Letter to My Supporters

June 4, 2008

Dear Friends & Supporters,

I just wanted to write you a brief note expressing my gratitude for everything you did to support my recent bid for the New Mexico State Senate. As you know, I was forced to drop out back in April after my company notified me back in January that they would fire me if I won this election because they could not spare me for the three months I would have to take off work to spend voting on my various committees in Santa Fe. Unfortunately, my several month long attempt to find alternate employment in the greater Albuquerque area was unsuccessful and so in late April I found myself confronted with a decision whether to get elected or lose my means of supporting my family.

It was a very difficult decision to drop out of the race and one I only made after much prayer and discussion with my family. Ultimately, I decided that it would be unfair to my family to put them through what probably would have been several months of unemployment, financial hardship and uncertainty so that I could realize my dream of making a difference in terms of furthering good conservative and Christian principles in the State Senate for the good of the people of the great State of New Mexico.

I told my wife I was expecting to receive about a third of the votes cast, but you know as I watched the returns come in on Election night this past Tuesday evening, I was very surprised to see how close the race was. The first results I saw were 58-42% which I thought was a very decent showing for a candidate that dropped out five weeks earlier and stopped active campaigning a couple weeks prior to that. Then, it was 56-44, then 55-45 and then 54-46 with 23% reporting and a few thousand votes left to count and I began to wonder if I might actually win even after having left the race. The final tally was 53.8% for Sander Rue and 46.2% for me so I ended up losing by only seven and a half points which was an incredible showing considering the fact that my departure from the race was covered in all the major newspapers several weeks ago!

I am very humbled by all the support I received not only from you but from many elected and party leaders and I have no doubt that had I stayed in the race that I would have won a convincing victory given your strong support and would today be a State Senator Elect. Though we had a number of key differences on the issues and though Sander attacked me for my alleged "radical ideas" and "radical record," which he failed to specify since of course his allegations lacked any substance, in a letter he sent out back in April, I congratulate him on his narrow victory because at least it means that the 23rd State Senate district will remain in Republican hands at least for the next four years. In fact, thanks to my critique of his more liberal positions on the issues, I was happy to see that he went ahead and adopted a number of my campaign positions in support of the right to life, in opposition to amnesty for illegals and in defense of traditional marriage which he had never held before so I will leave it to you the voters to hold his feet to the fire and make sure that he votes in accordance with his rhetoric.

I would also like to say that I was very happy to see Rep. Steve Pearce, whom I strongly endorsed for the US Senate, win a very close victory over Rep. Heather Wilson who has a much less conservative record. I was, however, sad to see my friend Senator Joe Carraro lose his congressional primary in the 1st District to a candidate who is much less conservative and who appears to be neither truly pro-life or anti-illegal immigration and was disappointed to see my friend Marco Gonzales narrowly defeated in his bid for the Republican nomination in the 3rd District as well, but I guess we have to take our disappointments along with our successes. Now, I urge you all to give Steve Pearce's campaign the same energy and support which you gave mine to ensure his victory over ultra-liberal Rep. Tom Udall and help keep Pete Domenici's Senate seat in the Republican column. In addition, I urge you to support my friend Dan East for Congress, our new Republican nominee in the 3rd District. Dan is a solid pro-life conservative who can lead us to victory over Ben Ray Lujan in November and return the seat to Republican hands.

Thank you again for all of your support for my campaign and may God bless you and your families!

Best regards,

David Pyne
Fmr. State Senate candidate
23rd District
505-908-1033
Pyne4statesenate@gmail.com

Attorney David Pyne Ends State Senate Campaign

David Pyne for State Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 30, 2008
Contact: Caroline George

505-603-5100
info@pyneforstatesenate.com


ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO –Attorney, former United States Army officer and grassroots Republican leader David Pyne ended his campaign for State Senate today, thanking his supporters and releasing the following remarks:

“I am withdrawing from the race to put my family first. Over the past few months, my employer threatened to dismiss me if I won my race saying that they could not afford to allow me to take the three months off a year as would have been required for me to vote during the annual legislative sessions and in interim committees during the remainder of the year.”

