May 30—Longtime New Mexico political analyst and pollster Brian Sanderoff told the Journal that he believes the guilty verdict in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial will further motivate his supporters in the run-up to the November election.

But the question is how the 5% of voters who are undecided feel about having a convicted felon as president?

“In the past, Donald Trump’s support base has stuck with him (after his impeachments as president and verdicts in civil trials),” Sanderoff said. “Donald Trump’s supporters feel that this trial was politically motivated, so I don’t think it will hurt him with his base.”

“The question is, will the jury’s verdict hurt Trump among the 5% of voters who are still undecided.”

“I think fundraising (for Trump’s presidential campaign) will increase tomorrow. I think his supporters will become even more motivated and angry. But there’s still the undecided people who it could influence their ultimate decision on who to vote for, and only time will tell how they will react or respond to this verdict.”

“Most politicians would have a hard time surviving after being found guilty of a felony, but Donald Trump is unique in the circumstance that his support base will not be dissuaded from supporting him.”

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. said, “No one is above the law — not even a former president. Today the law prevailed over revenge and retribution.” Heinrich faces Republican Nella Domenici in the Nov. 5 election.

New Mexico’s other U.S. Sen., Ben Ray Luján said the verdict “must be respected.” He said the charges against Trump were “serious and make it clear that he is unfit to service as president.”

Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce released a statement saying, “From the beginning, we’ve contended this trial was a witch hunt against President Trump and countless legal experts have concluded this trial was a sham and politically motivated.”

Pearce in the statement accused the prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office of being a “leftist” and contended the judge on the case, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan had a “political vendetta.”

He didn’t comment on the jurors who found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records after the five week trial in the hush money case.

The Democratic Party of New Mexico released a statement on the verdict from Michael Tyler, the communications director of the the Biden Harris 2024 campaign, who said, “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.’

“But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.”