--It's so cold Governor Martinez was seen snuggling with Majority Leader Sanchez!

--It's so cold House Speaker Lujan is having hot tea with the Tea Party!

--It's so cold instead of handing out cold, hard cash, Roundhouse lobbyists are giving lawmakers hot apple pie!

--It's so cold the ABQ Apple store introduced the iParka!

--It's so cold we saw a politician with his hand in his own pocket! (Johnny Carson)

--It's so cold First Gentleman Chuck Franco is grilling his baloney sandwich!

--It's so cold State Auditor Hector Balderas is wearing a toupee!

--It's so cold Sam Bregman gave Javier Gonzales some of his hot air!

--It's so cold Lt. Governor Sanchez offered to fix leaky roofs for free!

--It's so cold State Rep. "Lucky" Varela changed his nickname to "Icy!"

--It's so cold Sen. John Arthur "Dr. No" Smith started a bonfire with all bills raising taxes!

--It's so cold Governor Martinez loaned Big Bill her personal space heater!

--It's so cold Darren White let Mayor Berry back into his office so he could stay warm!

--It's so cold that House Republicans decided not to walk out of the House energy committee--they ran!

--It's so called Susana announced she would not sell the state jet and immediately flew to Hawaii!

--It's so cold that Diane Denish agreed to co-pilot the jet!

As for today's weather, we get the forecast from ABQ South Valley politico Sisto Abeyta:

Good Morning Albrrrrrrrrrrquerque! Bundle up folks--it's a cold one!

AND IN OTHER NEWS....

It could have been worse and it's going to get better. That in a nutshell was the message from state Dem Party Chairman Javier Gonzales in his official re-election announcement.

Gonzales faces a spirited challenge from ABQ defense attorney Sam Bregman when the Dem central committee meets to pick the chairman April 30.

Meanwhile, here in Bernalillo County, insiders say politico Victor Raigoza is well-positioned to become the new chairman of the BernCo Dem Party. He would be replacing Ana Canales. A county central committee meeting is slated for March 19 to make the decision.

BILL'S PAPERS

Former Governor Big Bill's papers have gone private for eight years, but that doesn't mean investigations into the former administration would be impeded , according to one of our Legal Beagles:

Meanwhile, Susana says that unlike Big Bill and Governor Johnson before him she will not have her papers sealed for eight years. At least that's the line for now.

HEDGING HER BET?

The Guv is hedging a little on her statement that she is against a proposed Indian casino at Anthony, NM. She told the Las Cruces paper Friday: "I don't support it."

Now she comes with this revised statement: "I’m not convinced that it’s the best thing to do right now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be convinced..."

Jemez Pueblo first proposed opening a casino at Anthony in 2oo4. Jerry Peters, businessman and major friend of former Governor Big Bill, is partnering with Jemez. The casino has been rejected by the Feds once, but Jemez wants it reconsidered.

Martinez appears to have made a rookie error, first appearing to shut the door completely when she may have meant to keep it slightly ajar. But it may be academic. A long federal process must be followed before the proposal ever reaches her desk. That could easily take another seven years. And despite her revised statement, she says she remains skeptical of the economic value of the casino.

NO SUGARCOAT

There's really no way to sugarcoat it--serving in the minority in the US House of Representatives is generally a miserable experience, as NM Dem Reps. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan are about to find out. Unlike the Senate, where the minority has some power and protections, the House is like a dictatorship when it comes to party control. And right now the R's are the dictators with NM GOP US Rep. Steve Pearce benefiting.

It will be a long two years for the young Lujan and Heinrich when it comes to trying to legislate anything. Their best bet is to beef up their constituent services during this down time and also look around for a couple of Republicans who will take a coffee break with them.

Good luck with that.

Here are the top ten US Senate races for 2012 as seen through the eyes of the Politico. New Mexico is not among them, as Dem Senator Jeff Bingaman remains unopposed.

SENA SIGHTING

The WaPo reports:

The Democratic Governors Association has rounded out it's staff, and it's set to announce a new political director, finance director and communications director.

Dan Sena will take over as political director. Sena, a former deputy political director at the DGA, most recently worked with Patriot Majority to help reelect Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Before that, he worked for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.).

