Here's the latest comings and goings on the contenders for the four ABQ city council seats up for election this October. My first round of handicapping has incumbents Debbie O'Malley and Brad Winter positioned for re-election. District Six in the SE Heights will be a wide open affair as incumbent Martin Heinrich has vacated the seat to run for Congress. We will hold the analysis until we have the complete field announced. In District Eight in the far NE Heights, real estate broker Trudy Jones is positioned to take over the seat from fellow Republican Craig Loy who ran unopposed four years ago.

We see the long hand of ABQ Mayor Chavez in candidacies announced against O'Malley and Winter, but they retain solid support in their districts. They go off as 2 to 1 favorites with effective negative campaigning needed against them to shrink the odds. We'll keep you posted as post time nears.

As for the mayor, this is his second consecutive term, a time when the political cycle dictates some weakening. We've seen the city council assert itself more, but they had permitted the pendulum to swing so far toward the executive that it is just returning to a more normal balance. Chavez could be suffering some burnout after so many years, but he combats it with willpower and energy. His ambition for higher office also keeps him on his toes.

His Honor has lost control on a couple of issues, but the central governing ideas for the city continue to emanate from the 11th floor, not the council. His ideas, like him, remain generally popular. If those ideas start to dry up, more substantial power could start to flow through the nine councilors. One other thing. It is possible, if not likely, that Marty could forgo a run for Guv and seek another mayoral term in '09. Having that option doesn't prevent lame-duck disease, but it makes it less severe. (The mayor or someone else would have to go to court to get current term limits overturned as was done with city council term limits in order for him to run for another term.)

RUDY, AL TO NM

Insiders report in that GOP prez candidate Rudy Giuliani will make his first NM campaign appearance in ABQ in June. Additional details to come, but we are told the former New York City mayor will hold a fund-raising event. Meantime, Democrat Al Gore, who is not being ruled out yet as a possible '08 contender, is also coming to the state, not to campaign but to talk the environment.

NO RELIEF IN SIGHT

With pump prices back above three bucks a gallon, the idea of rebating more of the state's windfall energy surplus directly to consumers should again arise, but it isn't because politicians of all stripes want to spend every dime that comes their way. ABQ State Senators Ryan and Cravens made a stab at the concept in 2006, but did little to advocate for their rebate proposal. Even conservatives are too tempted by the huge pot of gold that has been coming into Santa Fe the past five years because of high natural gas and oil prices. If all that money is being spent wisely and is necessary for government programs, we should not have any rebates. How many of you believe that?

It is not much prettier in Washington, where NM's two U.S. Senators command the Senate Energy Committee--Jeff Bingaman as chairman and Pete Domenici as ranking member. But we are hearing the same old tune--the problem is long term. Well, as the fella once said, in the long term we're all dead. Republican Pete could help by working to persuade the President to end the no-end-in-sight Iraq war which creates political instability that puts a premium on world oil prices; Democrat Jeff could slap the oil and gas industry on the butt for their refineries and why they only seem to be working part-time. Yes, less dependence on oil is the long term solution, but does that mean we deserve a do-nothing Congress while New Mexicans tool around in eight year old Chevy Malibus trying to make ends meet? (If you own a gas hogging Hummer, you are on your own.)

THE CITY REALLY DIFFERENT

Will someone please do something about the over-the-top Santa Fe police department? A crime wave has swept the city and now they want to hire Mexican nationals to fill cop vacancies? Actually, the department needs more vacancies--including the top brass. Where is the mayor? Hiding in a booth at Tiny's waiting for it all to go away as this story breaks nationally? Mayor, you are supposed to be safeguarding an American treasure, our nation's oldest capital city. But you already knew that.

THE BOTTOM LINES

This long, long race for the ABQ congressional seat is going to be a barrel of fun--or not. One of our Dem emailers ripped into hopeful Martin Heinrich here, calling the city councilor a "pretty boy" with no substance, a comment that deserves rebuttal. Here it is from Heinrich cheerleader Andrew Scrank: "Where's the beef?" In a very short political career Heinrich has made enormous contributions on a host of important issues: economic justice (e.g., the ABQ minimum wage initiative), environmental protection (e.g., the protection of Open Space, incentives for hybrid vehicles...crime control..." Opines Andrew. But Heinrich, we're sure, is thankful that they aren't calling him ugly.....Go ahead, Bill. Make it official.