“After months of consideration and after falling short in my efforts to secure other employment in the greater Albuquerque area to allow me remain in the race, I ultimately decided that it would be unfair to my family for me to put my desire to be elected to public office and serve the people of this great state above my duty as a husband and father to provide financial security for my wife and children. This has been one of the most difficult decisions in my life. I am profoundly grateful to have received the support of so many state and county Republican Party leaders and elected officials for my candidacy over the past five months.”

“It would have been a tremendous honor to serve the citizens of the 23rd district in the state legislature and champion the conservative Republican principles like the right to life and providing badly-needed tax relief to our citizens that we believe in for the good of the people. I am saddened that due to family and financial/job security concerns I will be unable to do so at this time.”

“It has recently come to my attention that some have suggested that I somehow attempted to conceal my decision to exit the race in an attempt to win the race and then opt out to allow the Bernalillo County Republican Party to appoint a replacement. This malicious rumor is completely and utterly false. I had always planned on making my difficult decision known to the residents of the district by May 1st at the very latest.”

“Despite our differences on some of the issues that matter most to conservatives like myself, I wish Sander Rue all the best as he prepares to serve as the next State Senator from the 23rd district to keep the seat in Republican hands. I will always look back fondly on this opportunity to fight to represent the interests of our citizens in the New Mexico State Senate and consider myself very blessed to have been able to meet so many good people along the way.”

State Senate Candidate David Pyne Endorses Pearce for US Senate

David Pyne for State Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 14, 2008
Contact: Caroline George
505-603-5100
info@pyneforstatesenate.com


ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO –Attorney David Pyne, candidate for State Senate in the 23rd District, endorsed Congressman Steve Pearce for US Senate today saying that Pearce's lifelong dedication to conservative principles made him the best choice in the race.

Pyne stated that Representative Heather Wilson's record in Congress was not a conservative one on either social or fiscal issues. He said that the turning point for him was when he attended a meet and greet for her in his neighborhood during the 2006 campaign. At the meeting he asked her whether she was pro-life and she said yes, but that she did not believe in changing abortion laws to prohibit or substantially restrict the availability and legality of abortions in this country. "You cannot be pro-life and not support overturning Roe v. Wade or support a constitutional ban for abortion with strict exceptions. Words are cheap. Heather Wilson's own words demonstrate she is not pro-life which is not surprising since she first ran for Congress as a pro-choice candidate, a fact which many Republicans have forgotten."

David said that he had met up with Pearce several times on the campaign trail and was always impressed by his statements of conviction on issues of importance to social conservatives such as the right to life, Second Amendment rights and his strong opposition to illegal immigration and commitment to secure the borders. He said that he remembered attending a Pearce for Senate fundraiser last December shortly after declaring and Pearce was very supportive and said that if there was anything he could do to help him to let him know. At the fundraiser, Pearce talked about how he was able to get elected in a district with only 35% Republican voter registration with a high level of Democrat support due to his strong pro-life stand. "That won me over," Pyne stated. "I promise to do everything I can to help Steve Pearce win the nomination and get elected as our next US Senator to replace Pete Domenici as the de facto leader of the New Mexico Republican Party."

Pyne also praised Pearce for his service to his country in uniform during the Vietnam-era and criticized Heather Wilson for trying to distort Pearce's solid record not only in support of our military bases here in New Mexico like Cannon Air Force Base but in support of America's national security overall.

State Senate Candidate David Pyne Endorses Carraro for Congress in 1st District and Gonzales for Congress in 3rd District

David Pyne for State Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 12, 2008
Contact: Caroline George
505-603-5100
info@pyneforstatesenate.com

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO –Describing himself as New Mexico’s next State Senator from the 23rd district, attorney and grassroots Republican leader David Pyne endorsed Senator Joe Carraro for 1st Congressional District race today stating, “I am endorsing Senator Carraro for Congress because I believe that he is the only true conservative in this race. During his two decades in the New Mexico State Senate, Joe has stood with conservatives particularly on social issues like abortion, gun rights, traditional marriage and immigration. I also believe that he is the stronger candidate to face the Democratic nominee for the general election,” Pyne stated. “Carraro is the underdog in this race, but with our help, he can still win the June 3rd primary.”

He added that he no longer believed Sheriff Darren White was a real conservative. “White’s volunteering to serve as Rudy Giuliani’s state campaign chairman was a real wake up call for social conservatives like myself as it demonstrated that he was not one of us. His complete lack of regard for Giuliani’s hard left positions on important social issues such as his support for abortion on demand including partial birth abortion, gay civic unions, amnesty for the twenty million illegal immigrants in this country and banning over one-hundred and fifty different types of semi-automatic weapons was very disturbing.”

