SANTA FE – Republican congressional candidate Michelle Garcia Holmes will discuss her campaign alone on local network television after incumbent U.S. Rep. Debra Haaland declined the invitation for a live-broadcast debate.
Haaland spokesman Scott Forrester says the congresswoman still plans to participate this week in candidate interviews on New Mexico PBS and a pre-recorded debate on KOAT.
Haaland’s campaign was dissatisfied with terms of the debate proposed by KOB for Tuesday. She planned instead to join an online campaign even for state House Rep. Melanie Stansbury.
Republican nominee Garcia Holmes is campaigning on her experience as a former police detective who can address concerns about crime, while criticizing the pace of progress on expanding internet service to remote areas to help children study remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. She ran unsuccessfully in 2018 for lieutenant governor.
Tuesday marked the start of absentee balloting in New Mexico, including limited in-person voting by absentee ballot at county clerk’s offices.
Haaland is a Laguna Pueblo tribal member who became one of the first Native American women elected to Congress with her victory in 2018 election in the 1st Congressional District that encompasses Albuquerque.
