Oct. 30 – SANTA FE – New Mexico’s top Democrats aren’t exactly rolling out the red carpet for former President Donald Trump’s visit to Albuquerque.

Several high-profile state Democrats held a news conference Wednesday criticizing Trump, who is scheduled to arrive in New Mexico early Thursday and hold a noon rally near the Albuquerque International Sunport before heading to Nevada.

“We want to send a message to Donald Trump that his hatred is not welcome here in New Mexico,” said U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, who represents the Albuquerque district.

Republicans, meanwhile, accused Democratic State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard of breaking off-site parking regulations for rallygoers.

Rep. James Townsend, R-Artesia, said the Trump campaign has a contract to use the Isleta Amphitheater as parking so rallygoers can go to the private hangar where the former president will speak.

He called the land commissioner’s actions to destroy the agreement “pure, naked, bitter partisanship.”

But Garcia Richard said Live Nation Entertainment, which leases the state-owned land where the amphitheater is located, is not authorized to use the parking lot for any off-site events.

“Since the rally is not currently being held at the Isleta Amphitheater, parking for an off-site event is an impermissible use,” Garcia Richard said in a statement Wednesday.

The parking dispute arose after the Trump campaign unsuccessfully tried to reserve the Albuquerque Convention Center for the former president’s rally on Thursday.

Mayor Tim Keller’s administration cited planned water line repair as the reason for denying use of the convention center, but Keller said Wednesday that unpaid bills from Trump’s 2019 campaign visit also played a factor.

Media marketing manager Ty Stevers said the Trump campaign also asked about holding the rally at Tingley Coliseum on the grounds of the New Mexico State Fair, but was told “no” because a seat replacement project was underway at the historic building. Expo New Mexico.

“We really can’t accommodate a crowd of that size at this point,” Stevers told the Journal.

After these demands were rejected, the Trump campaign decided to hold the rally in a private hangar owned by CSI Aviation. The head of CIA Aviation is former state Republican Party chairman Allen Weh, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Rally expected to draw large crowd, protests

Alternative parking near the Sunport has been secured, state Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce said Wednesday, adding that the Trump rally will be “huge and spectacular.”

“Nothing will stop President Trump from coming to New Mexico!” Pearce said in a statement. “President Trump has demonstrated his determination to win our great state year after year; now he returns to show New Mexicans how much he cares about making their communities safe, prosperous, secure and truly great again.”

His counterpart, Democratic State Chairwoman Jessica Velasquez, said Trump would “waste his time in New Mexico,” citing Kamala Harris’ advantage in recent polls for the presidential race in New Mexico.

A Republican hasn’t won five electoral votes in New Mexico since George W. Bush did it in 2004, and Trump lost the state in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Velasquez also claimed that Trump, if elected, would dismantle safety net programs like Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, despite failing to repeal the landmark 2010 health care law in his first term as president.

“Donald Trump is coming to New Mexico as part of his hate tour in the blue state and wants to spread his divisive rhetoric here,” Velasquez said.

Previous Trump visit to New Mexico

Trump’s visit to New Mexico was the first campaign visit to the state by a presidential candidate from any major party during this year’s election cycle.

Trump previously held two campaign rallies in Albuquerque in 2016; This included a May 2016 rally in Downtown that led to raucous riots as protesters jumped into police cars, broke windows and fought with Trump supporters and police.

He returned to the state in 2019, this time as president, for a rally in Rio Rancho where he accused Democrats of trying to “totally destroy” New Mexico’s economy.

A campaign spokesman confirmed that Republican congressional candidate Yvette Herrell will speak alongside Trump at Thursday’s rally.

Herrell is locked in a hotly contested race for the state’s 2nd Congressional District seat with Democrat Gabe Vasquez, who defeated him and won the seat in 2022.