GOP convention moved to Texas to avoid coronavirus rules
May 12, 2021 GMT
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) The New Mexico Republican Party is moving their three-day convention and retreat this weekend to Amarillo, Texas, citing speakers’ concerns over New Mexico’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Mass gatherings in New Mexico are limited to 150 people or less in most counties. Restrictions are based on county-level infection and vaccination metrics, with the state planning to fully reopen once 60 percent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Texas lifted its mask mandate and restrictions on business in March. Amarillo’s health department recommends mask use around vulnerable people, social distancing and and exercising caution during gatherings, but such public health measures are not required.
New Mexico Republicans moving state convention to Texas Daniel J. Chacón
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The Republican Party of New Mexico is holding its annual state convention next month, but it won t be in-state.
The three-day event, dubbed Operation Freedom, will be held in Amarillo, Texas, which has much looser COVID-19 restrictions than New Mexico, where mass gatherings under even the most lenient conditions are limited to 150 people. It was named Operation Freedom because had we been able to have it in our own state, we would not have to travel, Kim Skaggs, the state GOP s executive director, said in a telephone interview Monday.
The Republican Party of New Mexico is holding its annual state convention next month, but it won t be in-state.
The three-day event, dubbed Operation Freedom, will be held in Amarillo, Texas, which has much looser COVID-19 restrictions than New Mexico, where mass gatherings under even the most lenient conditions are limited to 150 people. It was named Operation Freedom because had we been able to have it in our own state, we would not have to travel, Kim Skaggs, the state GOP s executive director, said in a telephone interview Monday.
New Mexico s COVID-19 restrictions, some of the most stringent in the nation, are likely to be a hot topic during the convention, particularly since Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, both Republicans, will be the keynote speakers.