Thanks for the company and the email. Send it via the link at the top of the page.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2007
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Teresa Cordova
Nothing captures the public imagination like a public official using their position for petty personal benefit. So it is with Bernalillo County Commissioner Teresa Cordova who burst into the statewide consciousness this week for going over the head of her son's English teacher and principal to have a failing grade revised which allowed him to graduate from Rio Grande High School. The cherry on top of the story was that the boy's father, former ABQ public schools board member Miguel Acosta, also was in on the grade fixing.

The coffee shop crowd wagged their tongues and their heads in disbelief at the special treatment with murmurs of "only in New Mexico" heard time and again.

Will Commissioner Cordova's overreach translate into a challenge when she comes up for re-election next year? She represents much of the ABQ South Valley and won the Democratic nomination with 23 per cent of the vote in an eight way race in 2004; her closet challenger garnered 21 per cent. Winning the Dem nod is tantamount to winning election as the district has so few Republicans they are on the endangered species list.

Incumbent Cordova could have expected at least one challenger in the highly political district, but with a brigade of outraged parents whose children received no special treatment calling her on the carpet, Cordova next June might find herself again facing a jammed pack primary. If memories don't fade, making the grade with voters could be a lot tougher for the commissioner than getting one fixed at the local high school.

MOVING AND SHAKING
Scott Darnell
The new press flack for the NM GOP is twentysomething Scott Darnell who has worked several campaigns here, including for President Bush and '06 secretary of state hopeful Vickie Perea. Darnell replaces former ABQ Journal reporter Charlotte Balcomb Lane who had a short-lived stint in the position. Maybe she can take a vacation cruise now with Marta Kramer.

You can't say Scott isn't a true believer, as witnessed in the photo displayed here in which he protests a 2004 John Kerry NM visit. At the time, Darnell was chair of the NM College Republicans. Will he get to protest visits from a 2008 Dem Prez nominee named Bill Richardson?

We told you back in March that Kentucky politico Alan Feldman would become the new executive director for the state GOP. Feldman, who as ties to the Republican National Committee will start work May 30, reports state GOP Chairman Allen Weh.

No official confirmation yet, but Alligator talk has Bianca Ortiz Wertheim, wife of ex-NM Dem Party chair John Wertheim and onetime director of cabinet affairs for Big Bill, leaving her project manager position at the Center for Economic Development at the University of New Mexico and heading downtown to ABQ's Government Center to work for none other than Mayor Marty Chavez. Reliable city hall and political sources say she is coming aboard soon, but we have not been told in what capacity. Will she also help out on a Marty Chavez for governor campaign against fellow Dem Diane Denish? Insiders say she will not be helping Lady Di, for sure.

MEXICO MANANA

A traveling reader, an attorney from southwestern NM, blogs in on his recent visit to Palomas, Mexico, located across the border from Columbus, NM where the Governor has ordered an increased state police presence because of ongoing drug related violence in Palomas.

"I was in Palomas last Thursday (Mother's Day in Mexico) on business and saw "Big Papi's" extra state troopers deployed pursuant to his order. It consisted of state police officers standing around the customs house while customs agents harassed people going into Mexico. Nothing about safety was discussed, only what we were doing and how much money we were carrying. Big Papi's "Order" only another grandstand ploy."

I haven't seen Big Bill referred to as "Big Papi," but we could always use another colorful nickname. As for sending more state police to the border being a grandstanding play, maybe. But remember when one state cop would be responsible for hundreds of miles of southern NM territory? It appears we at least have brought the numbers up enough to send some cops to the border if needed.

MORE TO THE STORY?
Your Blogger
Some skepticism greeted the news we blogged yesterday that Secretary of Health Michelle Lujan Grisham was leaving her cabinet position to plot a political career, with an eye on the Dem nomination for the ABQ congressional seat held by Republican Heather Wilson, but considering other races too. Here's an example from the mail bag:

" I really don't think we need her to "decide" which office she will run for. There are those that will still say she didn't do a very good job at the jobs she had. Who would give up a job that pays $117,000 for no employment in sight? I think there is more to her story than we are hearing right now."

But an emailing involved Democrat, saw things differently: "We need somebody--Heather will tear pretty boy Martin Heinrich to pieces. His run is a joke. All she has to do is ask "Where's the beef"--what has he really done? Said the Dem of the ABQ city councilor, the sole candidate in the race thus far.

