Republican DA candidate Torraco to get "equal time" on KKOB

ALBUQUERQUE -- Lisa Torraco, the Republican challenger for district attorney in the Second Judicial District, has been offered a one-time Saturday talk show later this month on 770 AM KKOB , the state’s largest talk radio station.

 

Torraco tells NMI that the show offer comes as a response to an Aug. 7 letter to the station from Mark Jarmie, attorney for the Republican Party of New Mexico. In the letter -- read it here and here -- Jarmie asks for "equal time" given the fact that two-term incumbent Democratic DA Kari Brandenburg has had a monthly Saturday show on KKOB for two years.

 

Brandenburg had been the co-host of “The Women’s Room” which aired on Saturdays from noon to 1:00 p.m..

  

Today, the station decided to give Torraco a show -- but only for one-hour on Saturday August 30, from noon to 1:00 p.m. KKOB program director Pat Frisch tells NMI that Brandenburg's show has been discontinued as a result; her last show was broadcast on Aug. 2.

 

"By rule, we have to pull her off until after the election is over," Frisch says. Explaining the decision to give Torraco one hour versus Brandenburg's two-year run, Frisch adds. "According to the equal time rule, it's whenever it's considered to be two candidates in the race. That's when the equal time begins."

 

Torraco clearly would have preferred more time.

 

"I'm happy I got that one show," Torraco says, "but there's no question she's gotten a big advantage." 

 

Torraco, a veteran local attorney and first-time candidate, says she thinks the show will help her underdog race to be the Albuquerque-area’s top prosecutor. She faults local media for failing to cover the race that has the most to do with local security, as opposed to national security, she says.

 

“The radio show is going to help. The people who are interested will get to know what I’m about. They’ll see my take on the issues and it will open doors for me. It just will. And I think people will begin to take the race more seriously,” she explains.

 

Unsurprisingly Torraco emphasizes that her show will focus on the DA's race.

 

"It will be a call-in show and I will absolutely talk about my campaign. They said that's ok," she says. "I'll talk about where to donate, where to pick up signs, and if you want to ask a tough question you'll be able to do that too."

 

Frisch wouldn't say he sees an irony in KKOB --- a station that features mostly strong conservative voices -- appearing to favor Brandenburg, the Democrat. But he did say this: "We usually get hammered all the time that we're too conservative."

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