As recently as last Friday Susana insisted that she is not getting all the "data" about the project from Virgin Galatic, the anchor tenant for the Spaceport that is signing up hundreds of customers who will pay $200,000 to take suborbital flights in 2012.

"We want to go forward, but we want to have a clear understanding of what we're going forward with...They have not been very willing to share the very hard data of what is the state's commitment long-term."

But Rick Homans, ousted by Martinez as executive director of the Spaceport, says in an op-ed piece that just isn't so:

She seems to be implying that the old board and me did not provide information to her, and her team.This is absolutely false. The request included the agreements with Virgin and a copy of the Virgin Business Plan, and these documents were hand-delivered (as described below) to Jon Barela, Secretary-designate for Economic Development....

So if Barela, who will chair the Spaceport board, has the docs, what "hard data" does the administration need? Good question.

Southern Spaceport supporters say the doomsday scenario they hear floating would have the administration attempt to take some $80 million in Spaceport money still unspent and use it to pay off a similar amount of bonds that were used to finance the first construction phase. Once the bonds are paid off, the increase in the gross receipts tax approved by voters in Dona Ana and Sierra counties and used to help finance the Spaceport could be repealed. Martinez could then argue she saved the state from "SpacePork" and banish this portion of the Big Bill Richardson legacy to the ash heap of history.

Like we said, this is a doomsday scenario. Martinez is the state's first truly southern Governor in decades. It would represent a major political gamble for her in a region that sees this project eventually providing perhaps thousands of jobs and a new NM commercial space industry.

But if Spaceport champions don't let their voices be heard during this critical juncture, they could see their dream drift away.

MORE ON THIS

Martinez dismissed all the Spaceport board members and has formed a review committee. But in a major blow to Spaceport backers, it has now become clear that former astronaut and ex-GOP US Senator Jack Schmitt, one of those providing input to the review panel, does not support this project. We base this on a number of well-informed sources. Schmitt is Martinez's nominee to become secretary of the state energy and minerals department.

Schmitt, a native of Silver City, has already had to recuse himself from several meetings regarding the Spaceport because of a conflict of interest. That conflict is his membership on the board of directors of Orbital Sciences Corporation, a potential competitor with our state's spaceport. From the Orbital web site:

Orbital is also entering an exciting new era of human space flight supplying commercial cargo resupply services for the International Space Station using our new Taurus® II rocket and Cygnus™ cargo logistics spacecraft.

Former GOP NM Governor Garrey Carruthers, a dean at NMSU, may represent one of the best hopes for keeping the project on track. He has spoken of the business and job opportunities it represents. He is on the review committee and will assist in finding a new Spaceport executive director to replace Homans.

Martinez on Jan. 14 ousted all six directors of the Spaceport Authority board--including the Republicans. No new members have been named, adding to the nervousness over the direction of the project.

The state could be on the hook for another $10 million for another runway and perhaps a couple million more to get it all together. As others have pointed out, it's like a city building an airport--it is a public transportation facility. These are one time costs that don't represent a recurring bleed to state revenues.

BRANSON AND SUSANA

Susana dropped a tidbit in her newspaper interview about what apparently was her first contact with the colorful head of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson. She said Branson called her to ask that she keep Homans, a Big Bill ally, as executive director of the Spaceport. She told him she needed to make a change. Which is fine. But will the billionaire businessman get any warm and fuzzy stuff from Susana? Or will he be tempted to take his business elsewhere?

WHERE NOW?

Because of the relatively picayune concerns expressed by the incoming administration, the push and pull over the Spaceport has taken on personal overtones. Detractors of the project call it a monument to Richardson and the aforementioned "SpacePork--a political folly. But equally emotional Spaceport proponents attack Martinez for being consumed with animosity toward Richardson and anything he represents. They argue she is hemmed in by her own provincial views and more concerned with taking down Richardson a notch than advancing the state's economic interests.

It's time to get beyond the personally and politics and move forward with the investment the state has made. The Spaceport was never held out as an economic panacea. It was put forth as a possibility--a grand possibility for New Mexico to become a leader in the burgeoning commercial space industry.

There is foot dragging on the Spaceport by the new Governor, but we don't yet sense she has dug in her heels. At least we hope not. The choice before her is to think big or act small.

