Domenici acknowledges Biden 'legitimately elected'

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Nella Domenici has joined the minority of Republican officeholders and seekers who say President Joe Biden was "legitimately elected."

"Of course President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were legitimately elected in 2020 — and our country and state are worse off because of it," she told The New Mexican in a statement late Wednesday night.

Domenici, who has been dodging questions about former President Donald Trump, initially refused to tell Roswell Daily Record reporter Alex Ross on Wednesday whether she believes the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, according to a string of posts on Ross' X account.

"I don't want to reengage in that issue of prior elections. I am running for the Senate and looking forward," Domenici told Ross after a meeting of the Chaves County Federated Republican Women.

When asked again, Domenici didn't budge, saying, "I'm not going to answer that."

Late Wednesday, The New Mexican reached out to Domenici's campaign to verify the accuracy of the posts, prompting Domenici to issue a statement saying Biden and Harris were elected legitimately.

Domenici, who is running against Democratic incumbent Sen. Martin Heinrich, simultaneously lambasted news media for even asking the question.

"I'm not playing this absurd political game that some in the media enjoy," Domenici, who is making her first run for public office, told The New Mexican.

"The media has been doing the job for Kamala Harris and Martin Heinrich for weeks — not asking real questions and putting rose color glasses over the issues confronting Americans every day. New Mexicans have had enough," she continued.

Domenici, daughter of the late U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, said she was focused on the issues.

"This campaign is about bringing down painful inflation, securing the border, stropping our crime and fentanyl crisis, and unleashing our energy sector," she said. "You better believe I'll answer any question and more when it comes to the issues that will bring a New Day to New Mexico. If Martin Heinrich truly cared about and worked more for New Mexicans instead of his radical progressive partisan agenda bolstered by the far left media, New Mexico would be doing better today."

It's not the first time Domenici has tried to avoid questions about Trump, who has said repeatedly he believes the 2020 election was stolen.

In July, Domenici canceled an interview on a popular Albuquerque-based radio show because her campaign disapproved of the questions submitted in advance, including one asking whether she believed Biden was legitimately elected president of the United States — a question other Republican candidates have faced as they seek public office.

"The guts of the questions we were going to ask her, they had a problem with, at least the first three," radio host TJ Trout said at the time on his show on KKOB.

"They were political questions," he said. "They were about Trump."

Trout also wanted to ask Domenici whether she still supported Trump following the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol but didn't get the opportunity.