David said that previously he liked White, but that his several month stint as Giuliani’s state campaign chairman which he only abandoned after declaring his candidacy for Congress and realizing it might be a political liability proved he was willing to sacrifice any claim to conservative principles on the altar of political expediency in order to further his political career. He said that he also found it troubling that White announced his run for Congress before he even knew what issues he was running on adding that was the opposite of the way it should have been. Pyne declared, “We need candidates of conviction, not candidates of political expediency that are running merely for the sake of getting elected to higher political office rather than to advance the cause of conservative principles here in this country. Running on strong conservative principles will be the key to victory for Republicans this election year as it has always been.”

Pyne also endorsed his fellow attorney Marco Gonzales for Congress in the 3rd District in which he resides. “I agree with (former) Congressman Bill Redmond, that Marco represents the best chance we have to take back control of the 3rd Congressional district in a long time. Tom Udall is one of the most far-left members of the United States Congress and his ultra-liberal voting record is not representative of the district so it is high time for a change.” David praised Gonzales for his strong support for the right to life and said that it was his passionate statements in favor of social conservative principles including prayer in schools that won him over and caused him to endorse him. Pyne also said he was grateful for Gonzales’ words of support for his candidacy and wanted to return the favor.

He said he also liked Marco’s Republican challenger, Dan East, and believed he is also a good conservative, but found himself closer to Gonzales on the issues he cares most about. Pyne concluded by stating that he believes that Marco’s experience in serving for ten years as a senior staffer to New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici on defense and other issues made him better qualified to represent the citizens of the Third Congressional District as their next representative in the United States Congress.

State Senate Candidate David Pyne Releases Campaign Platform, Attacks Opponent as Too Liberal for his District

David Pyne for State Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Caroline George
April 11, 2008 603-5100
info@pyneforstatesenate.com

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO –Attorney and grassroots Republican leader David Pyne, candidate for State Senate in the 23rd District, released a comprehensive campaign platform delineating his top priorities if elected to the State Senate in the June 3rd primary. No Democrats filed for the State Senate seat by the March 18th deadline and so the winner of the Republican Primary will determine who is elected as the district’s next State Senator.

Pyne said he was running on time-honored conservative principles and pledged to implement common-sense conservative solutions to New Mexico’s problems on a host of issues like improving the quality of education for New Mexico students, providing major tax relief for New Mexico’s taxpayers including phasing out the personal state income tax over a period of four yeas and proposals to help fight illegal immigration.

He stated that Sander Rue hailed from what he referred to as ‘the Brad Winter wing of the New Mexico Republican Party.’ Rue served as Albuquerque City Councilman Winter’s campaign chairman during his ill-fated Mayoral campaign in 2005. Pyne added that Winter was elected Council President late last year with a lot of liberal Democrat support over the objection of many of his fellow Republicans on the city council who walked out in protest.

David also stated that his opponent Sander Rue was not a social conservative and was a newcomer to the idea of fighting illegal immigration. “Unlike my opponent I have been a lifelong supporter of efforts to securing our borders and a longtime opponent of rewarding illegal immigrants with amnesty and free federal and state government benefits other than public education for the children of illegal immigrants,” Pyne stated. “During three previous campaigns for public office here on New Mexico, Rue has never revealed his position on social issues, strongly suggesting that those positions are at odds with mainstream conservative Republicans in our state.”

Pyne further stated that in contrast to his opponent’s attempts to conceal his positions on social issues of importance to New Mexico Republicans, he had printed his conservative positions on these issues on all of his campaign literature and proclaimed them in all of his campaign press releases and public speeches. He said that his recent endorsement by New Mexico Eagle Forum was proof positive of his strong commitment to conservative principles like the right to life.

Pyne also questioned his opponent’s position on abortion and his commitment to the pro-life cause and noted that Rue was not a strong supporter of the Second Amendment right of our citizens to own a firearm, and was not a strong supporter of efforts to protect traditional marriage. “During the recent debate over rewarding gay couples with civic unions and tax benefits, an initiative I loudly and publicly opposed, Rue’s silence was deafening.” “Furthermore, Rue failed to speak out against liberal Democrat Governor Bill Richardson’s socialized health care plan as I did.” Pyne concluded by stating that “The bottom line is that my opponent is just too liberal for Republicans in the 23rd District.”