JAVIER IS IN

The Javier Vs. Sam contest is back on. NM Dem Party Chairman Javier Gonzales ended the uncertainty and has decided to indeed seek a second two year term as the leader of the state's majority party. He is getting an aggressive challenge from ABQ defense lawyer Sam Bregman who argues it's time for a change after disappoint Democratic election results last year.

Insiders say Gonzalez has solid support among the county chairs of northern New Mexico and can also count on support from a number of state legislators. The state's congressional delegation is also though be with him as is national Dem chair Tim Kaine.

We blogged yesterday how the names of Lawrence Rael and Joe Campos were being floated as possible candidates if Javier stayed on the bench.

Where does that leave Bregman with the several hundred members of the party's central committee who will meet in late April to decide the question? He has support among politicos in ABQ's South Valley and West Side, and he has a lot of time to make his case.

One of the reasons Gonzales hesitated about running again was because he is in line to become the chairman of the NMSU Board of Regents, a matter he will "deal with later," according to one Alligator close to the action.

It is not an easy environment for any incumbent, but ABQ School Board President Marty Esquivel managed to win re-election last night, overcoming a serious challenge from Cheryl Ann Harris. He garnered 51%. Harris received 36% and two others trailed.

All election results here.

It wasn't so easy for incumbent board member Dolores Griego. She lost her South Valley seat. Analee Maestas won with 46% of the vote in a five person field. Katherine Korte took a west side board seat, passing Peter Sanchez and three other rivals.

Three of the seven board seats were up for election.

The $70 million bond issue passed with about 65% support in Bernalillo County, but longtime CNM board member Carmie Toulouse lost her seat to Mark Armijo.

Turnout for the APS election appeared to be a bit above 3 percent of the registered voters. Folks just don't come out for these contests, good weather or bad.

MOVING UP

Obama's latest numbers:

If he's near 51% nationally, you know he is higher in New Mexico. Republicans will fret over that as they want those numbers down so they can tie in Dem US Senator Bingaman to an unpopular president in 2012. The catch? Obama has plenty of time to sink back down before the campaign is underway.

Jeff is meeting with Mr. Prez at the White House today to talk energy policy. Senator, could you remind him about that House budget resolution from the R's that would slash the budgets for the national labs? It might be something he wants to talk about when he hits the campaign trail down here. Just a thought.

CLOWNING AROUND

From the BBC:

A clown in public office? That wouldn't even make the back pages around here.

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One other note: We blogged in our first draft Monday that Bregman was born in New York and that he represented ex-NM Treasurer Michale Montoya. He was born in D.C. and he did not represent Montoya.

ON TO SOMETHING?
Skandera & Guv (AP)
Some may think it's like a Scarlet letter, but Gov. Martinez and Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera may be on to something with their plan to hand out individual grades--ranging from A to F--for the state's public schools. If a community (especially parents) has been lackadaisical about their local school's performance, they might take a second look if that school was stamped with a "D" or "F." Also, the parents from these schools would be of a mind to demand extra attention from the state to get the grade up.

Supporters of the grading system say it also addresses a culture of apathy about education that has taken hold among some parents and has translated into generational failure.

Governor Richardson faced a similar dilemma with the state's chronic DWI problem. His heavy and continuous advertising and education program is credited with finally putting a substantial dent in the state's drunk driving rate. He made it uncool and used a bit of fear to improve the state's rankings. The hope is that if the school grades are handed out with impartiality, heavily publicized and followed up with intervention, they could get more New Mexicans concerned and involved in the fight to improve the public schools. As Richardson showed with his DWI crusade, changing attitudes is half the battle.

EGOLF'S CHAIR

Readers write to point out that the House energy committee, newly chaired by Santa Fe Dem State Rep. Brian Egolf who has opposed oil and gas interests, is evenly split among Dems and R's so his power may be diminished. But others point out that an even split also means the R's are not going to be able to advance an energy agenda--including deregulation--without spirited opposition. It will be interesting to see what, if any, legislation come out of this panel this session.

