Peter DeBenedittis

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Peter DeBenedittis

Democratic Party

Education

Graduate

Pennsylvania State University

Ph.D

Pennsylvania State University

Peter DeBenedittis was a candidate who sought the Democratic nomination for governor of New Mexico in the 2018 election. He dropped out of the race in March 2018.

Biography

A native of Colorado, DeBenedittis earned a doctorate in speech and communication from Pennsylvania State University in 1992. After spending time working in Guam and Maryland, DeBenedittis settled in New Mexico in 1995, where he worked for the New Mexico Media Literacy Project on projects intended to help reduce rates of alcohol and substance abuse. In 1999, DeBenedittis founded Peter D. & Company, now known as the Alcohol Literacy Challenge, an organization which promotes DeBenedittis' advertising-based approach to limiting alcohol abuse.

Education

• Ph.D. in speech and communication - Pennsylvania State University (1992)

Elections

2018

See also: New Mexico gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

DeBenedittis was a candidate who sought the Democratic nomination for governor of New Mexico in the 2018 primary election.

Campaign issues

The following issue statements were found on DeBenedittis' campaign website. For a full list of issue statements, click here.

“	The Problem New Mexico is at the bottom of nearly every quality of life ranking. It's time to hold politicians accountable. Every incumbent holding political office needs to own up to the fact that New Mexico has hit rock bottom under their watch. Compared to other states, here’s how low New Mexico has sunk: Rank Among States 50th in Poverty – 20.4% of New Mexicans had incomes below the poverty line of $24,250 for a family 4 in 2015. 50th in Children in Poverty – 28.5% of children under 18 in families whose incomes were below the poverty line in 2015. 48th in Working Aged Women in Poverty - 20.6% of women18-64 years old with incomes below the poverty line in 2015. 51st in Working Aged Men in Poverty - 18.7% of men 18-64 years old with incomes below the poverty line in 2015. 43rd in Income Inequality – The top 20% of New Mexico households earn 17 times more than the bottom 20%. 48th in Unemployment – 6.6% of all workers were unemployed in 2015. This means that 13.8% of people in the state held jobs and were still in poverty. 46th in High School Graduation – only 68.5% of high school students graduated on time at the end of the 2013/14 school year. 50th in Higher Education – 32% of New Mexicans aged 25-34 had a 2-year associates degree or higher in 2015. 47th in Teen Birth Rate – 37.8 babies born per 1,000 New Mexico women aged 15-19 in 2014. 45th in Savings & Assets – 10.3% of New Mexico households used predatory payday and title loans, rent to own, and pawning to get by in 2013. New Mexico's Agenda First and foremost, we need to give everyday New Mexicans a voice in government. We need to listen to what the real problems are that we share and identify solutions everyday New Mexicans can agree on. To do this, as Governor, Peter will host a series of meetings at 5 levels across the state during the first year he’s in office. Once we have taken the time to listen to everyone and distill down our desires into practical solutions our state can enact, we’ll need to hold the legislature accountable. We’ll ask each incumbent of both parties if they have 100% SUPPORT for New Mexico’s Agenda. If a lawmaker doesn’t unequivocally support it or tries to weasel out of stating their positions by saying things like “I don’t commit to supporting anything until I see the bill,” Peter will be encouraging the volunteers who helped host the meeting to run in the primary election against those incumbents. We need to create a climate where political candidates are falling over each other to find creative ways of helping New Mexico. Lawmakers need to run campaigns where they offer ideas to put New Mexico’s agenda into action instead of running the nasty attack ads that currently dominate campaigning. Health Care for All We can all swim together or sink individually. A larger risk pool equals lower cost premiums and co-pays. Plus, the health sector leads NM’s job growth. Providing health care for all will grow even more jobs in rural areas where they’re needed. The good people at the Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign have been working since 1992 to put together a broad coalition of over 145 statewide and local organizations representing diverse interests. Their plan passed the House in 2017, but sadly, was killed in the Senate. Here’s a shout out to the bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Roberto Gonzales, and to Rep. Deborah Armstrong, the Chair of the House Health Committee for facilitating its passage. You can read the bill here. (link: https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/17%20Regular/bills/house/HB0575AFS.pdf ) The ground work has already been done for this phenomenal plan which will: automatically cover most New Mexicans offer a comprehensive set of health care services provide freedom of choice of health care provider and facility—no more networks—even across state lines simplify administration since it is not dependent on the costly and complicated private insurance system	”
—Peter DeBenedittis

See also

• Governor of New Mexico
• New Mexico gubernatorial election, 2018

External links

Suggest a link

• Alcohol Literacy Challenge
• People First - Peter DeBenedittis for Governor of New Mexico
• Peter D for Governor - Facebook
• Peter DeBenedittis - Twitter
• Peter DeBenedittis - Instagram
• Peter DeBenedittis - Youtube