Meet Jon Barela (R CAND, NM-01).

I had the opportunity to meet with New Mexico candidate (and NRCC Young Gun) Jon Barela yesterday for a quick interview and discussion:

The district (currently listed as Likely Democratic by Cook) itself is interesting; it’s a traditionally Republican district and the last poll for it was prior to passage of the health care debacle. Rep. Heinrich not only supported the bill; he supported a public option, and is also on the wrong side of pretty much every conservative issue of the 111th Congress, from the ‘stimulus’ on. Heinrich even managed to co-sponsor card check legislation, which is particularly unfortunate for him right now. The basic theme to this campaign, in other words, is that the incumbent is not only too liberal for the district; he’s too liberal for his own local party, to the point where some Democratic delegates were voting for Barela in their pre-primary election.  This is not a sign of a secure incumbent.

Jon’s site is here.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.