Here's a clip from our newsroom floor that tells of the challenge ABQ GOP congressional hopeful Janice Arnold-Jones is going to have in defeating Dem hopeful Michelle Lujan Grisham:

House Republicans have reserved $18.2 million in post-Labor Day television airtime, spread across 27 competitive districts.

The ABQ district is not one of the "27 competitive districts."

Hey, Ben Ray, are you going to listen to your elders? The northern New Mexico Dem congressman isn't being taken to the woodshed, but New Mexico Senior Senator Jeff Bingaman is making it clear Ben Ray is jumping the gun when it comes to his proposal for using the campus of the Santa Fe Indian School...

Speaking of Jeff, we almost put this clip in the circular file, but it deserves better:

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) received the Stewart Udall Award from the Conservation Lands Foundation for his leadership on public lands issues, particularly for his role in spearheading the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. This bill protected over 2 million acres of public land and made permanent the National Conservation Lands, the Bureau of Land Management’s system of protected public lands....

They may have started slow, but the editorial page editors of the ABQ Journal have caught up when it comes to the deep-seated problems at the ABQ Police Department:

If the mayor and the chief are serious about improving APD they will  finally have to face the fact they need to change its culture--a  culture that has fostered officers in uniform flashing gang symbols and  firearms, stating “some people are alive only because killing them is illegal,” mocking the death of a prominent civil rights attorney,  kicking a man in the head and then chest-bumping in victory, shelling out close to a million bucks after imprisoning a man for almost a year  on a false confession, shooting 24 men since 2010 (17 fatally) and  paying out up to $500 to officers involved in shootings.
Granted, some of these things have been corrected or dealt with. As individual incidents. But what is needed is a zero tolerance of conduct unbecoming of APD’s  dedicated and professional law enforcement officers--instead of  reacting to and/or defending every unbecoming action by the dangerously  unprofessional members of the force.

And what does Mayor Berry have to say about all this? Nada. And that's why a formal investigation of the numerous police shootings by the US Department of Justice is still a possibility.

MUGSHOT JUNKIE
We get this reader report on a offbeat development around here:

A gas station in town is selling on the counter, stacked by the register,  the June 2012 Vol. 1 edition of "Mugshot Junkie," a color newspaper  with names and faces, just like the ABQ Journal's periodic DWI and property crimes pages. Except this is 24 pages of it and nothing else, save for photos of missing kids, a jail bond ad and a page or so of articles about "chicken thief covered in chicken poop" and the like. A clerk  says it's crazy popular. It is hundreds of mugshots and names. The clerk said people buy it for $1.99 to check out the goofy-looking mugshots of friends or people they've heard from friends about being popped for everything from bad checks to DWI to burglary to assault--sorted by type of  offense. So much for the "shame them" element of the Journal's special sections on DWI and property crimes arrests. Maybe this was the market all along.

POLITICIAN TV

One of our readers sent it this and we think it has real potential:

Cable  TV  behemoth Time Warner says it’s a first in the history of the  industry: A candidate for elected office (in Hawaii)--Linda Lingle, the former  Republican  governor and upset-seeking open-seat Senate candidate--has  launched her own cable network. LL2012 can be found on digital channel 110 (right  next to Fox News) on the Time Warner system that serves the  islands--allowing Lingle to have a more or less constant presence  everywhere on  the far-flung archipelago. 

Talk about to good to be true. Could you imagine a world in which New Mexico politicians all pitched in and bought their own cable station where their commercials would run 24 hours a day, but be taken off the other stations? Well, you can always pray....

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Reporting to you this week from Albuquerque, I'm Joe Monahan

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Gary King
How can Democratic Attorney General Gary King resuscitate a political career left for dead by just about every Alligator from Cruces to Chama? Well, he would need some major scores--not stuff like prosecuting a housing authority scandal or corruption charges pending against former Dem Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron. No, King's potential pot of political gold is in the email scandal shrouding the administration of Governor Martinez.