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Pyne for State Senate Campaign Platform

Top priorities

If elected, my top priorities as your next State Senator will be: First to improve the quality of our education system to help our children learn better and reduce the drop out rate; Second to phase out the personal state income tax over a period of four years to put more money in the pockets of lower and middle class families who need tax relief in these difficult economic times; Third to fight illegal immigration by removing government incentives which encourage illegal immigrants to remain in our state, drain our economy and increase violent drug and gang-related crime.

Improve Education Quality

I oppose the ‘No Child Left Behind’ law because it arbitrarily brands many of our public schools as ‘failed.’ If elected, I will implement common-sense solutions such as a merit-pay system to reward harder working teachers to improve education quality and splitting APS into west and east side school districts to increase accountability and local control. I will also work to accelerate public school construction to meet the needs of West Side residents. In addition, I am a strong supporter of providing tax incentives for children of lower and middle class families to attend private schools and be home-schooled to increase educational choice.

Cut Taxes & Create Jobs

If elected, I will work to hold the annual increase in state government spending to manageable levels to help pay for meaningful tax relief for poor and middle class families. Specifically, I will work to phase out the personal state income tax over a period of four years while limiting the increase in overall state spending to 3.6% a year. I also support eliminating unnecessary and/or burdensome regulations on businesses which decrease productivity and hinder them from paying their employees higher salaries and from hiring more workers. By making New Mexico more business friendly, we will help to fight poverty in our state by helping to create more jobs for our citizens most importantly our working and middle class residents.

Fight Illegal Immigration

I will work to eliminate Albuquerque's sanctuary city status as a haven for illegal immigrants and will fight to increase the ability of state and local law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration laws. I will also work to revamp our issuance of driver’s licenses to illegal aliens by requiring that they be clearly marked to indicate their immigration status. Moreover, I will work to cut government benefits to illegals and penalize companies that hire them to incentivize them to leave our state. I will also fight to secure our southern border and reduce crime by illegal immigrants and gangs.

Defend Family Values

If elected, I will vote for a state ban on partial-birth abortions and parental consent laws for minor girls seeking abortions. I also support overturning Roe v. Wade and support a national ban on abortion with very strict exceptions. In addition, I will support legislation to protect and defend traditional marriage between a man and a woman. I strongly support abstinence-only education and if elected will fight to restore it to our schools as the only proven way to fight HIV/STD's and unwanted teen pregnancies. I support all laws, rules and regulations that discriminate on the basis of race in any way most notably in employment decisions in government and in our schools. I also support the exercise of our First Amendment freedom of religion in our schools including prayer and references to our Creator.

Reform Health Care

I strongly oppose Governor Richardson's attempt to pass socialized health care legislation in New Mexico. I support free-market solutions to help make health care more available and more affordable to our lower income and middle-class citizens by reducing costly regulations and mandates on health insurance companies and health care providers while increasing competition and choice. I will also fight to decrease health care costs by denying free non-emergency health care to illegals thus reducing the burden on our health care system.

Support Our Second Amendment Rights

I support the right of private citizens to own and possess a firearm as guaranteed by the Second Amendment. I oppose any and all efforts by the state or federal government to back any type of semi-automatic weapons for private sale or ownership. I support a system of instant criminal background checks at gun stores. I believe the right to own a gun should only be denied violent felons and those convicted of domestic abuse and drug crimes.

Support a Healthy Environment Without Hindering Economic Growth and Development

I support efforts at greater conservation as well as government regulations which help guarantee clean air and water for all of our citizens. I also support increasing development of traditional domestic energy sources in our state including clean-burning coal and nuclear power as well as oil and natural gas which are some of the biggest natural resources in our state. If elected, I would work to eliminate unnecessary and overly burdensome regulations on the development of energy resources in this state to make fuel and energy more affordable for those who can least afford to pay high-prices for these necessities of life.