Have a thought to pass on? News of the day? Send it along via the email link from the top of the page, and thanks for making us a part of your day.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2007
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Sec. Lujan Grisham
New Mexico Secretary of Health Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the end of a somewhat tumultuous tenure Monday, resigning her post effective June 11 while toying with the idea of a run for the ABQ congressional seat held by Republican Heather Wilson. Negative headlines surrounding her personnel decisions will not help the UNM Law School graduate and 18 year veteran of state government launch a political career, but she rebuts her critics by telling me she "has made the tough decisions" necessary to challenge the status quo and move the department forward. The lone Democratic candidate for the ABQ congressional seat, City Councilor Martin Heinrich, already looking over his shoulder for a possible Hispanic challenger (or female), had to feel hot breath on his collar as Lujan Grisham played political tease, even if nursing a few wounds from her tenure. (She will be replaced by Dr. Alfredo Vigil, Chief Executive Officer of El Centro Family Health.)

Michelle's relationship with Big Bill was an element of the late Monday speculation, with one Gator reminding us it was on this blog in December that speculation surfaced that the Guv had asked her to return to her old job as head of the state agency on aging, but that she reportedly balked. She told us Monday she was not asked to make a switch and that she leaves the administration on "good terms," while acknowledging she is "a tough cookie."

The outgoing secretary, who was born in Los Alamos and moved to ABQ for college and stayed, deflected speculation that she is not serious about seeking political office and was trying to divert attention from the personnel controversies that plagued her in recent months. She said she has put off politics in the past, but has long had the political bug. She is not announcing a run for a specific office, she said, because she wants to consult with advisers on what would be her best bet. Among those advisers is Lt. Governor Denish who has urged her to run for office. Lujan Grisham, 47, whose late husband was an ABQ attorney and who has two teenaged daughters, does confirm that it is the congressional seat that is highest on her list. By the time the calender turns to August she'll have a decision.

A LUJAN LEGACY

If Lujan Grisham does dive into the political pool, she won't be the first in her family to do so. Her grandfather, Eugene David Lujan, was the first Hispanic New Mexican to serve on the state Supreme Court, having been elected in 1945 and retiring from the bench in 1959. She does not believe she is related to NM House Speaker Ben Lujan, but her branch of the Lujan's does have ties to those of former NM GOP Congresssman Manuel Lujan.

ON THE TRAIL

Meanwhile, back on the Heinrich front, he winged to D.C. last week to introduce himself to the powers-that-be at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee(DCCC) which can't take sides in a primary battle, but can surely create buzz for a candidate they see as a strong challenger.
"I wanted to show these folks that I am a credible candidate and I think I accomplished that," explained Heinrich.

Besides the aforementioned Lujan Grisham, still out there as a possible Dem candidate is former UNM President Louis Caldera, but because he is a non-native Hispanic and one who was dumped from his prexy post, he is generating little buzz. Insiders tell me they expect a seriously contested primary to cost in the area of $400,000 and maybe more. Heinrich is now concentrating on fund-raising, trying to scoop up cash while he is the only announced candidate.

"The DCCC advised that I go home, clear the field and come back and see them when things have settled," informed the councilor. Well, warm up your John Deere, Martin. There seems to be a number of fields in need of clearing.

Raising money is one way of clearing a field. Heinrich, 36, will file his first fund-raising report in July and if the figure is impressive, it could settle the issue of a primary challenge. No matter how much he or any other Dem candidate raises, Heather will again likely have the advantage. Despite protestations from one Wilson operative, Dem money mavens say when you add up the cash spent in the two year '06 cycle--including the massive independent committee expenditures---Dem Patricia Madrid was clearly outspent as she told me in a recent interview. The issue, however, may be academic. With so much money being thrown by both sides at the race, the saturation point is quickly reached.

WILSON'S STIFF ARM

Her constituents will be either baffled or outraged by Wilson's refusal to answer questions from the ABQ Tribune regarding her stance on Iraq war policy. All other members of our congressional delegation did. Wilson issued a statement on the latest round of Iraq House votes, but refused to stand for questioning. This is the side of Wilson that prevents her from sealing the deal and getting off with no serious re-election challengers as did her GOP predecessors Manuel Lujan and Steve Schiff.

