Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican who represented New Mexico for 36 years in the U.S. Senate, is featured in an ad for GOP Senate candidate Heather Wilson that targets her opponent, U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., over the potential of severe defense cuts in the state.
In a separate press release, Wilson’s campaign spokesman Chris Sanchez said, “During tonight’s debate, the people of New Mexico deserve to know why Congressman Heinrich voted for a bill that would be so devastating for our state.”
He’s referring to Heinrich’s vote in 2011 for automatic federal budget cuts – known as a sequester – that include across-the-board cuts to defense spending in January.
“He voted for it, and then he voted a couple weeks ago to keep it going in spite of being given an opportunity in the House of Representatives to fix it,” said Wilson last month. “You can’t have a U.S. Senator who is willing to turn his back on Los Alamos and Sandia, and cut 20,000 jobs. I think that’s disqualifying for being a U.S. Senator.”
