Robert Kwasny

Robert Kwasny (Republican Party) ran for election for Bernalillo County Clerk in New Mexico. He lost in the Republican primary on June 4, 2024.

Kwasny also ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent New Mexico. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on June 4, 2024.

Kwasny completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Robert Kwasny was born in Michigan. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1971 to 1974. Kwasny earned a high school diploma from Farmington High School and also graduated from the U.S. Air Force Electronics Program in 1981. His career experience includes working as an analyst and independent researcher. As of 2024, Kwasny was affiliated with the American Red Cross and Advanced Mountaineering First Aid.^[1]

Elections

2024

Bernalillo County Clerk

General election

General election for Bernalillo County Clerk

Michelle Kavanaugh defeated Clay Pryor in the general election for Bernalillo County Clerk on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Michelle Kavanaugh (D)	60.2	176,191
	Submit photo	Clay Pryor (R)	39.8	116,539

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 292,730
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Bernalillo County Clerk

Michelle Kavanaugh defeated Karen Montoya in the Democratic primary for Bernalillo County Clerk on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Michelle Kavanaugh	60.1	27,260
		Karen Montoya	39.9	18,126

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 45,386
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Bernalillo County Clerk

Clay Pryor defeated Robert Kwasny in the Republican primary for Bernalillo County Clerk on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Clay Pryor	67.2	14,259
	Submit photo	Robert Kwasny	32.8	6,944

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,203
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Kwasny in this election.

U.S. Senate

General election

General election for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Incumbent Martin Heinrich defeated Nella Domenici in the general election for U.S. Senate New Mexico on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Martin Heinrich (D)	55.1	497,333
	Nella Domenici (R)	44.9	405,978

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 903,311
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Jerry Rose (Independent)
Cameron Chick (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Incumbent Martin Heinrich advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Martin Heinrich	100.0	122,961

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 122,961
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Joshua Kenderdine (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Nella Domenici advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico on June 4, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nella Domenici	100.0	79,809

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 79,809
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Kwasny in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Bernalillo County Clerk

Ballotpedia survey responses

Robert Kwasny completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kwasny's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am the first born son of Legal Immigrants.

I understood how America crossed an ocean to save Europeans, crossing an ocean full of Nazi submarines dedicated to sinking everything going in that direction. Joined the USAF during the Vietnam conflict when others were often dodging the draft because AMERICANS gambled it all: Life, Limb and Sanity to liberate people they'd never meet otherwise. America gave me my LIFE, so I'm running to give back. For 49 years I've been in leading, bleeding edge technologies in various fields, analyzing the worst problems C-Level executives could articulate and understanding their hearts desire for their best solution, then creating that solution for them. I've been a Systems Analyst for Fortune 250 companies, Ma & Pa Companies and even NASA. Created some of the First Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence circuits in 2002 on microprocessors, and the software to drive it all.

I work with AI daily, and for the last 320 days I have built some of the finest resources for New Mexicans that need common sense answers to wicked problems that beset our beloved State of New Mexico. I created the best resource available to support the Referendum Project to neutralize the Six Bad Bills passed over the huge number of objections, nearly 1M objections, to give the voice back to the people so these bad bills would go on the ballot where they belong, not the backroom from whence they came. I am a common sense solution provider!

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

The citizens of New Mexico have an advantage with me in the Position of Bernalillo County Clerk. My nearly five decades of experience is derived from listening to and solving the worst problems possible. The County Clerk must make use of the data entrusted to them and digest it on a regular basis for the County Board of Commissioners. Without Good Data, Commissioners are at risk of making bad decisions. We in NM have had enough of bad decisions, especially those coming from Santa Fe on a regular basis. As County Clerk for the largest County in NM, I feel it is my task to also coordinate with the other 32 county clerks to bring NM back from the edge of self destruction. Procedures I develop for Bernalillo will be shared with other counties!
Election Integrity is not just two words, it is EVERYTHING!
What good is an election if the voter's wishes are subjugated by a County Clerk that does not preemptively protect the citizens that do vote? My Artificial Intelligence skills will be applied to Identify, Verify, Catalog and Insist on cleaning voter roles. I already created the system to do this work... it is on line and ready to go but has garnered nothing but blockage by the Secretary of State who continues to ignore requests for month after month. This is a travesty of the highest magnitude and undermines everything that is the basis of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
I am not a person that rolls over when the going gets tough and you need a tough person!
Newspapers used to provide information for voters but newspapers are disappearing at paradigm shifting record rates. It should be up to the Clerk to start providing information that is now missing in elections on the various proposals, projects and initiatives in Common Sense, non-partisan language for the citizens. Since NM is 52% Hispanic, I am dismayed that there is a huge gap in providing information for Spanish Speakers. New Mexico, in-fact, has never even published the State Constitution in Spanish... I was stunned at that fact. So I actually translated it for publication. Information is the HEART of the Clerks Duties and you'll want an expert to make information available via Artificial Intelligence. That's my expertise!!