Meanwhile, if the oil crowd thought Egolf might cool it for a while. Forget about it. He comes with this:

Egolf introduced a bill that would reduce the gross receipts tax for all New Mexico businesses and residents by ¼ percent. The reduction in the gross receipts tax would be paid for by eliminating tax loopholes and subsidies for oil, gas and other extractive industries.

"At a time when legislators and the governor are looking at taxes and demanding accountability, we need to closely examine whether the $200-400 million annual subsidy to extractive industries creates jobs." Egolf said.

Looks like Speaker Lujan found his needle to place in the side of Susana when he made Egolf a chairman.

And that needle drew blood Monday when Republican members of the energy committee walked out of a hearing Egolf called over oil and gas regulations. The R's grumbled that one of the "expert" witnesses wasn't an expert at all, so they took their marbles and went home, or maybe over to the Rio Chama for a couple of belts of 30 year old Johnnie Walker.

The public has little patience for stunts. If Egolf's panel is biased, get your own panel going for rebuttal.

The R ringleader on this one--Rep. Don Bratton--played it wrong. But then this is the gang that couldn't shoot straight when trying to put together a coalition with conservative Dems, even though they nearly took control of the House last November. Did someone say "Keystone Cops?"

ELECTION DAY

Want to vote in today's ABQ school board election? Info is here.

HI FROM BILL

Big Bill updates his activities in this email to friends:

Friends, Colleagues, and Supporters,

Thank you for your continued support as I make the transition into private life. I am pleased to announce that I am in the process of setting up a new office in Santa Fe. I wanted to take a moment to share my new contact information with each of you.

Office of Governor Bill Richardson
Phone: (505) 988-7140
Fax: (505) 988-7094
Email: Governor.Richardson@gmail.com

In the coming weeks we will be launching www.billrichardson.com. Until then, I continue to be available online at www.facebook.com/GovernorRichardson and via Twitter at GovRichardson.

Bill is also working to line up speaking engagements with a starting fee of around $25,000. But if you hang out at the La Fonda lobby in Santa Fe you can probably talk to him for free. (Does he still hold out hopes for a gig with Obama?)

Governor Martinez appears to have put the final nail in the coffin of a proposed casino at Anthony, NM in Dona Ana County. "I don't support it," she said. Jemez Pueblo has been fighting to bring a casino to the small town since 2004. They partnered with Big Bill business friend Gerald Peters to push it, but an Indian casino needs both federal and state approval. Without the Guv's signature the casino can't go forward. That is welcome news to Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino which has long opposed the project, saying it would harm its business and state horse racing.

JAY'S JOB

A reader, reacting to Monday's blog, writes in saying those in the Santa Fe set comparing Susana political consultant Jay McCleskey to Butch Maki, a lobbyist who was close to former Governor Richardson, have got it wrong:

As you’ll see from Maki’s website, his business is built entirely on his ability to assist clients with government, whether through lobbying, or “consulting clients” by providing government relations assistance navigating government agencies and procedures...

McCleskey's firm will not be registered lobbyists or take government contracts and says it plans to be primarily a political consulting firm.

TIMELY APPOINTMENT

News comes that NM Dem US Senator Tom Udall will serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He's just in time to try his hand at helping solve the Mid-East imbroglio. Good luck with that.

POWELL PERSPECTIVE

The new boss at the state land office is the old boss--Democrat Ray Powell. He's profiled in this AP piece in which he says he will let the sun shine in on office operations. Okay, but were still going to miss ex-GOP land boss Pat Lyons who made more news than Charlie Sheen.

TURNER'S TUNE

That $25,000 contribution made to Governor Martinez's inaugural committee by high profile ABQ lawyer Turner Branch caught the attention of KKOB-AM radio show host Bob Clark. He emails this zinger:

Turner Branch makes a max donation of $25,000 to Governor Martinez for the inaugural?? Interesting considering he supported Allen Weh in the GOP Governor Primary and then crossed over and very publicly supported Dem Guv nominee Diane Denish in the November election.

I guess he knows how to kiss and make up!

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The five member county commission voted Friday to buy Lucero out to get him out. They did not want to fire him, apparently fearful that the legal expenses as well as the political heat would not be worth it. There had also been talk that the county attorney and county fire chief would also be hitting the exits, but nothing new on that.

