Senator Tom Udall (D-NM)
They're all new and all blue, but can New Mexico's four new members of Congress deliver? Well, one thing about Democrats--they like government. And, like it or not, the era of big government is back. The Dems also happen to be in the majority in Congress and since all five of our delegation members are Dem, NM should be able to get a decent seat at most political tables. (The AP has the story on the swearing-in of our new members. KOAT-TV's Shelly Ribando has video and a wrap of the delegation's oath-taking.)

As for our new members, Senator Tom Udall, shown being sworn in by VP Cheney with wife Jill at his side, has excelled at making friends in politics. This aspect of his personality should serve him (and us) well in the Senate where personal relationships are critical to success. What we don't know yet is whether he will be forceful enough when the time comes to stand up to his colleagues on behalf of the state. In other words, can he deliver a sharp elbow with a smile?

ABQ Dem Congressman Martin Heinrich has shown skill at forging compromise and bringing people together. Politics needs more of that. He also seems not to hold grudges which should make his work easier. He also has a streak of cautiousness. How long will it take him to get up to speed and earn the respect of his colleagues which will benefit this state?

Congressman Ben Ray Lujan has politics in his DNA. He wants to be where the action is, not just warm a chair. We think he will be results oriented. However, a man in hurry can sometimes step on the toes of others. Will Lujan know when to hold them and when to fold them?

Congressman Harry Teague brings maturity, the personality of an avuncular uncle and the shrewdness of a fox to his new office. He has a track record of success in the private and public sectors. He has the makings of a deal maker for New Mexico. But this is a new level of play for Teague. Can he read the D.C. cards as well as he reads those in Lea County? (We had Teague assigned to the House Financial Services Committee for a few hours yesterday. He has not been assigned to that committee, but is on House transportation. Committees that Senator Udall will serve on have yet to be finalized.)

Presiding over the delegation is our new senior Senator, Jeff Bingaman. After a quarter century in the Congress, he has won respect locally and nationally. But the state is now asking a lot from him--perhaps too much--as it puts on the field its greenest congressional team ever. Being leader of the pack is coming late in Jeff's career, but it could reinvigorate the lawmaker. When you know you are taking some of your last shots, you make them your best.

COMMITTEE JOCKEYING
Rep. Heinrich
We share a bit of the concern of our friend and University of New Mexico poly sci professor Lonna Atkeson that none of our three House members has been named to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, but Heinrich on House Armed Services means he will have a say in the bill that sets the spending levels for Sandia Labs' defense work, Los Alamos Labs and military outposts around the state. And Lujan on Homeland Security is relevant to NM. He had hoped for energy, but the House leadership isn't going to put a newbie on energy. Why? Well, one rather course reason is that members of that committee are showered with campaign money by energy and business interests. A committee slot is a real plum.

Gosh, we remember back in the old days when then-Congressman Bill Richardson scored a seat on energy and the dough rolled in even though he rarely had a serious re-elect challenge. They didn't call it pay to play either. Back to today, Senator Bingaman is chairman of Senate energy and with or without a NM House member on that chamber's energy committee, it will ultimately fall to him, as it did Senator Domenici before him, to safeguard the state's billions in national security funding. But hey, no pressure, Jeff.

BIG BILL UPDATE

Bloomberg News hit with a piece today bringing former big Bill Chief of Staff Dave Contarino into the pay for play scandal: 

Romero & O'Malley
An impending split in the ranks of ABQ liberals could bolster the re-election chances of ABQ Mayor Marty Chavez. City Councilor Debbie O'Malley checks in with the blog to announce that she is getting ready to hire staff and launch a mayoral bid, threatening to split ABQ's liberal voters with former State Senator Richard Romero who has formed an exploratory committee and is lining up support from progressive interest groups. And while West Side Councilor Michael Cadigan will announce his mayoral bid today with a tilt toward moderate and conservative voters, that Democrat is also seen attracting liberal votes. If no major Republican gets in the race, Chavez could claim the lion's share of conservatives and moderates, making it that much easier for him to attract 40% of the vote and avoid a run-off election.

