Senate Hopefuls Focus on Issues

SANTA FE – There will likely be no need for November gnashing of teeth in Albuquerque’s North Valley – whichever Democratic candidate prevails next week in a three-way primary race will not face a Republican opponent in Senate District 13.

With no GOP candidates waiting in the wings, Bill O’Neill, Carlos Cordova and Chris Catechis are vying for the seat long held by Dede Feldman, a four-term senator who announced in February she would not seek re-election.

Despite the rare opportunity to run for an open Senate seat, the three candidates have largely refrained from attacks on one another.

“We’re trying to keep it (focused) on what we’d do if elected,” said Catechis, the owner of an environmental consulting company and president of a coalition of North Valley neighborhood associations.

“The three of us are just out in the neighborhood getting our messages across,” said O’Neill, a two-term state representative who decided to give up his House seat to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Feldman. “I’m used to a very contentious general election, so it’s a very nice break for me.”

Senate District 13 is one of nine Senate districts around the state in which this year’s primary election will likely decide the race’s winner because no major-party opponents are lined up on the other side of the ballot. Eight of those nine districts feature Democratic primaries.

Feldman, who is serving out the remainder of her term, has not endorsed a successor. She described both O’Neill and Catechis as “viable” candidates in a recent letter to supporters, while describing Cordova as not viable. She told the Journal that is due in part to several apparent drunken driving arrests on Cordova’s record.

Cordova, a retired computer programmer and Vietnam veteran, has raised significantly less money than his opponents but said that is largely by design.

“I don’t believe in getting donations because then you owe the people,” he said.

Cordova said he would push new ideas in Santa Fe, such as providing a computer to every New Mexico student and building a better public transportation system.

Meanwhile, O’Neill, the development director of a mentoring program for juvenile offenders, touted his policy work in the Legislature on public safety, education and ethics reform.

He voted against a bill backed by Gov. Susana Martinez to repeal the 2003 law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, but introduced legislation that would have created a separate driving permit – such as the one used in Utah – for such immigrants.

“I felt there was a window for compromise, and I’m proud of that,” O’Neill said of the unsuccessful measure.

For his part, Catechis said he is already well known in the district because of his work in the community.

If elected to the Legislature, he said, he would like to follow Feldman’s lead by getting involved in health-care issues. He also touted his background in the environmental field, saying he would work to protect the environment while not stifling business concerns.