State Senate Candidate David Pyne Welcomes Rue to Race

David Pyne for State Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Eric Lucero
March 7, 2008 505-934-4728 Ellu57@earthlink.net

David Pyne, Republican candidate for State Senate in the 23rd District, welcomed pharmaceutical salesman Sander Rue to the State Senate race to replace Sen. Joe Carraro on Thursday. “I understand that Sander has run for public office three times before including twice for Albuquerque City Council and once for State Representative which of course means he is an experienced candidate. I look forward to debating him on the issues that Republicans in the district care about hopefully sometime next month.”

David is a thirty-eight year old former United States Army combat arms officer, conservative Republican leader, local attorney and resident of the Paradise Hills community in northwest Albuquerque who announced his candidacy in early December. Pyne was born on a US Army base in Seoul, Korea where his father was serving during the Vietnam War. He spent over six years working in a number of Department of Defense capacities in the Washington, DC area prior to relocating to Albuquerque a few years ago including a three-year stint as a US Army Headquarters staff officer where he worked only two miles from the Pentagon when it was attacked on September 11, 2001. “As someone who has worn the uniform, I am a strong supporter of our brave troops fighting overseas in our just war against Islamic terrorist groups and understand some of the amazing sacrifices they and their families are making on behalf of their country on a personal level.”

Pyne said he moved his family to Albuquerque because of his strong family ties to the area and the improved cost of living. His aunt, uncle and cousins have lived in Rio Rancho for over a quarter of a century and his grandparents moved here nearly a decade ago. Over the past several years, he has served in a number of state and county Republican Party leadership positions, most recently as a Ward Chairman for the Bernalillo County GOP and as a member of the New Mexico GOP State Central Committee. Pyne is also a member of the Republican National Committee, the Center for Emerging National Security Affairs, the National Contract Management Association, the American Legion, the Association of the United States Army, the Military Officers Association of America, Gun Owners of America and the National Rifle Association.

He received a Bachelors of Arts from Brigham Young University with minors in international relations and history in 1992 and is also a graduate of Southwestern University School of Law. In 2000, he graduated from Georgetown University’s prestigious School of Foreign Service and received a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies. David has been married to his wife, Donelle, for over twelve years and they are the proud parents of four beautiful daughters—Christina age 11, Kathryn, 7, Caitlin, 6, and Ashley, 5.

He said he enjoyed running for three months without an announced challenger, but had taken nothing for granted and would have been surprised if he had not drawn a challenger given the fact that he was running for an open seat. “As this campaign progresses, I believe clear differences will emerge between myself and Mr. Rue on the issues that will make our campaign of greater interest to primary voters so I am glad he is in the race,” he said. “I continue to believe that I am the strongest candidate in the running with the best chance of winning the primary and the general election, but understand I will have to work hard during the next several months in order to do so.” Pyne added that he was gratified to have received so much support from a large number of elected party leaders both in and out of public office since declaring his candidacy.

Last week, Mr. Pyne gave a speech at the Albuquerque Federated Republican Women luncheon,
saying he is running as the social and fiscal conservative candidate in this race. “I have always been strongly pro-life, pro-family and pro-Second Amendment,” he said. Pyne added that once elected to the State Senate, he would fight to pass a partial birth abortion ban and a parental consent law, protect the sanctity of traditional marriage, stop illegal immigration, and phase out the personal income tax. During his speech, David also condemned liberal Democrat Bill Richardson as an “absentee governor” and praised Republican state legislators in attendance--Senator Joe Carraro and Representative Janice Arnold-Jones--for their hard work in joining together with centrist Democrats in helping to defeat Richardson’s ‘radical socialized health care’ bill and other ‘excessively costly liberal pet projects’ during the annual legislative session that ended last month.

Mr. Pyne said he was very encouraged by the turnout at the Sandoval and Bernalillo County Republican conventions he attended on February 16th and February 17th which he noted was more than double than what it has been at past conventions. He said that the excitement level of the attendees at those conventions bodes very well for the chances of strong conservative Republican candidates like himself to defeat Democrats in the fall.

He said that he is running to work hard to improve the lives of his fellow citizens and to make sure that his children grow up enjoying the same if not a better quality of life in this state that his extended family has. “I believe the best way to do that is to elect me to the State Senate because I understand what needs to be done. Once elected to the State Senate, I will fight to increase the quality of public schools, cut taxes, promote job-growth, secure our southern border and bring honesty and integrity to Santa Fe. I look forward to holding on to this important seat for the GOP and joining my fellow Republicans already serving in the State Senate beginning with the 2009 legislative session.”