Stiffing the press on the #1 issue in the USA is outlandish, but if the press is going to take it, they are going to keep getting it. Back in the day, when we were on the daily beat, a refusal from a politician to comment meant all bets were off. We put the posse on them, refusing to quote them on any other event until they addressed the issue they were evading as well as repeatedly broadcasting their evasion. Soon, the offending politico and their press flacks were begging to talk.

Heck, maybe we should round up Larry Calloway and other old school types, get a contract from the papers and head to D.C. guaranteeing that we'll have Heather talking like a chatterbox within 72 hours. That's 71 hours to party in Georgetown on our expense account. Our team would need just an hour to cure Heather's congressional lockjaw.

Have political news? Gossip? Comments? Send them our way via the email link at the top of the page.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2007
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

Domenici & Bingaman
We're probably going to see more of this as we draw closer to the election year--mutual backscratching by New Mexico GOP Senator Pete Domenici and his Dem counterpart, Jeff Bingaman. As Pete dips below 50% approval among Dems in one poll, the duo seems to be everywhere together, perhaps helping Domenici with Dems disillusioned with his role in the US attorney scandal. The long-serving duo have never encouraged opposition against one another and it looks as if that unwritten pact is going to stay intact as Domenici faces what could be a sterner test than usual in '08.

While Jeff isn't forgetting Pete, what about Big Bill? The question arose when we saw this news release from the Guv's office announcing that additional state police would be sent to Columbus, NM in reaction to violence in Palomas, Mexico across the border from Columbus.

"Governor Richardson is working with U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman to ensure that the federal response to this violence at the border is sufficient to protect New Mexicans who live in the area." Said the release. What? No mention of working with Pete too? Had to be an oversight, didn't it?

BINGAMAN'S BALANCE

It is not an easy balancing act for Bingaman--being chairman of the Senate Energy Committee and coming from a state with a big oil and gas industry as well as a vigorous environmental community. When he signed on with Domenici on the Bush energy bill two summers ago, he took hits from the enviros and won kudos from Big Oil. Enviros remain concerned that he is not aggressive enough on global warming and have even put up a radio ad urging him to work for a bill more to their liking.

By the way, Domenici and Bingaman may be cooing together on a variety of matters of late, but global climate change is not one of them. The duo has split, with Pete wanting China to abide by any caps placed on greenhouse gas emissions. Chairman Bingaman is looking to other R's for support of his bill.

A stunning 71% re-election victory last year has given the state's junior senator plenty of insulation to take the heat that comes his way from both the left and right. Now that he and his fellow Dems have real power for the first time in years, Bingaman can expect the temperature to keep rising.

RADIO RATINGS

770 KKOB-AM continues to hold the #1 position in adults aged 12 and over in the latest ABQ ratings, garnering an 8.0 share of the audience. An interesting sidebar--KKOB's short-lived competition--talk radio KAGM-FM--has skyrocketed in the ratings since abandoning the talk format and going to classic country. The station, after being nearly last, now ranks #15 in the 12 plus category among the 30 stations rated.

MONTANO'S MOMENT
Montano
A New Mexican took the national stage Saturday as Major General Melvyn S. Montano, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), a former adjutant general of the New Mexico National Guard, delivered the Democratic party's radio address. Montano told his audience that the Iraq war has stretched National Guard resources to a breaking point. He recorded the address at an ABQ studio and did it in one take, according to an on-the-scene Alligator.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA RUMORS

They say it's the Internet that fuels the political rumor mill, but it is the mainstream media in the form of this piece from the Santa Fe New Mexican that has made public the rumor of a split in Big Bill's marriage. Was this relevant? Was it "news?" Something for the Ivory Tower flock to mull over.

IDAHO MEETS NM

NM politicos will remember Shea Andersen who covered the political beat for several years for the ABQ Tribune. He moved to Idaho so his wife could take a new job, but it turns out the Gem State is treating Shea pretty well too. He has been named editor of The Boise Weekly. That news comes on the heels of former Rio Grande Sun reporter John Foster taking the reins of the Idaho Democratic party as executive director. Do Shea and John now put green chile on their Idaho potatoes?

Help keep the politics coming., Send your news tips and comments via email from the link at the top of the page.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2007
Not for reproduction without permission of the author