Articles by Blaz Gutierrez

The chief of the Mexican president-elect’s transition team, Luis Videgaray, has confirmed a meeting between Enrique Peña Nieto and President Barack Obama. Peña Nieto was elected in July and will take office on December 1. Likely topics of conversation will include the legalization of marijuana in the context of the drug war in Mexico and immigration reform. The leaders will meet on November 27 in Washington, DC and, although an official agenda has not been released, it is likely that the new Me...

Going into the evening it seems that Mike Coffman (R) has prevailed against Joe Miklosi (D) with election officials releasing 63% of the vote. Coffman leads by 6% points, but this is without taking into account any of the returns from the portions of the district that lie within Denver County. Miklosi is a two-term state representative for House District 9 which encompasses Denver. Coffman is the incumbent for the 7th District with a career in elected politics spanning back to 1989. The distri...

The 2012 election is almost over and President Obama is a favorite to win in many circles. Considering his historic election as the first black President, perhaps now is the time to reflect upon the possibility of who could be the first Latino President of the United States. Latinos make up the fastest growing bloc of independent voters in the nation and their influence is still little understood. Regional politics prevail and the best candidates will be those who are able to break through and p...

(Arizona) -Durante las últimas décadas, los comités centrales del partido, intereses especiales partidarios, y los tribunales supervisados por jueces nombrados por los partidos han construido una pared institucional alrededor de los meros meros de su partido. Los distritos son dibujados cada vez más, con acuerdos bipartidistas: "Yo te doy un distrito X de color rojo si tú me das una Y azul. Entonces podemos enfocar nuestros recursos y luchar por el Distrito Z." Las reglas de acceso al voto, dife...

It just so happens that the majority of those considered to be San Diego’s “swing” voters reside in the area covered by the 52nd Congressional District. The success that Bilbray and Peters have in rallying independent voters to the polls may shape the outcome of the Mayor’s race. With two weeks to go, 9% of the early returns in the 52nd have been from voters who have declined to state a party affiliation. The maps below illustrate just how much the Congressional District coexists with the City ...

2/3 Vote Veto-Proof Super Majority at Stake To read the political mail you would think there wasn’t anyone running for any o­ffice worth voting for. But, the 39th State Senate District actually pits two qualified candidates against each other. In fact, both Democrat Marty Block and Republican George Plescia are said to be “nice guys” who each bring significant experience to the campaign. Independent voters will also like the fact that both supported the Open Primary. Additionally, they can eac...

The City Council-approved financing for the expansion of the San Diego Convention Center has become the most interesting issue separating Mayoral candidates Carl DeMaio and Bob Filner. It is interesting because, Republican DeMaio voted for the hotel tax increase and Democrat Filner is blasting the conservative populist DeMaio for voting for a tax increase without a public vote. Filner also takes issue with the Council’s agreement with the hotel industry to commit the entirety of the hotel tax ...

Photo: Scout Tufankjian for Obama for America In a one sentence opinion, the Supreme Court handed President Obama an important victory in Ohio today. The ruling, simply stating "The application for stay presented to Justice Kagan and by her referred to the Court is denied." effectively opens the Ohio polls to all voters. The Ohio early voting lawsuit has been at the center of several ballot access suits filed this year. While typically open to voters one month in advance of the election, the S...

Photo: Jay L. Clendenin The increased political competition made possible by the California Open Primary has led to numerous circumstances in which members from the same party will face off. In those instances, the candidates can take one of two potential strategic moves: They can either try to show how much more loyal they are to their party base than their opponent or they can attempt to reach out and attract new voters who would not normally vote for them. The Berman Sherman debate was held...