O'Malley told me she wants to be listed as a "serious" candidate for the October election along with Cadigan, Chavez and Romero. When I asked her if she and Romero would not kill each other off by splitting the liberals, she said "things could change," indicating she thought only one of them would be around for the duration. She added: "I will have a strong group of supporters."

Romero, 64, is working to get Obama backers to his candidacy. He is expected to get third-party financial support from nonprofit groups that have been active in area politics and drawn controversy because they don't fully disclose who donates to them. The NM attorney general is challenging them.

Rather than try to convert Chavez voters, friends of Romero say he will attempt to attract new voters to the polls, a difficult task for a low-turnout city election. But O'Malley, a popular North Valley politico, will make Romero's task of consolidating the progressive vote difficult. Will one of them blink before the campaign begins in earnest? Stay tuned.

MORE NEW MAYOR STUFF
Chavez
Meantime, beleaguered R's, hammered at the polls in November, have few players to turn to for the mayoral battle. City Councilor Brand Winter carried their banner four years ago, but was trounced. Does he have the heart for another battle? Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, beaten handily by Dem Martin Heinrich for the ABQ congressional seat, is saying he is a no-go for the mayoral derby.

I ran into Mayor Chavez at my local Starbucks Monday afternoon. He was meeting with one of his consultants and indicated all systems are go for his effort to secure another four years. He chuckled over reports circulating that he could be the next Commerce Secretary to replace Big Bill. He was not an original Obama backer.

Chavez and the rest of the mayoral field will rely on the new public financing system. A new city law basically makes it impossible to not to go that route. It says a candidate for city office can take no contributions from anyone who does business with the city. Candidates who qualify will each receive about $325,000.

If liberals can't settle on one standard bearer and no major GOP contender emerges in the next month or so, Mayor Chavez could find the path to a fourth four year term may be strewn with pebbles, but no boulders.

BILL'S DAY

Supporters of Big Bill were relieved not to see him in a subdued and affable mood at his first news conference since announcing Sunday he is withdrawing his nomination to become Obama's Commerce Secretary. (Raw video here.)He read a statement essentially repeating the written statement he sent out Sunday that emphasized his belief that there was no wrongdoing in the awarding of a state contract that is the subject of a federal grand jury. That investigation prompted Bill to get out--some say he was pushed--and return to his Governor duties. He told reporters he "was hurting" over the weekend. He adopted a more conciliatory tone than the one he had at a mid-December news conference where reporters shouted out questions at him about the FBI investigation.

Meantime, the AP confirmed our December 17 blog report about Bill hiring high-powered ABQ defense attorney Peter Schoenburg to represent him in the case. Richardson is not known to be a target of the grand jury.

The Washington Post takes us behind the scenes to the dueling staff messages on whether Richardson was forthcoming enough about the grand jury probe while being vetted. This kind of infighting is going to do nothing to get the Guv back on the national stage.

And Bill is absolutely manhandled in the liberal Huffington Post--another downside of national politics--they kick when you are down.

Here's a five minute interview we did with KRQE-TV and anchor Kim Vallez on the latest with Big Bill.

The Guv now awaits what we all await--the report of the grand jury and any indictments. Until then, the Big Guy appears more vulnerable and weaker than usual. Putting on a smile amid that new atmosphere was not a bad idea.

THE "TRANSITION"

Lt. Governor Denish plans to keep her transition advisory teams intact until they give reports later this month. Those involved are citizen volunteers, but there are two highly paid transition staffers. Both of them have solid reputations, but several e-mailers point out that Denish only recently questioned the fat salaries of the hundreds of "exempt" employees on the state payroll. What happens to Chris Cervini, her communications transition director and Kathy Keith, her transition chief of staff? Both are drawing salaries of over $90,000. Cervini gave up his job at Lovelace Health to join Denish for what he thought would be a full time gig. Will Cervini and Keith join the ranks of state exempt employees, even though they were hired for a transition that no longer exists? We'll watch for an answer.

