https://www.abqjournal.com/1511592/forget-labels-vote-to-respect-new-mexico.html

BY GIOVANNI COPPOLA / REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE, ALBUQUERQUE
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 12:02am
New Mexico: The Land of Enchantment, where family comes first, and friendships thrive among united cultures. Our history runs deep, cut into the fabric of our society like the acequias that flow through the land and provide nourishment to our tables. Our culture and heritage make us proud to live here and attract countless visitors to our historic sites and vibrant festivals.

Unfortunately, there has been a movement afoot to transform New Mexico into a "progressive utopia" like California or New York. If it succeeds, we risk losing everything we hold dear about our state and will likely go bankrupt in the process.

The pressure to change our way of life began quietly, with out-of-state lobbyists infiltrating state government. They "copied and pasted" unfunded mandates and activist policies from other states that began to eat away at a proud cultural heritage that had been cultivated over hundreds of years. Soon the coastal elites set their sights on determining who should control the levers of power in our state, effectively kidnapping a once-proud and moderate party. The shift came quietly and without fanfare, and New Mexicans are just now waking up to the dangers of losing everything we hold dear. And not a moment too soon.

Progressives already hold all major statewide offices and, by defeating several stalwart traditional Democrats in the June primary, are now in firm control of the state Legislature. Because 2020 is a census year, we will soon be headed into redistricting and, if they retain that control, they will carve up New Mexico to secure for themselves unchecked supermajority power. There will be no stopping them.

Respect New Mexico is an unprecedented, grass-roots effort to change that trajectory and save our state. More than 100 Republican candidates for the House and Senate have pledged to take common-sense action to help the people of New Mexico finally and fully thrive – without compromising our shared values, traditions and proud heritage.

Our candidates are farmers and ranchers, nurses and doctors, schoolteachers, and scientists. They're nonprofit leaders and small-business owners, police officers and military veterans, single parents and grandparents, and most of them are running for office for the first time. They represent a cross-section of caring New Mexicans and include respected former Democrats who have become disillusioned with the leftward lurch of their once-moderate party.

For generations our people have lived in harmony without compromising our values and traditions. The Respect New Mexico vision affirms our state's history, heritage and unique friendships among diverse cultures. We believe we can lift all New Mexicans up, end generational poverty, protect our liberties and build a thriving state for our families. We believe we can embrace our future without rejecting our past. We ask you to judge us not by old, tired, partisan labels, but by our promise to Respect New Mexico in everything we do. The future of our state depends on it.