State GOP secretary says party poised for success

ROSWELL — Despite internal divides and scant gains in November’s midterm elections in New Mexico, a top official with the state Republican Party says she is optimistic about her party’s prospects moving forward.

“I would say don’t give into media hype, don’t get down. It’s all a matter of perspective. We are going in the right direction,” Mari Trujillo Spinelli, secretary of the Republican Party of New Mexico, told an audience in Roswell.

Spinelli made the remarks at the Roswell Convention Center on Dec. 28 at the Chaves County Federated Republican Women’s monthly meeting.

A wife and mother of two from Albuquerque, who works in the medical device field, Spinelli was re-elected to the secretary position at the Dec. 3 state party convention in Las Cruces.

Spinelli attributed the feeling of gloom felt by many conservatives to over-the-top expectations amplified by the media and political observers.

“Unfortunately, in my experience, and in my opinion, when the media is all hyped up about something it’s not going to happen,” she told the audience.

Like many in the party, Spinelli blamed losses on redistricting. Maps of the new congressional and legislative districts were drafted by the Democratic-led Legislature and approved by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, also a Democrat.