Roswell Daily Record
Obama wins re-election
Vol. 121, No. 267 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
After the costliest — and arguably the nastiest — campaign in history, divided gover nment seemed alive and well.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama rolled to re-election Tuesday night, vanquishing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and triumphing despite a weak economy that plagued his first term and put a crimp in the middle class dreams of millions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted fewer job openings in September after advertising more in August than first estimated. The report suggests hiring will likely remain modest in the coming months. The Labor Department said Tuesday that job openings dropped by 100,000 ... - PAGE A8
November 7, 2012
AP Photo
President Barack Obama waves as he walks on stage with first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha at his election night party in Chicago, Wednesday.
Democrats retained control of the Senate with surprising ease. Republicans were on course for the same in the House, making it likely that Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Obama’s partner in unsuccessful deficit talks, would reclaim his seat at the bargaining
table. At Obama headquarters in Chicago, a huge crowd gathered waving small American flags and cheering. Supporters hugged each other, danced and pumped their fists in the air. Excited crowds also gathered in New York’s Times Square, at Faneuil Hall in Boston, and near the White House in Washington, drivers joyfully honking as they passed by. With votes counted in 75 percent of the nation’s precincts, Obama held a narrow advantage in the popular vote, leading by about 25,000 out of more than 99 million cast. But the president’s laserlike focus on the battleground states allowed him to run up a 303-203 mar-
gin in the competition for electoral votes, where the White House is won or lost. It took 270 to win. Obama captured Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire, Colorado and Nevada, seven of the nine states where the rivals and their allies poured nearly $1 billion into dueling television commercials. Romney was in Massachusetts, his long and grueling bid for the presidency at an unsuccessful end. He won North Carolina among the battleground states. Florida remained too close to call, a state where long lines of voters kept the polls open in some areas well past the appointed poll See OBAMA, Page A3
District 2 chooses Pearce Heinrich wins NM US Senate seat
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Democrats kept control of two of New Mexico’s three congressional districts with the election Tuesday of Michelle Lujan Grisham to represent the Albuquerque area. Lujan Grisham easily defeated former Republican state Rep. Janice ArnoldJones after an uncharacteristically quiet campaign for what is traditionally a swing district known for its hard-fought races. Lujan Grisham replaces Democrat Martin Heinrich, who defeated his predecessor, Republican Heather Wilson, for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. Although the majority of voters in the district are Democrats, Wilson man-
aged to hold the seat for a decade before giving it up in 2008 to make her first run for Senate. Heinrich has held the seat since then. It is the most competitive of the three congressional districts in New Mexico. In the other two, Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan and GOP Rep. Steve Pearce easily held onto their seats. In the heavily Democratic 3rd District representing norther n New Mexico, Lujan defeated Jeff Byrd, a rancher from Quay County. In the Republican 2nd District that represents the southern part of the state, Pearce defeated Evelyn Madrid Erhard, a commuSee PEARCE, Page A3
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Democrat Martin Heinrich won New Mexico’s open U.S. Senate seat Tuesday, defeating Republican Heather Wilson with strong support from Hispanic and female voters. Heinrich carried the vote-rich Albuquerque area, which is home to a third of the state’s electorate, and he picked up solid margins in heavily Democratic and Hispanic areas in norther n New Mexico, according to incomplete, unof ficial returns. Wilson outpaced Heinrich in traditional GOP See HEINRICH, Page A3
AP Photo
New Mexico Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Martin Heinrich votes at Bandelier Elementary School in Albuquerque, Tuesday.
60% of Chaves County’s registered voters cast ballots this election
YOUNG CBS MAKE MARK IN DENVER
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Just a month ago, Tracy Porter in street clothes on the Denver sideline was a welcome sight for any opposing quarterback. Now teams might actually prefer to see him back on the football field. Porter, who leads the NFL with three game-sealing interceptions since 2009, hasn’t played in a month while dealing with problems related to a seizure he had over the summer. He hasn’t been missed on the field by the Broncos (5-3), however, because two ... - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Bruce Barreras • Isabel S. Garcia • Sarah Kincheloe - PAGE A9
HIGH ...80˚ LOW ....43˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B7 COMICS.................B4 FINANCIAL .............B6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B7 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ............A10
INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
Cliff Pirtle, left, goes over election numbers with Candy Spence Ezzell, right, and Robert Corn at the GOP headquarters, Tuesday evening.