Campaign Update

Last weekend, I was privileged to address the Bernalillo County Republican Party volunteers for about 15-20 minutes and take a few questions from the attendees. We had about 25-30 in attendance and I had a lot of positive feedback from my remarks about how Republicans win when they run on furthering conservative principles. I told them I am a conviction conservative who is running because I strongly believe I can make a difference for good for the people of this state to lower their taxes, create new higher paying jobs, enforce our illegal immigration laws, improve educational choice, to defend New Mexico values and make implement free market solutions to make health care more affordable. Earlier this week, I travelled to the Roundhouse in Santa Fe to watch the state legislature in session and to meet with members of the State Senate Republican Caucus many of whom have offered to support me in any way they can to help ensure that I am elected. I was gratified to hear several tell me that they are looking forward to serving with me in the State Senate. I had a particularly good visit with our great Senate Minority Leader Curt Ingle.

This will be a big weekend for the Republican Party. As you probably know throughout the state, the County Republican Parties will be holding their pre-primary conventions where they will be selecting delegates to the state pre-primary convention which will determine which of our federal candidates will appear on the ballot. I will be attending the Sandoval County Republican Pre-Primary Convention on Saturday from 9:30-11:30am at the old church in Corrales. Later that day I will be making a brief courtesy appearance at the Carraro for Congress Meet and Greet at Gardinhos which is being held from 2-5pm. Then on Sunday, I will be attending the Bernalillo County Republican Pre-Primary convention from 1-5pm at the Albuquerque Mariott where I have reserved a table for my supporters to pass out my brochures and tell people a little bit more about me and why I am running to get elected as your next State Senator.

I hope to see you there!

State Senate Candidate David Pyne Addresses Grassroots Republican Activists and Meets with Veterans

David Pyne for State Senate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: David Pyne
January 14, 2008 505-908-1322 info@pyneforstatesenate.com

State Senate Candidate David Pyne Addresses Grassroots Republican Activists and Meets with Veterans at Military Coalition Luncheon

Last Friday, State Senate Candidate David Pyne joined Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White and a number of other candidates running for Congress as well as state and local office in addressing grassroots Republican activists at the Annual Candidate Forum of the Federated Republican Women (FRW) at the Chamisa Hills Country Club in Rio Rancho. He also addressed the monthly Sandoval County Republican Party meeting along with Congressman Steve Pearce and other candidates the following morning.

After introducing members of his family in the audience at the FRW forum, Pyne described himself as a staunch social and fiscal conservative who would fight to cut taxes, create new jobs, fight illegal immigration and defend family values. Pyne also spoke of his three daughters who he said were enrolled in a ‘failed’ public school and said if the voters elected him to the State Senate he would “fight to improve local control of our schools and increase educational choice to ensure that no child is stigmatized by being forced to attend a ‘failed’ school.” He then addressed his ideas for reforming health care stating that if elected he would fight Governor Bill Richardson’s attempts to pass socialized medicine and would champion free market solutions to make health care more affordable and more available to the 18% of New Mexican citizens who remain uninsured.

Pyne went on to ridicule leading Democrat presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama saying they were running on the kind of change that “would return us to the failed Clinton-era policies of the past which were resoundingly rejected by the voters in the 1994 elections.” During his remarks at the San Bern FRW candidate forum, Pyne said he was running to bring change to Santa Fe and pledged to join with other Republican leaders throughout the state to fight to build a new Republican majority in the state legislature which he noted has been controlled by the Democrats for the past 78 years. He concluded with a rallying cry for Republicans to put aside any differences they had on the issues to unite to defeat Democrats running at all levels in November. Pyne was interrupted by repeated applause and appeared to get the most enthusiastic response from the audience of any of the candidates.

Later the next day, Pyne met with veterans and current and former military leaders at the Military Coalition Luncheon at the Marriott Albuquerque hotel. Pyne described how he was serving on the US Army headquarters staff working two miles from the Pentagon when it was attacked on September 11, 2001. “As a former US Army officer, I have been a lifelong supporter of our military and our brave men and women in uniform and I strongly support our troops in harm’s way in the Middle East.” Pyne said his next scheduled major campaign event will be to address the Albuquerque FRW forum on January 24th from 2-4pm at the Tanoan Country Club along with other Republican candidates.