however, one just needs to see Pete Domenici, Heather Wilson, Gary Johnson, etc., to see that Republicans / conservatives have a fighting chance...they just need to generally have better campaigns, because yes, all things being equal, the Dem typically will come out on top.
Albuquerque is a swing-city as NM is a swing-state with regards to Dems & Repubs. The NE Heights has more Republicans. This is most noted during elections if you drive around and look at the signs. As others have said, the SE Heights, UNM/Nob Hill, downtown and the south valley areas are liberal. The (north) west side is a mix and so is Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho used to have more older retired folks who voted Repbulican, but now the younger families outweigh the older folks, so the tide is turning more liberal in many areas of Rio Rancho.
The best way to break up the town is to look at the City Councilors districts and to see who has republicans and who has democrats.
Yes, yes...maybe city government is where I should be looking/inquiring for answers to the particular "issues" I'm most concerned about.
Do you have a web site for these districts and representatives.... boundaries, names, stances and opinions, etc...
What about a site that lists city ordinances or laws.....
Could someone tell me a little about how ABQ gov't is set up (obviously it's a city council from the post above)
How is state gov't set up? representative form? 1 house or 2 houses? How much power is in the Governors hands?
Here's a "side question" just out of curiosity....it's on my mind...water rationing...is that governed by the city? county or state? Where are those ordinances/laws being made?
I worried about this thread after I started it - I was very careful in my wording but that's still NO guarantee that someone won't take something wrong or go in a "negative" direction.
Thank you for keeping it "informational".
Last edited by rgmacm; 08-23-2009 at 10:12 PM..
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