The Democratic Party of Valencia County planned one final blowout event on Saturday, Oct. 19, the first day of extended early voting, but the weather had other plans.
The New Mexico Freedom March Committee arranged for the second ever freedom march through downtown Santa Fe to the Roundhouse. It was to be followed by a Get Out the Vote Rally.
Due to extreme rain, wind, and hail it simply couldn’t happen. Instead, the people who had shown up rallied indoors at the Santa Fe Democratic Headquarters. Congressman Gabe Vasquez and Senator Martin Heinrich were scheduled to speak at the rally, but neither attended. However, State Senator Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez gave a speech about the stakes of the general election. Heinrich donated enchiladas for the phone banking volunteers.
Participants made hundreds of calls to encourage people to vote. Many of which were in Spanish and to folks in Arizona.
When asked about why this election is important to her, the honorable Idalia Lechuga-Tena, an organizer and spokeswoman for the event said, “Unfortunately right now there is a lot of racism. There is a lot of sexism and attacks on women. This is important because we need to continue to keep our freedom – women’s reproductive rights. We all believe in that; it’s about preserving and maintaining our freedom.”
The former chair of the Santa Fe Democratic Party, Bernadette Vadurro, expressed her concerns about another Trump presidency.
“This is the most important election of our lifetime. We know what Donald Trump has said, that if you vote for him, you will never have to vote again. Why is that? Because he stacked the supreme court. It’s 6-3.”
She discussed her thoughts on how racism, sexism, and discrimination are running rampant right now and that it’s time to take our country back and turn a new page.
Sedillo-López used an adage her father used to say: Democrats are for the people and Republicans are for the money. She added that you can see it in this election.
“Donald Trump is all about money for corporate interests and for himself and Kamala is all about the middle class and people. Making sure our policies, social security and the economy, works for everyday people. And that is such a stark difference.”
One issue at the top of mind was women’s reproductive rights..
Shortly after the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022, New Mexican legislators claimed they will work to draft legislation that will codify abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
Legislation has not been proposed.
The Senate Majority Whip, Michael Padilla said he is not “aware of any current legislation that would add this provision to our constitution.”
Without legislation enshrining abortion rights in New Mexico’s constitution, the phone bankers were calling to convince undecided voters by stressing women’s rights could change in an instant in New Mexico under a new Trump term and republican controlled senate.
There were mostly women at the event and a handful of husbands.
The people of the Democratic Party of Valencia County seemed to be joyous being around like-minded volunteers.
But with the election two weeks away, there was a sense of anxiety in the air.
The rain subsided when the time came for the volunteers to head home.
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