Pearce delivers message of cooperation to solve state's problems

• The candidate fielded more than a dozen questions

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, candidate for governor, faced a packed room of residents and media Thursday at the Republican campaign headquarters in Ruidoso.

Yvette Herrell, running for the 2nd Congressional District seat Pearce is vacating, didn't show for the session, but Pearce didn't seem to mind being alone to deliver a speech and them answer more than a dozen questions on issues ranging from taxing sports betting to  protecting states' rights.

His odds of being elected boil down to a point or two in either direction, Pearce contended, despite a recent poll placing him behind his Democratic opponent.

"I know the Albuquerque Journal poll has caused everyone alarm, staff running in and I tell them don't worry about the polls, it will be decided in the last 30 days," he said, adding that the pollster said he wasn't comfortable with the numbers in the northern part of the state.

"I've been working 15 to 18 months up north," Pearce said, urging Republicans not to "flame out" and lose the fire of enthusiasm.  "Every time I have polled up there, we are 47 percent to 48 percent. The people up there are sick of where the state is, the same way we are sick of where the state is. If we get 47 percent on election day up there, we're going to win. That 47 percent includes Santa Fe. I have Democrats working with me in Santa Fe, who are sick of the way the state is and they tell me I am going to win Santa Fe."

"The people who work and make this country operate have been left behind and are fed up with it," Pearce said. "Which future do you want? Do you want the future or do you want to go back to the (Gov. Bill) Richardson era. It is that clear, that simple, that straight forward.

"We're doing something good for New Mexico, because we are involving everybody, Democrats Republicans and independents. We are bringing people together. That's what I've been doing in Washington (DC) in my time there. I don't get many headlines, but I work for (the people)."

He pledged not to stay in the Roundhouse as governor, but to continue to get out among the people of the state.

"I will see your problems and we will fix them," he said.

Showing his "tough on crime" side, Pearce said it's time to change the state constitution and state laws, "whatever it takes to keep people in jail, who are a threat to society, because I'm tired of giving criminals rights and taking rights away from (other) people."

Reflecting on the oil and gas revenues flowing to the state, he noted the $1.2 billion surplus is driven by Lea and Eddy counties.

Oil is being produced that never could before, he said, "and one bill changed the whole thing" based on a concept he pushed for years to allow exportation, Pearce said.

"Now we are able to sell oil and are taking the market away from Saudi Arabia," which spawned the 9-11 terrorists, he said.

"We can disagree, but work together," he said. "New Mexico will never move forward without the two parties working together. I've been doing that my 14 years in Congress and I can do it here and move the state forward."

He needs an extra 1,000 votes in southern New Mexico, Pearce said, urging supporters to help their neighbors get out and vote.

Several Democrats were in the audience and one asked what advice Pearce would give Herrell about the tax cut and jobs bill that some projections contend will add $2-trillion to the national debt.

Pearce said those projections were based on the growth rate of the national economy under President Barack Obama, which was 1.6 percent. At that rate, the deficit would increase, but by the time the bill passed, the growth rate jumped to 2.9 percent and now is over 4 percent.

"By law, they couldn't anticipate the future," he said of the economic projection. Every growth percentage point brings a surplus to the treasury, "so you can't just look at static numbers." The economy is skyrocketing and unemployment is dropping for all segments of the population, he said. Manufacturing jobs are returning.

"The bill is working in magnificent fashion," Pearce said.

Pearce agreed with resident Andrea Fernandez that more emphasis is needed on behavioral health, drug abuse and mental health and he disagreed with handling over programs to an out-of-state entity. Prisons should not be human warehouses, he said, adding that "If we don't cure the moral problems in the country, we will not cure the political ones," because drugs oten are used to fill a "spiritual emptiness."

Answering other questions, Pearce declared his support of containing the federal government and upholding states rights; supporting public schools, focusing on more teachers and not the creation of more agencies; supporting parents' right to school choice; and supporting a veteran's right to seek medical care in his hometown instead of a veterans hospital more than 100 miles away.

His emphasis on job creation for the Ruidoso and Lincoln County area would include harvesting trees in some areas to improve forest health, reducing the risk of wildfires destroying homes,boosting the real estate sector, and his belief that tourism in the state can be doubled or tripled with such events as off-road meets and luxury tours.

With the state surplus, Pearce said he doesn't want to create new agencies and expand government. He prefers to use the $1.2 billion to invest for the future when oil revenues slow or run out. He would invest in broadband service, highways, sewer and water, all necessary for the state to improve and grow. He would protect the state's permanent fund from being raided for other than designated purposes, he said.

The state has 930,000 people on Medicaid, about one out of every two, he said. While those who cannot care for themselves must be cared for, he would sign an executive order that if someone is able bodied without children, they have to work to collect the benefits, Pearce said. Those with children possibly could volunteer to tutor those in school with reading and other skills, he said.

People find dignity in work, "and we are stealing that" from them, Pearce said.