YES TO YATES

Oilman Harvey Yates has secured the support of former US Senator Pete Domenici, former US Reps Steve Pearce, Heather Wilson and Manuel Lujan and will likely secure enough votes at Saturday's ABQ meeting of the NM GOP Central Committee to win a two year term as the party's new chairman. That's from party insiders who admit that putting an oilman at the top of the party hierarchy may prove controversial, but it could also put the down and out minority party on steady financial footing. Getting Pearce and Wilson to agree on something might also be a good omen. Farmington's Allen McCulloch has also been campaigning for the post and making a positive impression by floating some new approaches for the party. But it may be Yates' promise to bring in the cash that will make the difference in this one.

The Yates family has major oil interests in SE NM and has been a target of enviros for its plans to drill on Otero Mesa in the south. Harvey Yates has a home in and lives in ABQ. He took part in the '08 election by financially backing a group of GOP legislative candidates, but had little success. Like the current chairman, Allen Weh, he is not experienced in politics. Party analysts suggest he will look to hire a strong executive director to manage the nitty gritty details while he concentrates on raising cash and recruiting candidates.

The GOP in '08 suffered one of its worst defeats in state history. Its losses in 2006 were nearly as devastating. (Sorry, Chairman Weh, but this is a no-spin zone.) Reformers are calling for new faces, but they are apparently in short supply. Yates, who is so low-key there are no photos of him posted anywhere on the Web, is already taking heat for hiring Roswell GOP State Senator "Lightning" Rod Adair as a consultant for the legislative candidates he backed. The reformers worry that Yates will continue to rely on Adair and others who have steered the party organization the past four years. They say if he does, the GOP will wander in the wilderness even longer than it is now destined to.

If Yates is to be successful as chairman he will have to reach out and find candidates that not only that agree with his conservative views, but match the moderate and varied make-up of the New Mexico electorate. Unlike Weh, Yates' supporters say he is not in denial about the disaster that has befallen the party locally and nationally. The promise of his leadership is that he will surround himself with fresh faces and welcome new ideas. Whether that promise is fulfilled is the question that hangs in the air.

ON THE HILL

You don't think of new ABQ Dem Congressman Martin Heinrich as the military type but he says he has been named to the House Armed Services Committee. At first glance, it may seem out of character, but this is a good appointment for the metro economy:

“I know that Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia Laboratories are of the utmost importance to our District, and this was key in my mind when seeking my committee assignments. I am proud to serve on the Armed Services Committee and I look forward to the work ahead."

Serving on armed services could boost Heinrich's standing with more conservative voters who have yet to warm to the new Dem lawmaker.

Rep. Harry Teague has been named to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a panel that is set to see a lot of action under Obama's stimulus plan. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan was named to the Homeland Security Committee.

The new Congress is sworn in today, including our three new congressmen--Martin, Harry Teague and Ben Ray Lujan. Tom Udall takes the oath as our new US Senator. We wish them all well and hope they have a healthy competition to outdo each other in protecting New Mexico's interests.

THE BOTTOM LINE

From a reader: "Bill Richardson, the hostage negotiator, now has himself for a client."

E-mail your news and comments, anonymously if you wish.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2009
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

A placid New Mexico Sunday morning was both electrified and shaken as the state's dominant political figure delivered the most stunning news of his lengthy and eventful political career: Governor Bill Richardson was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Obama's Secretary of Commerce. As dusk fell the shaking had finally stopped and everyone settled in for the aftershocks. Some of them may be as powerful as the initial bombshell Bill set off and that sent political shrapnel flying far and wide. We got a bad vibe when Richardson refused to answer questions about a federal grand jury "pay to play" probe at a mid-December news conference following the release of this Bloomberg news story. We wondered whether it was the beginning of a media feeding frenzy that would take Richardson out. Frenzy or not, he is indeed out. New Mexico will not be represented in the cabinet of President Obama. That hurts because a cabinet seat could have made up for some of the influence we are losing in Washington with the departure of four incumbent lawmakers. Your blog goes long and deep on the big story, and it all starts now.

