A round-up of SFR's pop quizzes with school board candidates and our editorial endorsements for this year's extremely important election.

As the site of this year’s most contentious school-related battle, District 2—which includes Acequia Madre, Atalaya and Wood Gormley elementary schools, and El Dorado Community School—has produced a crop of impassioned, largely well-informed candidates vying to replace outgoing school board President Richard Polese.

According to Edison Research, the company that conducts exit polls for national elections, two out of every five voters in the 2010 midterm elections ranked “spending to create jobs” as Congress’ top priority. Job creation was near the top of the congressional wish list for the remaining voters, as well. But only a sliver of GDP will go toward job creation.

Frustration with the Santa Fe Public Schools is palpable, and has been rising for the last year. Budget woes make for an easy culprit. The district faces an unknown shortfall—the figure, according to the district, could range from $4.1-$5 million, depending on budget decisions made by the current Legislature.

Veterans of the redistricting process say it’s consistently fraught with political infighting—not just between the two parties, but also among members of the same party. And a heated 2010 election season—which vaulted Republicans into power—is widely considered a litmus test for both public sentiment and partisan assertiveness.

At noon on Tuesday, Jan. 18, the New Mexico state Legislature convenes for this year’s 60-day session. Foremost on many lawmakers’ minds is the state budget shortfall—estimated by the Legislative Finance Committee at $215 million and by the governor’s office at $450 million—but 60-day sessions usually afford some time for other pursuits, too.

Rick Lass, director of the electoral-reform group Voting Matters, is tired of talking about ranked-choice voting. The system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, which advocates say ensures candidates are elected by majority vote, and increases voter participation.

We wrap up 2010 with a look back at the top stories that shaped the roller coaster of the last 12 months. True, not all of these stories woke us at 3 am with our teeth chattering. But the pervasive sense of seditious intent from the powers that be did fuel our thinking as we wrapped up the year. So we present not just the top 10 stories, but our own take on the conspiracies behind them.