Thaddeus had a seven year run and for the most part a pretty good one. But his fatal political error came when he refused to back off his support of John Dantis, a deputy county manager, who became embroiled in a nepotism scandal and was forced to resign.

Lucero's refusal to start operation clean-up paved the way for new commissioners Dem Michelle Lujan Grisham and Republican Wayne Johnson to put the heat on. They did and new Commission Chairwoman Maggie Hart Stebbins joined them to force the ouster.

The county saved a little money in their buy out deal, but Stebbins is saying the next county manager will not be getting such a generous exit package when he goes to work. That new manager is expected to come from within the state, even though there is renewed interest in having someone from outside the sate manage New Mexico's largest county.

Now that Lucero is gone the new commission chairwoman is saying it is a "new day for this government." It is that and also a new political reality for the county. Commissioner Lujan Grisham hasn't hidden her political ambitions and will look at running for attorney general in 2012. GOP Commissioner Johnson might take a stab at the ABQ GOP 2012 US House nomination for the seat held by Dem US Rep. Martin Heinrich.

Maybe all that ambition will translate into some more change at the county. If nothing else, it's not going to get less noisy.

NOW THAT'S A BUY OUT

You think Thaddeus got a pretty good buy out? Well, take a look at this Indiana school superintendent who cashed out with a retirement deal of $1 million. He makes Thaddeus look like a piker.

Jay McCleskey
As we've said often over the years, the players may change but the game doesn't. And that cliche again comes to mind as news is received that Jay McCleskey, the lead political consultant for GOP Governor Susana Martinez, is leaving Lincoln Strategy Group to launch his own political consulting and PR firm:

McCleskey's ties to Martinez are as close as anyone's in her immediate circle. He essentially designed and implemented her campaign, along with his pollster wife Nicole McCleskey. She was a main player in the Martinez transition, with close ties to Transition Chair Heather Wilson, the former ABQ GOP congresswoman.

Martinez emerged from the ranks of the politically unknown to take her political prize. McCleskey was also waiting for a break. While he had been a consultant over the course of nearly two decades, it wasn't until he managed Richard Berry's 2009 winning ABQ mayoral campaign and then Martinez's successful 2010 effort that he broke through. Before then, it was mainly losses.

Now with word of his new venture, McCleskey is being compared to Butch Maki, a former congressional aide to ex-Governor Richardson who emerged as a leading lobbyist and PR consultant in Santa Fe after Bill's election. Due to his close personal ties to the Guv, he scored dozens of lucrative deals--not all of them without controversy--and became known as a key link for business types to get through to Richardson. Big Bill even called Maki a "go-to" guy and served as best man at Maki's wedding.

McCleskey may be on the path to assume a similar role with Martinez, although after the pay to play years of Bill and Martinez's assault on them, he could be subjected to closer scrutiny than Butch, who operated in the looser days of epic budget surpluses. Also, unlike Maki, Jay has many more political rivals than Butch. Many of Martinez's foes for the GOP Guv nod are among them. They still cringe at the thought of McCleskey's negative campaigns that sent them reeling.

DEEP INSIDER INFO

Insiders say McCleskey's access to the new Guv has been essentially unlimited during the transition as well as the first month of her tenure. He has been seen escorting her to various events, including one at the White House. There has been corridor talk that Martinez Chief of Staff Keith Gardner and Deputy Chief Brian Moore--both former legislators--are subservient to the political arm--or worried about being subservient. Deputy Chief of Staff Brian Cangiolosi, Martinez's campaign manager who worked under McCleskey, is a bridge in the Guv's office to the consultant. McCleskey's relationship with Lt. Governor John Sanchez is known by insiders to be rocky.

Just how much influence Martinez's political arm, as exemplified by McCleskey and wife Nicole, will exercise on public policy as weeks turn to months in the Martinez administration remains a subject of intense comment and speculation among the Santa Fe political class. While those answers are awaited, McCleskey appears to be preparing to market his access to the new Governor in a new version of a very old political game. Stay tuned.

MILKING SUSANA

Access to Susana and who gets it has already become an issue. The wrangling over whether dairy industry lawyers helped write her executive order suspending certain regulations--a decision later overturned by the state Supreme Court--moved front and center last week. A court document indicates industry lawyers were up to their necks in the deal. Susana's office says it isn't so.