If the AG--who has been asked to investigate the emails by two state legislators--came with a strong abuse of power case, he could revitalize his image with Dems statewide and perhaps position himself for the 2014 Dem Guv nomination.

Martinez's email mishap is happening here and now. Other cases that could propel King seem like ancient history. While they deserve his attention, they are not going to get his political heart pumping again (prosecuting Dems does not necessarily help you win a Democratic nomination). Does King have the moxy to go toe-to-toe with Susana and company? That's the important question for him--and Martinez.

Meanwhile, it is potential 2014 Dem Guv candidate and trial attorney Sam Bregman who is making the most hay form the email scandal. He is a source of several of the news stories because of his defense of clients involved in the Martinez administration. Bregman's possible candidacy has been greeted with coolness in some Dem quarters who fear his aggressive style is not a good match for the state. They would prefer a Hispanic female as the challenger to Martinez, but they can't come up with a list of viable candidates.

Bregman may be guilty of being too aggressive, but the Dem Party has come under fire for being too meek in dealing with Martinez. Until King, State Auditor Hector Balderas or another key Dem player takes the spear, it will be Bregman and the media keeping the story alive.

EMAIL ROOTS
Karl Rove
Our readers have been exceedingly helpful in sorting out the email scandal and what we have dubbed "the shadow government" that has been operating in Santa Fe. Here's another from the mailbag:

Look no further than Jay McCleskey's mentor, Karl Rove, and the millions of missing White House emails kept off U.S. government servers in violation of federal law during the U.S. Attorney scandal and you'll understand how and why the Martinez administration began conducting public business on private email. That McCleskey's boss would buy into the scheme isn't surprising, given her recent quote, "I wouldn't get these kind of questions from reporters down south, who know me."

And a lawmaker writes to us off the record about the policy implications of the ongoing email woes:

Consider the implication for relationships in the state capitol with legislators and particularly the Public Education Department, The reason the request for an investigation of the emails by the attorney general came from Rep. Miera and Senator Linda Lopez is that he is chairman of the House Education Committee and she is chairwoman of the Senate Reules Committee. That;s where the confirmation of Hanna Skandera's PED secretary has been held up. Add in McCleskey's search at PED for union and nonunion teachers and be assured any education agenda of this administration has hit the wall.

PLAYING NICE

Back to the Senate race and Hector, he was exceedingly nice to Dem Rep, Martin Heinrich when he challenged him for the US Senate nomination. Not much has changed since then. From Heinrich:

I want to thank my primary opponent, Hector Balderas for the email he sent yesterday on behalf of my campaign for the open U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico. I am proud to have Hector’s support and appreciated the email he sent, which raised over $7,000 for the campaign.

In this first month of the campaign for the open Senate seat, we rank it lean Dem, but just slightly. Republican Heather Wilson has time to make a case.

SELLING OUT?

Continuing with a Senate theme, blog reader Bob Aly believes we have been too gun-ho in advocating federal funding for Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia Labs. He writes:

I ran across your booster club statement about how the senate candidates should support more funding for the military and the Dept. of Energy in New Mexico...I would urge you to look into the Jet Fuel Spill at Kirkland AFB--now estimated at 24 million gallons...threatening the City of Albuquerque water supply. How about that Mixed Waste Landfill brought to us by Sandia Labs? It contained an unknown quantity of radioactive waste that the state environment department, in collusion with Sandia, approved putting clay over and planting grass on top of it, in spite of scientific opinion that this will do no good.

Hasn't New Mexico paid enough? Are we truly that greedy that we are willing to sell the health and well being of future generations for fast cash today?  You appear to be a conservative, given your obvious bias toward Heather. Is turning our state into a the national sacrifice area a true conservative thing to be promoting?  That seems to be the problem.  We will sell out anything to make a buck.