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
The voice of Chaves County was heard loud and clear Tuesday night
after about 60 percent of its registered voters had weighed in for the 2012 general election. In total, 20,593 of 34,895 registered voters in the county
had voted early or voted on Election Day. Election results are as of Tuesday at 11 p.m. and are unofficial. Including the race for president, Chaves County had nine contested races on the ballot. The race between longtime Senate President Pro Tem T im Jennings, D-Roswell, and Republican Cliff Pirtle was decided in State Senate District 32, with the 27year-old Pirtle emerging as the victor with 5,102 votes to 4,461 votes for Jennings. “Right now, I’m really excited and proud that people have faith in me to represent them,” Pirtle said. “Very early on we made this race about the issues, the people made it about the issues, and it just boiled down to the candidate that was going to represent them the best.
Mark Wilson Photo
Voters cast their ballots at Valley View Elementary School, Tuesday.
“I just want to say thank you to Sen. Jennings for 34 years of service, and I hope that I can represent the district and be as well-respected as he has been.” Pirtle added that his message to Chaves County is that he’s “going to be a
senator for the people.” “If [people] have an issue or an opinion on an issue that’s going to be voted on, don’t hesitate to contact me; that’s why I’m doing this — to represent the district in Santa Fe. See COUNTY, Page A3
Unofficial Chaves County election results for contested races
President/Vice President Absentee/Early Voting/ Election Day Barack Obama, D 6,621 (32.30%) 429 3,025 3,167 Mitt Romney, R 13,271 (64.74%) 1,162 7,092 5,017 U.S. Senate Martin Heinrich, D 6,610 (32.47%)437 3,141 3,032 Heather Wilson, R 12,949 (63.61%) 1,114 6,852 4,983 U.S. House of Representatives District Evelyn Madrid Erhard, D 5,658 (27.97%) 358 2,710 2,590 Steve Pearce, R 14,538 (71.87%) 1,259
7,537 5,742 Supreme Court Justice (Partisan) Barbara J. Vigil, D 7,335 (36.89%) 434 3,302 3,599 Paul Kennedy, R 12,547 (63.11%) 1,147 6,809 4,591 Supreme Court Justice (Retention) Richard C Bosson 13,464 (77.80%) 1,078 6,707 5,679 Court of Appeals (Partisan) M. Monica Zamora, D 7,068 (35.83%) 416 3,168 3,484 J. Miles Hanisee, R 12,656 (64.17%) 1,153 6,849 4,654 Court of Appeals
(Retention) Roderick T. Kennedy 13,704 (79.47%) 1,125 6,850 5,729 Michael Vigil 12,728 (73%) 984 6,234 5,510 State Senate District 32 Tim Jennings, D 4,461 (46.65%) 256 1,879 2,326 Clif f Pirtle, R 5,102 (53.35%) 385 2,312 2,405 District 33 Stephanie L. Dubois, D 1,246 (29.37%) 94 657 495 Bill Burt, R 2,996 (70.63%) 288 1,651 1,057 State House District 58
Pablo Martinez, D 2,366 (37.98%) 111 950 1,305 Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell, R 3,863 (62.02%) 322 1,665 1,876 County Commission District 4 Magil Duran, D 1,402 (38%) 77 709 616 Robert Cor n, R 2,287 (62%) 192 1,214 881 Amendments 1. Yes 11,765 (65.29%) 863 5,937 4,965 No 6,254 (34.71%) 583 3,296 2,375 2. Yes 14,051 (78.31%) 1,119 7,310 5,622 No 3,892 (21.69%) 325 1,918 1,649 3. Yes 8,368 (48.44%) 642 4,105 3,621
No 8,908 (51.56%) 754 4,723 3,431 4. Yes 8,459 (48.12%) 599 4,203 3,657 No 9,121 (51.88%) 828 4,779 3,514 5. Yes 10,159 (57.86%) 699 4,944 4,516 No 7,398 (42.14%) 711 4,066 2,621 Bond Issues A. Yes 10,120 (56.26%) 700 4,944 4,476 No 7,869 (43.74%) 760 4,299 2,810 B. Yes 10,272 (56.65%) 683 4,968 4,621 No 7,860 (43.35%) 785 4,358 2,717 C. Yes 11,188 (60.63%) 724 5,436 5,028 No 7,265 (39.37%) 757 4,062 2,446