Greetings from beautiful Las Cruces, New Mexico! Bill McCamley here. I’m a Democrat running for Congress in CD-2 in New Mexico. I’ve been running since April. I had been running against Steve Pearce, but I seem to have scared him out of the race. So now we’ve got ourselves an Open Seat. Since the district has been getting good coverage here on Kos, I thought I’d take a few minutes to introduce myself and answer any questions you might have.
First, and most importantly, let me tell you why I’m running. When I announced my candidacy for this seat back in early April, I did so because I wanted to focus on getting results for the people of southern New Mexico. I truly believed that Steve Pearce had failed to represent the people of the Second District, and I stood up to take on the challenge of beating him. Now that Pearce has announced his candidacy for Senate, I am more committed than ever to winning this seat and using it to bring real change to Washington.
Here’s my 30-second (or, 300-word, I guess) bio: I’m a 29-year-old County Commissioner in Doña Ana County, which is the most populous county in CD-2. (I was also the Chair of the Commission my first year after being elected.) Until I announced my candidacy, I was Executive Director of the New Mexico Rural Development Response Council. During my time in these positions, I have established a record of results. As Chairman of the Commission, I negotiated a solution to a decade-long battle over water rights in my first 40 days, authored a re-draft of the County Ethics Policy, and revamped the health care financing system. As Executive Director of the New Mexico Rural Development Response Council, I helped communities start and operate community development projects.
For my background, I was born on a military base in South Korea. My dad was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army who served two tours in Vietnam, so I know what it’s like growing up in a family deeply affected by war. It’s reinforced my belief that we need get out of Iraq now, and that we need to step up and fulfill our commitments to veterans who served their country with honor.
I went to high school here in Las Cruces, then to New Mexico State, where I got my BA. I then got a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School. After Harvard, I returned to Las Cruces, where I was unemployed and without health insurance for six months. It was this period that reinforced to me how critical good jobs and affordable healthcare are to individuals and their families. All these issues (Iraq, veterans services, jobs, and healthcare) are important to me for deeply personal reasons, as well as for the usual larger reasons we all know too well.
Since I announced my candidacy, I have put over 30,000 miles on my car traveling the Second District to meet with the people of southern New Mexico and hear about their concerns and issues. I have raised over $200,000 so far. I have also picked up the endorsements of key elected officials and unions, including three members of the legislature from the Second District, a Public Regulation Commissioner in the District, and the New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council (which represents over 7,000 New Mexico workers).
Of course, now that it is an open seat, several other Democrats have announced or will announce their candidacies for this district. I would simply make two arguments about why I will win and why you should support me. First, I believe I am a stronger candidate. Between my record and my energy, I have what it takes to win. Second, I stood up to run this race back in April, when we were facing an incumbent. Others are getting in now that the race is easier. I was in when it was very hard. (Some told me it was impossible.)
If you want to help out in an immediate way, we need to revamp our website (http://www.billmccamley.com). Before this became a multi-candidate primary, we had planned and budgeted to get it done professionally at the beginning of 2008, but now we need a fully professional website, well, yesterday. Does anyone have any recommended Dem firms that do good sites fast and cheaply? If so, please email websites@billmccamley.com. Also, since I know that it’s easier to contribute when you know exactly how your money will be spent, I promise you that any money you contribute through DailyKos in the next 72 hours will go directly to my new website. Can you help me out? If so, head over to my ActBlue site. It would be very much appreciated.
I’m going to hang around the computer for a little while to answer any questions you may have about me, my issues, the race, etc.
Thanks for your attention!
Best,
Bill