Nella Domenici, candidate for New Mexico’s U.S. Senate seat
Name: Nella Domenici
Age: 63
Party: Republican
Occupation: Business Executive
Relevant Experience: Collaborative, common sense, bipartisan approach to tackling our problems and helping our state grow and thrive; Caring and understanding of our people; Demonstrating hard work’s ethic; Started at the bottom and reached the top in the world of finance at the world’s largest hedge fund; Mastered budgets, markets, and interest rates; Grew jobs in diverse sectors.
Personal: I am a third generation New Mexican and lived most of my childhood in Albuquerque with my seven siblings and parents—Pete and Nancy Domenici. I attended Our Lady of Fatima in Albuquerque, where I learned the values, I hold today. I am a devoted mother of two and stepmom of four, and the wife of a Navy Veteran. My husband Pat and I have owned our home in New Mexico for twenty years.
Website: NellaforSenate.com
Nella Domenici is running for New Mexico's Senate seat. Here are her answers to KVIA's questions regarding her candidacy.
What will you do on Capitol Hill to get relief for New Mexico communities impacted by wildfires?
One of the reasons I decided to run for the United States Senate against Martin Heinrich was the way he has mishandled the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire claims process. The Ruidoso fire is on track to be a repeat. A United States Senator has a great deal of clout over a federal agency like FEMA. Martin has chosen not to exercise that clout and to ignore the people whose lives have been in limbo for more than two years.
Since I am not yet in the United States Senate, I thought long and hard about other avenues to help the people whose properties have been destroyed by the federal government. In January when the legislature was in session, I wrote to the Governor and key legislators with a proposal for the state to advance a significant portion of the victims’ claims and have the state deal with FEMA. My goal was to get people paid quickly. I worked with legislators to have the proposal drafted as a piece of legislation. Unfortunately, the legislation was not considered.
I was in Ruidoso the week before the fire there and heard about the problems getting property insurance. My team was on the road bringing supplies to help people who were evacuated while Martin Heinrich’s staff put out a statement telling people to call a number or get on a website when there was no cell service or internet.
In 2002, when the Park Service’s controlled burn turned into the Cerro Grande wildfire in Los Alamos, my father quickly appropriated the necessary funding to pay the claims and then had staff meet with FEMA daily to review claims. He met with the head of FEMA monthly to make sure claims were being paid quickly. The questions were direct: Did the property burn? If so, FEMA pay the claim. Most claims were settled within a very short period of time. There were few lawsuits, and the federal Inspector General found very little fraud.
I have been astounded and infuriated with the bureaucratic incompetence and abuse that the New Mexico residents have been subjected to. My background in finance makes me highly qualified to challenge and correct FEMA’s incompetence. I understand the power a United Senator has to make a federal agency do its job and I will use that power. I care deeply about taking care of New Mexicans and this situation is inexcusable.
If I am privileged enough to become your United States Senator, I will make this situation right.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed several new gun and public safety laws this year. Do you support the nationwide implementation of similar measures?
I oppose unconstitutional federal legislation that violates the Second Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court has already struck down one of Martin Heinrich’s unconstitutional gun control bills. He clearly doesn’t understand the legal parameters of the 2nd Amendment.
In the last legislative session, a bipartisan coalition in the New Mexico Legislature came together to defeat eight radical proposals that would restrict gun ownership in our state. I oppose gun bans, mandatory gun buy backs, and support New Mexican's Constitutional rights.
Our efforts to stop violence should be focused on gangs and cartels in cities where most homicides occur.
What updates, if any, should be made to the Affordable Care Act?
The Affordable Care Act has been the law of the land for 14 years, but Medicaid is a more important federal program for New Mexicans since almost half of New Mexicans get their health care through Medicaid. Doctors need to be fairly compensated, otherwise, they won’t accept Medicaid, and low-income people won’t have access healthcare.
In the Senate, I will protect Medicare for our retirees. Unlike my opponent, I do not support Medicare for All or the most recent version that he cosponsored—the “Let Every American Choose Medicare Act."
I will continue my livelong work to improve mental health care by increasing resources, and combating the stigma associated with mental illness.
As I've crisscrossed the state, I hear over and over about how health care in New Mexico is a disaster. New Mexico has some great hospitals, but we are ranked 46th as one of the worst places for doctors to practice. Our doctors are fleeing New Mexico because of bad state policies that drive up insurance costs and make practicing medicine uneconomical. New Mexicans must demand that our states' elected officials change laws and regulations so doctors will want to live and work in New Mexico.
How will you work to lower inflation for your constituents?
Excessive government spending is the cause, not cure for inflation. That is simple economics that Martin Heinrich does not understand. Too many of his proposals will reignite inflation and make the cost of living more unaffordable.
The biggest causes of the record-breaking cost of living increases are the Biden/Harris/ Heinrich’s excessive federal spending spree and their restrictive energy policies designed to stifle oil and gas production.
Energy costs are a large cause of inflation. Energy costs are embedded in the price of everything. Goods have to be transported to our grocery stores and retail outlets. We drive. We heat and cool our homes. Many products are made from petroleum products—plastic-- and when the price of oil goes up, the price of these goods also goes up.
I will support fiscal responsibility in Congress. I will eliminate fraud and abuse in government programs. And I will prioritize policies that will drive sustained economic growth of our economy, especially by encouraging American energy production. I will consider a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment.
Having spent my career working as a financial executive in the private sector, I have expertise and understanding of economics and the causes of inflation. Heinrich supported flooding our economy with borrowed money. He supported the mistitled and misguided "Inflation Reduction Act" which had the opposite impact on the economy which has devastated New Mexicans at the grocery store and the gas pump.
