Patriotic Cake by Carrie Smith

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy

Grant County Republican Party members and friends and families, statewide political candidates, as well as local speakers, took part in the catered dinner and silent auction. Funds raised go to help local candidates in their campaigns.

A small table sat on the stage with a photo and small memorial with a flower to Linda Pecotte, who served the local party for many years before her accidental death on Friday when her small plane crashed. 

Christine Starr served as master of ceremonies. 

The first speaker was District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings who talked about how the party is progressing in its efforts to elect Republicans to local and state officers. “Our efforts are yielding results. For the first time ever, Grant County has two Republican representatives in the New Mexico State House of Representatives, and Yvette Herrell is our District 2 Congressional representative.”

He talked about the freedoms that are being taken away from the citizens of not only New Mexico, but Americans in general. 

New Mexico District 39 Representative Luis Terrazas said: “We Republicans get beat, because ‘they’ stick together. They are always trying to divide us. We need to treasure our culture and stick together. I have always supported veterans and law enforcement.”

He also said: “We are responsible for teaching our children. Everyone wants the same things, but we don’t want burdensome taxes.”

Hazel Donaldson of Heritage Waters said the group has persisted in fighting the Dutch Salmon amendment to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. “And we have managed to stall it, because it hasn’t gone to committee, but we have to keep at it.”

Next the lieutenant governor candidates had a chance to speak. The first, Isabella Solis, who is the daughter of migrant workers, said she has served with federal emergency management and was a Doña Ana County commissioner. “I was instrumental in getting the crisis intervention center, which had been constructed but had no funding for operations, up and running. It addresses the area’s mental health needs.”

“I want to address the corruption in Santa Fe,” Solis said. “We keep hearing that the state is last in just about everything. We have bad leadership in Santa Fe. I want us to care about our heritage, our culture. We have to start fighting the teachers’ unions. I need your vote on June 7. There is faith and hope in our state.”

The second candidate Zeke Rodriguez said he was born and raised in Las Cruces and also spent four years in the U.S. Air Force. “I came right back home after my service. I spent six years working for NASA, got educated and got out. I got a new business going. I’m tired of the insanity of doing the same things over and over and expecting change.”

He addressed the “elephant in the room. I studied Marxism and socialism. We are under direct attack by Marxism and communism. They got rid of God and country and are attacking our Constitution. Four times in the Declaration of Independence, you can find the word God. We must restore God’s values. I’m about fighting for justice. I am an activist for America First. I’m a fighter, and I’m a solution guy.”

He continued with an example. “Picture a dinosaur stuck in a tar pit. An asteroid strikes, and the dinosaur fights with all his effort and frees himself from the tarpit. But we know the dinosaur was about the face extinction. Our governor has abused her emergency powers. MLG is the tar pit. She has a bigger extinction in view—the extinction of conservatives. We are being weakened from within spiritually and politically. I was a fiscal Democrat. But I discovered that neither party fit me. We see big tech working with the government against us. I’m not one to give up freedoms for security. Note the role of state government in overriding our medical freedoms, our spiritual freedoms. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist. I know because I’m one.”

A live auction, led by Shawn Calloway as the auctioneer, took place to auction off several donated items. 

Peggy Tavizon received an award as Republican of the Year from Christine Starr.

Following that Starr said the party had asked for nominations for Republican of the Year. She announced Peggy Tavizon as the winner, as the person behind the monthly law enforcement recognitions at the meetings. “It was a close one with Peggy winning by one vote, so I would also like to commend and recognize the runner-up, Rhonda Billings.”

Rhonda Billings thanked the members who voted for her for Republican of the Year, even though she was runner-up.

Gubernatorial candidates came next on the agenda. The order was determined by picking a name out of a cup, with each candidate picking the one to follow him or her.

First was Greg Zanetti. “All this printing of money will turn out bad,” he said. He is from Albuquerque and served in the U.S. Army and then joined the National Guard, where he rose to General Zanetti. He was deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he served as lt. commander and commander. 

“I’m very pro-life,” Zanetti said. He noted that mainstream media, such as CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post and other publications are not giving the public the information they need. “Bill Gates is a bad guy. Wall Street is not working for you. I got to see how billions moved and how they suck up the money. If you are looking for a governor who understands big money, then it’s Zanetti for governor. We are going to have to go through a shift. The survivor is the one that is most adaptable. Watch what can happen if we release from the bottom up and go from worst to first. God bless you.”

Rodriguez spoke on behalf of his friend Karen Bedonie, who is also running for governor. “We’re very good friends. She asked me if I would run for lt. governor, and I said yes. Karen isn’t here tonight because she got Covid. She was sent to a hospital in Phoenix, and they weren’t giving her the right treatment. She should have been given infusions of vitamins D, C, and others. They wanted to give her Remdesivir, but I said absolutely not. They weren’t feeding her good food. They wanted to put her on a ventilator, but I was her advocate and I said no. If you get ill, stay out of the hospital. Get vitamins and get a prescription now for ivermectin prophylactically. I got her ivermectin and vitamins. The hospital is not a good place. I was calling the nurses every two hours and the doctors stopped taking my calls. Get your ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine now. Use telemedicine to get them, if a doctor won’t prescribe it locally. The future is taking care of ourselves. We have to be self-sufficient. And Karen is recovering.”

