Governor's Campaign Criticizes Dendahl (NM-Richardson plays the race card)

Gov. Bill Richardson's re-election campaign on Friday criticized Republican candidate John Dendahl for ''slapping offensive stereotypes on New Mexico Hispanics'' in recent comments about drunken driving and immigration.

Dendahl said during a radio talk show earlier this week that lawmakers have failed to adequately deal with the problem of repeat drunken drivers because ''the Legislature understands that statistically ... too many people who are repeat offenders happen to have Spanish last names.''

He went on to say that lawmakers will not enact tougher legislation against repeat drunken driving offenders because they're concerned ''that would be racist.''

Dave Contarino, chairman of Richardson's re-election campaign, said, ''Dendahl's obsession with slapping offensive stereotypes on New Mexico Hispanics should be a red flag to Republican voters.''

Dendahl defended his comments Friday, saying they weren't anti-Hispanic. He also said Contarino was ''playing the race card'' by mischaracterizing his comments on the radio show.

Dendahl cited a state report that Hispanics accounted for slightly more than half of drunken driving offenders in 2003. According to the Department of Health, 54% of drunken driving offenders in 2003 were Hispanic, 24% were white, non-Hispanics or Anglo and almost 20% were American Indians.

Indians and Hispanics had the highest rates for re-arrest on drunken driving in 2000-2003, according to the report, which was issued last year. ''It shows that Latinos and Indians are very disproportionately among the DWI offenders. So their whole population group is being disserved by the Legislature because they haven't protected the public with adequate laws in this area and those are the populations that suffer the greatest as a result of it,'' Dendahl said in a telephone interview.

Richardson's campaign is airing a television ad currently that touts anti-DWI efforts during the governor's tenure and suggests alcohol-related traffic deaths have declined because of tougher laws.

Richardson's campaign also objected to Dendahl using the phrase ''dark-complected, brownish looking guy'' in answering an immigration question on the talk show. The context was his explaining potential problems with a proposal in Colorado to sanction employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Dendahl said employers could face discrimination lawsuits because there's not a good system for checking an individual's immigration status. "So, until the federal government can fix it so employers can check, I don't think you can have tough sanctions.''

The radio adds from Richardson pounding Heather are sure heavy handed,It makes me want to turn off the radio

2 posted on 07/14/2006 9:32:04 PM PDT by woofie ("Romper, bomper, stomper, boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me do.Magic mirror, tell me today.)

We don't get the ads down here. Besides, King Bill isn't running against her. Can't Madrid speak for herself?

3 posted on 07/14/2006 9:57:05 PM PDT by CedarDave (When a soldier dies, a family cries, a protester gloats, an Iraqi votes)

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