New Mexico has seen a rise in housing costs in recent years. What measures would you support to provide New Mexicans relief?
Good housing policy is inherently local and should focus on local solutions. The Las Cruces housing market is very different from Albuquerque or Santa Fe. One-size-fits all federal policies dictated from Washington D. C. imposes mandates on housing providers, reduces consumer options, increases costs and restricts private market competition.
Sound economic policies that provide New Mexicans with better paying, stable jobs should be the foundational approach. When people earn higher wages, families’ standard of living will improve, and the housing affordability gap will narrow.
New Mexico needs more new construction and local governments’ zoning and permitting requirements should be reviewed to speed up and streamline the process. Requiring EV charging stations for multifamily apartments adds $10,000 in additional costs that get passed on in higher rents to people who are highly unlikely to own an EV.
The recent rising housing costs -- like other high costs of living -- are driven by the Harris/Heinrich out-of-control federal spending. On top of the inflation, high interest rates (made necessary to try and slow down the runaway inflation) have made mortgages difficult for many New Mexicans to afford.
My opponent supports the Housing for All Act which is more inflationary government interference. Kamala Harris' proposal to give $25,000 to first time home buyers will just add more inflationary pressure and increase the cost of housing for everyone.
I will support transparent, and sound fiscal policies which will lower inflation and interest rates.
Thousands of migrants enter New Mexico every year. What does the Senate need to do to fix the immigration issue?
Biden/Harris/Heinrich have created a border crisis, a humanitarian crisis, a crime crisis, a drug crisis, and a national security threat.
Border and immigration policy should not be set by Executive Order.
Congress must exercise its legislative responsibility and first pass legislation that secures the border and then pass comprehensive immigration reform.
We must finish the wall. Install state-of -the-art screening technology for 100% of the vehicles passing through our border crossings; Reinstate “Stay in Mexico“; End catch and release; Tighten asylum process; Bolster funding for Border Patrol; Comprehensive, bipartisan, and fair immigration reform; Deport criminals and terrorists; Enact temporary worker program.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the national deficit is expected to grow to $1.8 trillion in 2025. The federal government has maintained pandemic-level spending for many programs. What would you propose in order to reduce the deficit and better manage the country’s budget?
I would oppose Martin Henrich’s radical “Medicare for All,” “Housing for All” “Everything Free for All” socialist government role that is resulting in out-of-control spending.
Every day, families in New Mexico live on a budget. As a nation, we must also live within our means; we must stop spending more than we raise in taxes. Our country needs to be put on a realistic budget and politicians must be held accountable. I will use my decades of experience in managing complex corporate budgets and advising businesses of all types and sizes to bring common sense to Congress and bring our county's out-of-control spending under control.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
New Mexico is failing in so many ways. New Mexico is at the top of every bad list and the bottom of every good list. Martin Heinrich has had twelve years in the Senate and each of these problems have continued to get worse. If you keep sending the same person to Washington who has failed for twelve years, you will keep getting more of the same failures. I am the best candidate because I will always put New Mexicans ahead of party loyalty. I am an independent thinker, and no one will outwork me on your behalf.
I have proposed a New Day in New Mexico.
For a better economy I will create more jobs, foster business growth, cut bureaucratic regulations and stop reckless spending. Better jobs are closely related to improving educational opportunities.
I believe the social injustice of our time is our failing education system. I support more accountability; programs to raise graduation rates; increase reading and math proficiency; increase school competition; transparency and options. I co-founded with my husband and a group of bipartisan leaders Excellent Schools New Mexico. We have helped fund 13 charter schools in underserved areas with 9000 students. Each of these schools is outperforming their peers. These students achieve impressive math and reading proficiency, low truancy, and high graduation rates.
Martin Heinrich’s failed fiscal policies have caused the highest inflation in forty years and his restrictive oil and gas policies add to the cost of everything. He is oblivious to the fact that the average New Mexico family income is low. Groceries, gas, and home prices have been rising dramatically. This puts a tight squeeze on families. The biggest causes of inflation are Martin Heinrich’s: (i) $3.8 billion excessive federal spending spree which includes the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that he brags about ; and (ii) Restrictive oil and gas policies. Nella will fight to reverse inflationary policies.
For safer communities, I will work to secure the border; stop Fentanyl’s flow into our communities; support law enforcement and Border Patrol; support increased penalties for cartel and gang member activity; end the asylum catch and release policies and establish a Wildfire Defense Task Force.
Martin Heinrich and his failed policies on crime is one of the biggest problems facing New Mexicans. He should be voted out of office because he hasn’t done a good job. Crime in too many of our communities is rampant. The criminals and drug dealers rule too many of our neighborhoods.
Heinrich has had twelve years in the Senate and during that time New Mexico’s crime has skyrocketed. He didn‘t want federal law enforcement to come to New Mexico’s aid when it was offered. When I am a Senator I will seek cooperation and coordination with federal, state and local law enforcement; end the DOJ Consent Decree in Albuquerque; will find a way to reinstate qualified immunity for our law enforcement officers and give them the resources and support they need to do their jobs. The catch and release bail system must end. We also need to address addiction, mental illness, poor education and poverty that contribute to criminal behavior and take steps to promote rehabilitation and to reduce recidivism.
We are the only state experiencing an outflow of doctors. This trend has to be reversed. We need to upgrade health care quality and delivery, improve mental health services, and lower prescription drug costs.
We need to unleash New Mexico’s energy potential—all of our abundant sources—solar, wind, geothermal, oil and gas and nuclear. Many of the new federal regulations under the Biden/Harris/Heinrich need to be rolled back. We also need to establish a common-sense, balanced electricity generation portfolio.
