NM county flooded with attack ads

KRQE TV

Updated: Oct 28, 2012 3:29 PM

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) — With less than 10 days left until Election Day, one New Mexico county is being bombarded with negative ads.

Many say the claims on the mail out flyers are so graphic they consider them explicit.

Attack ads are being mailed to residents in Valencia County and are even appearing in the county's local newspaper.

Open any mailbox in Valencia County and you'll likely find attack ads calling out State Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez.

Statewide television ads targeting Sanchez and Senate President Tim Jennings of Roswell cost more than $500,000, mailers cost thousands more.

“This isn't personal,” Governor Susana Martinez said. “This is clearly about policy.”

The mailers are sponsored by Reform New Mexico, one of the governor's political action committees.

They claim Sanchez voted against banning child porn, that he protects child molesters and that he voted to release child killers

Residents have mixed opinions.

“I think that it's a great idea I think it's helping to make people more aware of what's going on,” Pearl Taylor said.

Others shared their opinion.

“I’m all for everyone pushing their own agenda but this is absurd,” Bernadette Ramsey said.

Sanchez says they're all false.

“I’m not a vindictive person and regardless of these personal attacks, I’m going to do what's best for all of the people of New Mexico,” Sanchez said.

The governor says politicians should be held accountable..

“So there's transparency so people know where to go when they're voting who to vote for and it can be a republican today and a democrat tomorrow but I know where they stand on the issues,” Martinez said.

Some residents are stopping their kids from getting the mail, saying the ads are too graphic.

“I think they're downright disgusting,” Ramsey said.

New federal laws allow PAC’s to spend whatever they want on the attack ads.

A big democratic PAC has also spent hundreds of thousand of dollars targeting a half-dozen local republican candidates.

 

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