DCCC Responds to Entry of Steve Pearce into NM-02 Race

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) responded quickly and with sharp criticism to Steve Pearce's announcement today that he'll run to recapture his previous seat in the U.S. House from New Mexico's Second Congressional District in 2010. The title of their reaction pieces says it all: "The Steve Pearce Legacy: Rising Debt and Limitless Hypocrisy."

According to the DCCC, Pearce’s announcement "smacks of the same kind of hypocrisy New Mexicans heard over and over again during his time in Congress during the Bush Administration."

“With his reckless fiscal leadership having helped create the problem, Steve Pearce’s rhetoric about fighting for New Mexico families just doesn’t match up with reality,” said Andy Stone, Western Regional Press Secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Pearce’s record is dripping with the kind of hypocrisy that New Mexicans rejected in the last election.”

* Despite all of his rhetoric about the economy, Steve Pearce and George Bush’s reckless leadership created the economic crisis, growing the federal debt by $2.3 trillion from $3.5 trillion to $5.8 trillion;

* Pearce talked a good game about supporting our men and women in uniform but voted against funding for veterans’ programs 14 times, even opposing a bonus for U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan;

* Pearce voted against border security funding and agents at least seven times despite giving lip service to the need for border security;

* Pearce hailed the decision to award a COPS grant to the Las Cruces Police Department, but voted to slash Community Oriented Police Services funding; and

* Pearce said he opposed privatizing Social Security in his 2002 campaign, but then turned around and advocated for President Bush’s risky privatization plan.

Expect the DCCC to treat Stevan Pearce's challenge to Dem incumbent Harry Teague as one of the premier races in the nation. They'll be fighting for Teague and raising funds for his campaign with a special vigor from here on out. We got rid of the dismal, extremely right-wing Pearce once. Rest assured that the battle to keep him from returning to Washington will be fierce, well-funded and full of facts that effectively undermine the lies and distortions that define far-right GOP candidates like Pearce. A total failure in his run for U.S. Senate against Tom Udall, Pearce now thinks he can regain his seat using the same hogwash talking points he used in the past. Times have changed, Steve. And so have the voters.