NM: Libertarian and Constitution Party Candidates to Challenge Incumbent Democrat

At That's My Congress, Congress Watcher provides an overview of the race taking shape in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, emphasizing the candidacies of Libertarian Jerry Scott and Constitution Party candidate Alan Woodruff:

Considering the overlapping marginalization of liberals and libertarians is important when trying to understand this year’s contest for New Mexico’s 1st congressional district. The incumbent is Democrat Martin Heinrich. As Democrats go, Heinrich just isn’t very liberal, having earned just a 37 out of a possible 100 points on his progressive legislative scorecard.

That leaves a special kind of space for challengers such as Jerry Scott and Alan Woodruff. Neither of these candidates are Republicans, and although they come in general from the right, they have some libertarian positions that could appeal to liberal voters discouraged at Congressman Heinrich’s lackluster progressive record.

Alan Woodruff is running as a Libertarian Party candidate, and supports full legal equality for homosexual Americans, as well as a militarily restrained foreign policy – both positions that liberals support. Jerry Scott is running with the Constitution Party, but also with a libertarian undertone to his campaign, discussing the Patriot Act as an unconstitutional compromise of our civil liberties, for example.

These two candidates appeal to some aspects of right wing politics, and some aspects of left wing ideas as well. That combination, given a generally diminished Democratic Party enthusiasm this year, may leave Martin Heinrich with a smaller base of support to work with than Democrats in his district would ordinarily expect.