We appreciate your thoughts, Bob, but we could not disagree with you more. Of course the Air Force should be held accountable for that fuel leak. Members of our congressional delegation have been on the case and the city is pushing hard for a resolution, Don't know about the Sandia Labs waste you mention, so will refrain commenting,...but

We are not warmongers or military boosters for the sake of boosting, It just so happens the labs and the military bases are the foundation of the modern New Mexican economy and that shutting them down or letting them wither away will do extreme harm to the economic well-being of the people here. Is that greed?

There is no free lunch. The military and labs don;t come problem free, but decades ago New Mexico agreed to become a national security colony and it made ABQ the metro area it is today with much better living standards and quality of life.

For us to reject this federal presence eon the basis of ideology--whether it be because of issues over the morality of war making , or as the radical right argues, that the federal largess is actually harmful, not beneficial, is a form of economic suicide.

As for being pro-Heather, she would chuckle loudly if she saw that. However, we do agree with her and Rep. Heinrich that the labs and military installations here are vital to the state's standard of living. If you pull them out of here, you are looking a town that will dry up and blow away.

NO SUSANA VP VETTING

You already knew it, but for the record:

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte who, according to the Washington Post’s Phil Rucker, are also not being seriously vetted--are relative newcomers on the national political scene with relatively thin resumes to date.

Romney’s decision not to consider the Martinezes and Ayottes of the world suggest that the campaign is very aware of what we would call the “Palin factor”.

That is, Romney is committed — first and foremost — to not repeating the mistake made by Arizona Sen. John McCain when he tapped the unknown governor of Alaska to be his running mate in 2008.

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We start today today with an email from Governor Martinez that some of our analysts think is pretty revealing. It surfaced in the email scandal that shrouds Santa Fe. First, we run the email she sent from her Susana PAC account--not her official state email--and then the analysis:

The Guv's message is dated August 14, 2011 and the subject is "Mansfield Escape." It was sent to six top administration figures, including Chief of Staff Keith Gardner, Deputy Chief Ryan Cangiolosi as well as political advisor Jay McCleskey. The press reports:

"David Mansfield, an inmate at the state prison in Los Lunas, had escaped from a prison farm Aug. 13. He was captured the next day.

In her email, the governor is talking about a report, apparently about the escape. "I have painfully gone over this report and I have questions," she wrote. "I have also provided INSTRUCTIONS ... These have deadlines. These are not suggestions. I want my questions answered on this same document by the Corrections Department," she wrote. "... I want responses to my questions no later than Tuesday, August 17, 2011 at 5 p.m."

Okay, now to the analysis from one of our Alligators familiar with the workings of government at the highest levels:

This email provides a window into Martinez's management style. She clearly is having a difficult time building an effective operation if she needs to email six people across state government to deal with a relatively minor corrections issues and outline to the group a list of explicit directions in a demanding fashion. Most Senators, Governors and other executives in political office develop a strong Chief of Staff who dispenses the Governor's orders to staff which then go down the chain of command.  Her reliance on McCleskey also shows that she has difficulty relying on her official staff.

The email also shows a governor lashing out at staff and frustrated with their inability to follow direction. That's not the fault of staff as much as it is the Governor for failing to recruit and develop competent staff. It is also indicative of a Governor that is unable to see the big picture, gets lost in the details and is far away from learning the job. This explains not only the lack of progress made by her Administration but also the lack of consistency. She's got some major problems over there that need fixing.

Interesting stuff. We do note that Susana's email was sent 10 months ago and maybe there's been some change since, but this email clearly shows a frustrated chief executive.

GRIEGO AGAIN?

Does Eric Griego still fantasize about winning a seat in Congress? Well, he isn't saying, but the Progressive Change Campaign Committee which devoted a lot of energy and money to his unsuccessful bid for the Dem nomination for the ABQ US House seat comes with this:

Eric is not just a candidate. He is part of our progressive movement who has been elected twice to public office. We look forward to working with him for many years in the future--including when he eventually serves in Congress.