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

New Mexico has dived to the bottom of everything good and is at the top of everything bad. It's so sad for me to see this beautiful state, destroyed by bad policies in this way. NM has nearly $50B in its Sovereign Funds and $3.5B in cash... there is NO REASON for our rankings, other than bad management. As County Clerk for the largest County by far... educating the Commissioners on how to improve each area of government, after careful research and analysis is where the MAGIC needs to happen. Bernalillo funds much of what Santa Fe mismanages because of the lack of preemptive discovery. I believe in my heart of hearts, that helping the Commissioners understand alternate scenarios could be responsible for the betterment of all citizens!

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Bernalillo County is the most populated county in New Mexico. The Bernalillo County Clerk's office needs to get back to the historical roll of "Clerk".

When Romans and Greeks started growing from tribes into villages, towns and then cities... the "Clerk" was the buffer of truth that could be relied on to have the "data" on hand to settle any dispute between persons, between citizens and their legislators.

When you look at that history, you see that problems amplify when the "Clerk" isn't doing top notch work.

Yes, recording births and deaths, marriages and divorce, proposals, bills and laws, and making sure the transcripts of meetings in the public sphere are a critical part of state governance and the legal system suffers when the Clerks records are not first rate.

Beyond records creation and retrieval, there is a newer element that is possible and that is rapid analysis of the records for what I call preemptive guidance. I have been doing this for the commercial world in my career and it should be done in the political service realm as well.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Leonardo Di Vinci... hands down is the most amazing human I'm aware of -- because he is the polar opposite of the proverbial "One Trick Pony".

People see a Pony using it's hoof to count out a math problem or to answer yes or no to questions... but while its very entertaining, it's all a show.

Leonardo was the real deal... in absolutely everything he did, he did it better than any of his peers. And, that is because he had no peers.

From nutrition to art, mechanics to human anatomy, education, record keeping, tutoring -- the very definition of the Renaissance Man that I've always aspired to become.

What a guy!!

Varied Experiences MATTER... in problem solving. There might be a mechanical answer, or something from physics. When you cross-pollinate your problem solving with a variety of disciplines, it's amazing what happens.

Get a burr stuck on your socks, invent velcro... have a chemistry problem, might have an answer because you cooked an meal and ruined it...

I've applied his attitude to my attitude... it allowed me to teach college classes, without a degree because I arranged to hire graduates in my businesses on the proviso that they must tutor me.

Took contracts that would be challenging, when software was lame, I partnered with the smartest person alive to help create a version of Microsoft's MSDos that was faster and controlled 15 dumb terminals that worked better than anything Microsoft did.

360 degree Optics, Aviation, Electronics, automotive racing engines, Graphene, Nanotechnology, Organic Chemistry, Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology are topics that I could speak comfortably with experts in those fields.

Being in all those fields... has served me well.

I have created solutions that were #1 products for years running.

All because of Leonardo Di Vinci -- except... when I draw human anatomy... it always comes out as stick figures.

Still working on that one!

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand clearly is a work of art... and it shows how people when given power without checks and balances -- too often become dictators.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

NOTHING is more irritating to a citizen than officials that dodge questions. It's one thing to not know and need time to research, another thing entirely when an official uses the power and weight of office to run the clock out and wear down someone making an inquiry. I believe doing so goes against the oath of office and that official should be called out for practicing that technique.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Serving the public that funds the office that should be doing the absolute finest work with the budget available.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

The power of ingesting the records and presenting the information within those records, in a narrative, easily understood way.

The power of Artificial Intelligence is upon us to be used correctly or unwisely... if used correctly, my 20+ years as an Artificial Intelligence pioneer could be applied to the Bernalillo County Clerks office to serve the people in ways completely inconceivable in just the last few years!

It can completely open up the door of transparency of the operations of the county, but beyond that... can measure the impact of what various proposals might have on the county by applying the content of proposed bills to the data on handl

Preemptively avoiding potential mistakes, exposing potential pitfalls and heralding big wins if the data supports that a proposed bill is going in that direction.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

If a holder of office has experience in guiding a group of stakeholders through a process... that's important experience.

