Bill Church: Some things never change -- like pizza on Election Day
Nov. 9—My favorite presidential election of all time was when President Ronald Reagan was reelected in 1984.
This has nothing to do with how I voted that year.
I was working at a twice-weekly newspaper in suburban Oklahoma City and drew the assignment of recording presidential results for Canadian County.
The polls closed at 7 p.m. Oklahomans don't waste their time. I was done double-checking the precinct numbers and filing my story in 90 minutes. And as a single, young gentleman back then, I suddenly had time to pursue "other interests."
(Please insert air quotes if you think it'll make the moment more exciting than the reality of my mullet-encased imagination from 40 years ago.)
The 40-year parallels between the 1984 and 2024 elections probably are best reserved for a vigorous debate among St. John's College students.
In 1984, Reagan was heavily favored to win, and America didn't care if 13-year-old Elon Musk wanted to gloat. Tuesday's election ended Wednesday morning — although odds of a peaceful transition are significantly better than eavesdropping on a conversation about Anna Karenina while pumping gas at Allsup's. Or what happened after the 2020 presidential election.
Every presidential election is historic, but for newsrooms across the country — even the ones decimated by corporate bean counters — the through line on election night is pizza. Journalists prefer it because you can eat a slice and still take notes. At the Santa Fe New Mexican, our pizzas included green chile.
The pizzas arrived at 5:23 p.m. Tuesday. The New Mexican newsroom was already at work.
Columnist Milan Simonich was in demand early and often, answering colleagues' questions about legislative races with the encyclopedic calmness of a multitime Jeopardy! winner. (Thanks, Ken Jennings, I'll take Dirty Campaigns for $1,000!)
Not only was Milan a walking Google search, find another columnist in New Mexico who can deliver his context and punch on deadline, especially with the headline "Winning with a blizzard of falsehoods."
Intrepid reporters Daniel Chacón and Margaret O'Hara missed the pizza; they were en route to the Duke City to cover the congressional races at the major parties' major watch parties.
Chacón grabbed an interview along the way with U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, who landed a big win for Democrats, and was on the move with both camera and pen when other Democrats took the stage at the Isleta Resort & Casino to claim victories.
O'Hara, meanwhile, was at the ready when GOP Senate contender Nella Domenici made an appearance at Hotel Albuquerque to concede defeat to Sen. Martin Heinrich.
Copy chief and headline writer extraordinaire Zach Taylor navigated a tumultuous last hour or so of late movement on the election. As Deputy Managing Editor Brian Barker noted, "It went quickly from no call to no doubt at the end of the night, which always makes those last pages a heavy lift."
The ever-versatile Gabriela Campos was her typically stellar self, bouncing between the Republican and Democratic camps in Albuquerque to get the photos we needed from both sides.
Digital guru Matt Dahlseid — barely back from one of his adventure weeks in outdoor Utah — created a highlights Election Day newsletter sent three times throughout the night, feeding the latest results into our site and making the story switches as results changed.
Nathan Brown's live blog was fluid, newsy and filled with chunky bits of goodness. Mr. Barker's shifting front-page concept had newsy entry points and captured history with visual pop.
And Cynthia Miller, who oversees our local news plan, owned the night with a thorough plan that kept breaking news of importance to New Mexicans. (She also had time to treat herself to candy corn because Halloween's favorite treat is nonpartisan all the time.)
The New Mexican is 175 years old, and past editors would offer the same praise and aspiration.
What hasn't changed — in addition to the pizza — is The New Mexican's commitment to accountability journalism, from investigations to elections.
And no matter what happens in the next four years, we'll continue to focus on what matters for this state, from Pasatiempo's award-winning coverage of the state's world-class arts and culture scene to Matt's old-school sensibilities to tell stories in new ways.
Times change, but what matters most is chronicling this community's interests slice by slice.
