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Article: SWING STATE PSYCHE; As local Republicans head to New York, New Mexico's electoral votes remain up for grabs
- Article from:
- Santa Fe Reporter
- Article date:
- August 25, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Santa Fe Reporter Aug 25-Aug 31, 2004. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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When Barbara Blackwell moved to Santa Fe 24 years ago, she quickly realized that Republicans weren't welcome, so she kept her dirty little secret hidden.
"It's very awkward, and I guess I might have been a closet Republican for the first several years I lived here," says Blackwell, a local realtor. "For business reasons, there are a lot of people who are Republicans at heart who are registered Democrats."
Blackwell emerged from her shell and now is serving her second two-year term as Santa Fe County chairwoman of the New Mexico Republican Party. Her journey is indicative of the state Republican Party's growing strength and increasingly vocal presence in a swing state considered vitally ...