If a person can debate logically, that is important experience.
If a person knows how to work and be responsive, that's the experience that should be a factor in holding an office.
If a person has managed large teams, that's a factor too.
I personally have had as many as 58 reporting to me... which is about 3x more than the average in managerial scenarios... so if someone has a patriach or matriarch mentality and they fall apart when their team gets larger than an average large family unit... they are not suitable for holding a larger office of responsibility.
If they are not good delegators and are not familiar with juggling many projects simultaneously... they are not likely to be a good office holder.

So, depending on HOW THEY DID... in their previous Government or Political history... to me is more determinate in predicting how they might do in a larger role.

Too often however, the average citizen has observed the "party machine" that advances those loyal to the party instead of loyal to the people.

Measure the results, not the affiliation to government service or party is my answer...

In the private sector, many Department Level or C suite individuals are completely capable of running circles around those that chose the political or governmental path to garner their personal experience...

Then, there are others that manage very well indeed.

It's all about the individual.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

In nearly 50 years of systems analysis, what happens is that you have the most in-depth conversations in the field of problem solving imaginable.

Most people never have the luxury of getting that level of experience.

We will be facing HUGE paradigm shifting problems that will need solving, solving rapidly.

But more than that, if a County Clerk cannot preemptively predict when the county will be in a year or two, five or ten... then what you will have is a great deal of leading from behind.

Never a good thing!
In industry, it is the kiss of death for a company!

Especially in the field of Information Technology which according to the current Deputy Clerk, IT has been the red headed step child of the goals of the County.

This is a horrible misunderstanding of the way to manage. The clerk recently had a security intrusion that was almost solved with having to pay Ransomware... there is no way that should have happened but there are skills of analysis of the offerings of vendors and services that have to be understood at very, very high levels... not simply that Jack or Jane Salesperson seems like a nice person so we should do the deal with them.

The ability to determine the line correctly between new and emerging tech that is extremely powerful, and tried and true existing tech... is a hyper important skill.

Too many people don't have the skills to determine technically, what they are looking at, how it compares and how it came to be... all important factors in the world of the Clerks Data Silo world of Information Technology.

Without doubt, there will need to be rapid changes and knowing the line between the leading edge, bleeding edge and being hopelessly behind -- is critical.

And for that... you need team management, goal setting and follow up abilities.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Have not bothered with that outreach.

What I have done instead is create certain important things:

I have massaged all CFIS financial data to make it more useful to candidates.

I have created nmBadBills.com for the Citizens so they understand exactly what the six bad bills are about and how they will be impacted.

I've created the largest private data silo capable of producing the best Common Sense answers -- that a private Artificial Intelligence system to deliver "the goods" to citizens.

If I spoke with police and sheriff's... I'd be their guy and they would know it... but I'm doing something for the nation, something important, to replace the lack of Civics Instruction in schools... I do things!

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

There should be nothing hidden and those that attempt to hide anything that doesn't have to do with national security (even that needs a close look) should be subject to something very similar to the The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

The UCMJ is the primary reason that the military has had the highest respect of all entities in the government, however any attempts that are similar on the civilian side are so watered down they are essentially meaningless.
This is a huge problem that is currently being compounded by out of control "Law Fare" that are being created from within government.
If I had the proverbial "magic wand" I would wave it at that problem!
There are Prosecutors that need to be prosecuted for their flagrant violations of the intent of the laws they are supposed to enforce... there are legislators that specifically work against the will of the people.

In New Mexico we have the Citizens Bill of Rights, Section 4A in particular that is supposed to be a remedy for problems surrounding when government accountability goes rogue -- but nobody is using it.

Probably the best thing that could happen for the future of Bernalillo and all of New Mexico, is having the Citizens be extremely aware of their options when no common sense communication seems to work with officials intent on their own career advancement, instead of what is best for the people they are supposed to be serving well.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

U.S. Senate

Ballotpedia survey responses

Robert Kwasny did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Robert Kwasny campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. Senate New Mexico	Withdrew primary	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

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Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 31, 2024

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 31, 2024

[1]

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Robert Kwasny

Biography

Elections

2024

Bernalillo County Clerk

General election

General election for Bernalillo County Clerk

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Bernalillo County Clerk

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Bernalillo County Clerk

Endorsements

U.S. Senate

General election

General election for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate New Mexico

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2024

Bernalillo County Clerk

Ballotpedia survey responses

U.S. Senate

Ballotpedia survey responses

Campaign finance summary

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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