Campaign trail crosses Capitol Bar

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Rep. Martin Heinrich, stopped in Socorro during a series of meet and greets along the I-25 corridor.

On Saturday afternoon, Heinrich stopped by the Capitol Bar to speak with supporters and other Democratic party candidates.

When asked about his campaign, Heinrich said he’s had good reception so far. He said that morning he had a big crowd in Las Cruces, and he planned to be in Los Lunas that evening.

He said he was very pleased to be in Socorro and felt optimistic about his campaign..”We’re going to keep working hard and not take anything for granted, but the reception we’re getting on the road, the polling — all of it looks very good right now,” he said. “I think we’ve got a little bit of a lead, and we’re going to work to try and stretch that out as much as we can.”

Heinrich’s campaign focuses on economics and taxation.

“The real question, I think, facing our country right now is who’s going to stand up for the middle class,” he said. “When you look at average incomes for middle class people in this country, for the first time in the last 20 years, they’ve started to decline. I think what I want to be is … a voice for the kind of folks who don’t even care about politics, who just want to be able to work hard, play by the rules, follow the law and know somebody’s looking out for them when policy decisions are being made.”

Heinrich had some thoughts on Socorro in particular, as well.

“I think we’re going to try to support the educational infrastructure here,” he said. “The university is incredibly important to Socorro’s economy and it’s important to New Mexico’s future workforce. As an engineer myself, this is a facility we can’t invest enough in.”

Heinrich is currently New Mexico’s District 1 Representative, having served since 2009. He is running against Republican Heather Wilson, former District 1 Representative. Wilson lost the 2008 Republican primary to Congressman Steve Pearce, who in turn lost to Democrat Tom Udall. Heinrich and Wilson are competing for the seat left empty by Jeff Bingaman, who has served since 1983.