Veteran players note the involvement of former GOP state Senator and two term lieutenant governor Walter Bradley who served under Governor Johnson. He's the head lobbyist for the dairy industry here and is seen in the court docs offering the help of industry lawyers.

Walter has been on the circuit a long time and is a political Alligator (although not one who reports in here) but his aggressive move with this new Governor was an eyebrow raiser. He may be kept on a short leash when he next wanders into Susana land.

Not that our state's dairies could not use some attention from the Governor. The industry, a prime employer on the east side, has been savaged by dropping milk prices and escalating feed prices. It's just that the attention needs to be on the up and up and not hush-hush.

The controversy was a blow to Susana's no pay to play campaign message, which is especially attractive to independent voters. Dems immediately seized on it, saying he campaign contributions were already speaking more loudly than the voters (The dairy industry gave over $70,000 to her campaign).

The lesson in all this? Martinez and her key aides need to take ownership of this governorship by putting up the iron gates and skeptically question all favor seekers. If those gates turn out to be as soft as licorice, we're going to have a Guv term that runs into the rocks.

THE INAUGURAL MONEY

The Guv reports raising nearly $1 million for her inauguration celebrations ($966,000) and spent $861,000 (Was the food that good?). She says she will donate $106,000 to safe houses for abused and neglected children. And don't you know, they can use it.

We (and the AP) talked about the Martinez inaugural money when she decided to accept donations of over $5,000 for the event, even though that is the new state limit on individual campaign contributions. The campaign said the limit did not apply and that reasoning was not challenged. They said they capped the donations at $25,000.

Among those giving the full 25K was Allsup's stores, United Healthcare, the PNM PAC, Coca-Cola, Devon Energy of Oklahoma and energy company Apache in Houston. ABQ attorney Turner Branch also gave $25,000.

Martinez posted a complete list of donors on her Web site, fulfilling an earlier pledge.

We've been wondering here for months when the Feds would step in and finally end the pain for First Community Bank, the state's third largest. Well, Friday was the day. The bank, hemorrhaging money from millions in sour real estate loans, was finally and mercifully put down. It will be taken over by U.S. Bank a division of banking giant U.S. Bancorp.

This is actually good news for the area economy. Lousy loans need to be written off and the homes and commercial real estate need to be dumped onto the market. There has been resistance to doing that around here and it has kept the real estate depression going. No one wants to take a loss, but if losses aren't taken, prices remain artificially high and the market can't recover. Lower prices will bring buyers back into the market and begin the long slow climb out of the cellar.

Let the out-of-towners who have no emotional attachment to the propertis get on with the unpleasant but necessary job of cleaning up the banking books and moving the real estate that is gathering dust and sitting on the market here month after month.

ANTI-SAM
Bregman
State Dem Party Chair Javier Gonzales is now publicly questioning whether he will seek another term when the party election is held in April. Maybe that's why this negative site-- stopsam.com--has sprouted up. It takes on ABQ defense attorney Sam Bregman who seeks to replace Gonzales. The hit on Sam is also extended to Facebook. The focus of the attacks is Bregman's service as defense lawyer for political actors like former state Treasurer Robert Vigil. They say Bregman's clients tie him to state corruption that cost Dems votes last November.

Neither the stopsam.com site or the Facebook page list an author.

Bregman's backers point out that everyone is entitled to a defense. They also note that Bregman has worked hard to get where he is at. The legal beagles say he is among the elite circle of ABQ trial lawyers who can ask for and get a $50,000 retainer.

Bregman has pointed to the dreary Dem performance in the 2010 election as the main reason for change at the top. (Video of Bregman announcing is here.) Gonzales, a NMSU regent, says he may not want to give up that position because he is set to become president of the panel. He also has a full plate of business and family issues to deal with, say insiders. Still, there is pressure on him to continue. He remains popular with much of the party establishment.

Bregman, an east cost native, is brash, aggressive and not well-liked in some political circles. It would seem unlikely that he would go unchallenged if Javier heads for the exits. But that's probably fine with Bregman, a former ABQ City Councilor who relishes a battle whether it be on the legal or political field of battle.

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