Rebecca Dow spoke next. “I am a businesswoman. I started five non-profits, as well as two businesses. I have executive leadership. It’s a great honor to be the District 38 representative for this county. We won Grant County last time with 56 percent, even though Speaker Brian Egolf spent more than $100,000 against me. My grassroots campaign has raised more than $440,000 from 1,300 donors, most of whom have given, $20, $50 or $100 toward my campaign for governor. I love New Mexico. I am on my third term as representative. I’m ready to lead my state. We stood side-by-side to save the unborn. We stood side-by-side to save the mines. We stood side-by-side to support the second amendment and our unalienable right to bear arms. Nothing is more important than saving our constitutional rights. You’ve seen me win. Day 1 in office, I will deploy the National Guard to the border. I will not allow the Public Education Department to continue its overreach. I will end the emergency health orders and let us go back to our lives. As for the agencies, they will get out of our way. And I will hold politicians accountable.”

Tim Walsh, another candidate for governor, said all New Mexicans deserve liberty and opportunity. “I worked with Gov. Gary Johnson on school choice, with our book, ‘For the Children’s Sake.’ I only planned to work with him for a short time, but we created such a firestorm that I stayed for four years. I’m honored to be here this evening.”

He said he ran the 100-mile Leadville race and beat Johnson by five hours. 

“The job working with him gave me insight into how this state could run,” Walsh said. “We balanced the budget. Johnson vetoed many of the bills that landed on his desk. I had never been in politics before this, but I had taught and coached at middle school, high school and university levels. I had a background in education, but I liked the way Johnson worked. I also helped Susanna Martinez in her campaign.”

On the economy, he said he supports state loans for entrepreneurs and small, medium and large business to grow without raising taxes. On education, he supports universal school choice, with vouchers to go to public, religious, charter or private schools. “I want unlimited educational choice. The unions will hate it. Cabinet secretaries will be consolidated to nine. CYFD will go under public safety. The 62 state boards will be consolidated by two-thirds. It will be a state government that works for you, not the elitists.”

He gave an example of HB 6, as being a bill to attack poverty. “She (MLG) promised $60 million; she signed it, but there was no appropriation in the bill. I will offer absolute power to the tribal population, and I will fight institutional poverty.”

The last to speak was Jay Block. “I’m originally from New Hampshire. I was born into poverty, with my mother being on drugs and an alcoholic. My father was a blue-collar worker. I struggled in school with dyslexia. Thanks to a teacher in second grade, she helped me learn how to deal with the dyslexia. When I was in high school, my parents were arrested for drugs.”

“I was 10 years old, when President Ronald Reagan came in,” Block said. “I volunteered for Jack Kemp in 1988 and learned conservative values from him.

“When I was in the service, I had the nuclear codes,” he continued. “I was honored to do it for my country. Less than a year after 9/11, I volunteered to go to Afghanistan. What was most important was that I set up humanitarian missions. In Kabul, I saw a little girl walking to school and knew what I was doing was making a difference. When I saw what happened in August this year, I was not just pissed but appalled. I’m trying to get the fellow who was my interpreter and his family out of the country.”

He later served on Ascension Island and did nuclear policy for the Pentagon. “Then I was assigned to Kirtland and retired as a Lt. Colonel. I ran for county commissioner in Sandoval County in Rio Rancho. I beat an incumbent Democrat and turned Sandoval County Republican. I sponsored a protest against the red flag laws. I helped Sandoval County hire 200 people for tech jobs. And Corrales was named the safest community in New Mexico. I had the honor to welcome President Trump when he arrived in Albuquerque. You know what our governor has done to the poor, to our educational system and to businesses. I plan to fix that.”

“All of these candidates are good candidates,” Block said, “but I have leadership in the military and in public office. We are about to get our rights and freedoms back. I will do an executive order banning critical race theory, masks and vaccination mandates. I will send the National Guard to the border; I will institute school choice and I will get rid of taxes on Social Security and veterans’ benefits. I will not support CRT. I’ll fight for every New Mexican. God bless you and this wonderful state.”

Starr recognized Carrie Smith for creating the patriotic cake. She also thanked Don and Candy Luhrsen for the “ton of work they have done for the Grant County Republican Party. They are moving to Wyoming.”

She invited those attending the event to participate in the county meetings, which are held the first Tuesday evening of every month, except for November. “Early voting has begun. Please vote in person. And our headquarters is open every Wednesday afternoon from 1-6.”

The evening’s events ended and people stood around and talked for a while before heading home.