“YOUR VOTE IS SAFE & SECRET! Despite what you may have been told, no one can find out who you vote for—not even an elected official. If anyone tells you otherwise, please call our campaign hotline…” The statement above, from Carl Trujillo’s campaign literature, raises more questions than it answers.

Ben Luján knows how to work a room. From the moment he walks in, people line up, practically tripping over themselves to talk to the Speaker of the New Mexico House, a diminutive man with a full, bright shock of white hair.

On June 1, Santa Fe County’s roughly 15,000 registered Republican voters can make their picks in the primary election for the 3rd Congressional District, in which Santa Fe anti-war veteran Adam Kokesh faces Farmington oilman Tom Mullins.

The race for New Mexico’s next lieutenant governor is, among other things, huge: Five Democrats and three Republicans will compete in their respective races in the June 1 primary. The winners of each race will then face off Nov. 2

Four candidates, all with law enforcement experience, are running to replace outgoing Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano in the June 1 Democratic primary election. All took SFR’s candidate Pop Quiz—no questions in advance and no research allowed.

We're told there are big issues at stake in our municipal elections: public safety, city budgets, jobs, crime, annexation, police and fire services, economic development, affordable housing, public education, family values, the integrity of neighborhoods, the future of the creative economy, and the soul of Santa Fe. But what really matters?

The battle for mayor has given Santa Feans both hilarity and dismay, with drama ranging from candidate impostors on Twitter to warring union endorsements. Again, the rules: no researching, no seeing the questions ahead of time and no editing the answers. EXTRA QUESTIONS ONLINE!

Liberal critics have dismissed the Tea Party as “astroturf”—a front for old-guard corporate Republicans hoping to derail Obama’s domestic agenda while poisoning the national debate with subtle racism. It may indeed have begun as hype, but even outsiders now acknowledge the Tea Party’s Pinocchio-like transformation from an imitation grassroots movement to the genuine article.

In a back room at O’Niell’s, an Irish-themed pub in Albuquerque, approximately 20 people sip beers and eat sandwiches. There’s a large, forest-green version of the state flag and an unusual preponderance of bright-green T-shirts, but this is no belated St. Patrick’s Day celebration. It’s the annual convention of the New Mexico Green Party.

SFR recommends re-election of Coss and Wurzburger; Simon for District 1. Now with audio of candidate interviews and exclusive video of SFR's endorsement interviews. Plus links to voter info!