WHAT CHANGED?

When Obama nominated Bill in early December, the president-elect knew there was a federal grand jury probe involving the Richardson administration. What happened since to make that investigation turn politically deadly? Top political and legal sources suggest that someone may have "rolled" before the grand jury; that they admitted there was a pay to play scheme and that they were involved. If so, federal indictments in the case are much more probable. The new president doesn't need any of those floating around. Also, the recent notorious pay to play deal involving the Illinois Governor made the NM situation that much hotter. But maybe nothing changed. Just the level of scrutiny as the nomination hearings approached. That was Richardson's take and why he said he withdrew.

CNN says Obama's aides engineered Richardson's withdrawal, fearful of an ethics blowup. They say Richardson was "stunned." ABC News reported that Obama's aides claim Richardson was not "forthcoming" about the investigation. NBC's Andrea Mitchell, who broke the story, reports there was "heavy pressure" placed on Richardson by the Obama team to abandon his nomination.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: WASHINGTON (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation. Obama's transition office said Sunday that Obama has accepted Richardson's withdrawal.

Complete Obama and Richardson statements here.

ABC News says Obama transition team faults Richardson for not being forthcoming about investigation

Lt. Governor Diane Denish released this statement:

"Governor Richardson postponed taking a position in the administration to ensure that President Obama and the American people face no delays in getting to work to fix our ailing economy, and the President-elect said he looks forward to Governor Richardson joining his administration in the days ahead. In the meantime, Governor Richardson and I will work together, as we have over the last six years, to tackle challenges at home, to craft a workable budget with the legislature and to strengthen our economy to make sure that every New Mexico family has the opportunity to succeed."

Here is the stunning news, coming from NBC at 11 a.m. Sunday:

Romero & Wilson
The new political year in New Mexico began with old faces seeking to keep their fortunes alive, no matter the ravages Father Time has inflicted on them. Democrat Richard Romero, a two time congressional loser and Heather Wilson, who gambled for the Senate and gave up the ABQ US House seat Romero tried to take away from her, have both made moves to keep their hopes alive in 2009. Romero, a former ABQ state senator, who became Senate Pro Tem for a time by making a deal with the Republicans, made official his long-planned move to run for mayor of Albuquerque. He held a New Year's Day fund-raiser featuring the city's liberal elite, including Eric Griego who ran and lost for mayor in '05 and was elected to the state senate in '08. Republican Wilson, clinging to the drapes as she prepares to vacate her House seat this week, floated the idea of a 2010 gubernatorial bid.

Romero is one of three serious contenders so far for the mayor's post--incumbent Marty Chavez and City Councilor Michael Cadigan--both Democrats--are the other two. (Where's a big name Republican?) The new public financing law has some tough hurdles and that could keep the field to only three or four candidates. Chavez will be seeking his third term in a row and his fourth overall. If the field stays small, he will try to put the win away by getting 40% of the vote in the first round and avoid a run-off election.

Heather's hurdles are formidable. She told KOB-TV's Stuart Dyson that she is a proven fundraiser, having raised millions for her congressional campaigns, but she didn't mention that that was national money that won't be available for a governor run. And if she does pull the trigger, we told Dyson, she will likely face a contentious GOP primary. She lost the US Senate GOP primary to Rep. Steve Pearce. Don't expect any deference to her from other GOP hopefuls if she goes for guv. But if she can land a big high-paying D.C. consulting job, she probably won't be asking for any.

The fate of Romero, Wilson and other would-be challengers will be largely determined by how soon-to-be Guv Diane Denish (assuming Big Bill's Commerce Secretary nomination does not falter) and Mayor Chavez conduct themselves in the coming months.