It's hard to see where Griego goes from here. His term as a state Senator expires at the end of the year. If Dem Michelle Lujan Grisham wins the ABQ seat over Republican Janice Arnold-Jones, which in the early going seems likely, that seat could be off the market for years to come.

Griego gambled when he gave up a $90,000 a year job at NM Voices for Children to run for Congress Not all gambles pay off. Now, even if Griego was looking to play the roulette wheel again, it's hard to see any space where he could even place a bet.

Some Dems are also chattering that Griego is not coming with any backing for Michelle. They speculate he is still upset about the negative TV spot she cut revealing his checkered traffic record.

THE HISPANIC FACTOR

Hispanics by the numbers:

In 1992, 87 percent of the electorate was white, according to exit polls. Sixteen years later, whites made up just 74 percent of all voters. (The number of white voters as a percentage of the overall electorate has dropped in each of the four elections since 1992.)

Over that same time period, Hispanic voters have quadrupled as percentage of the overall electorate--going from 2 percent in 1992 to 9 percent on 2008. (Black voters have grown more marginally--from 8 percent in 1992 to 13 percent in 2008 — while Asian-Americans have largely stayed stagnant.)

Obama leads big among Hispanics and with his plan to stop deporting younger illegal immigrants the GOP has its hands full here. 

POPPING TOURISM 

There are so many cool things to see in New Mexico, things we need to be promote to the nation so our tourism industry recovers from the long bear market. Could we use more lures? Why not? From DC:

Senator Jeff Bingaman introduced legislation that would designate Manhattan Project sites around the country as a National Historical Park. Senator Tom Udall is a cosponsor. The legislation stems from the findings of a report prepared by the National Park Service and the Department of Energy that says the best way to preserve and interpret the Manhattan Project is for Congress to establish a national historical park at the three sites where much of the critical scientific activity associated with the project occurred:  Los Alamos, Oak Ridge (TN) and Hanford (WA)....

Well, if they are going to cut funding for Los Alamos, maybe we can make a little of it with tourism dollars.

THE SENATE RACE

Speaking of Los Alamos (and Sandia Labs) we've been pounding the table that federal funding for them--and the billions in other cash that flows here from Uncle Sam--needs to be front and center in the race to replace Jeff Bingaman in the US Senate this year. Sure, national issues are important, but none more so than our own economic future so tied as it is to that federal funding.

Glad to see the Journal's Michael Coleman putting some heat on our Senate contenders--the GOP's Heather Wilson and Dem Martin Heinrich--on the issue. A highlight: Heather says she would protect the labs in the Senate, but would not tell the reporter how she would have voted on a cut to Los Alamos that the GOP controlled House recently papproved but contained billions in other funding for the state. (Heinrich voted for it).

Heather, you can do better than that. But give her credit. She is ready to have the debate over who will fight for the state's funding--and with no apologies to her party's radical right wing. As for Heinrich, was it a master political stroke for him to win a seat on the House Armed Services Committee during his first term in the House?

Certainly, we are hoping for a productive campaign from Martin and Heather. Having just come through an ABQ congressional campaign where traffic tickets and nursing home conditions were the prominent issues, we know we can do better. That means Heinrich should stay away from the story from back in the day about Heather's hubby allegedly patting a pizza boy on the butt and that Heather should stick to Heinrich's voting record--not to his scattered work history--before he entered public life. We've heard enough about both....

The Senate contenders aren't just on TV, they're starting to work the grassroots as well. About Heather:

Heather Wilson, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, announced Tuesday (June 12) El Prado resident Mike Dobbs and Taos resident Ken Scarborough will serve as the campaign’s co-chairs for Taos County.

“I’m happy to bring Ken and Mike aboard our campaign to get America on track,” Wilson said in a prepared statement. “With their help, we will continue to build momentum and strong grassroots support all across the state.”

HUNGRY IN DC

Our restaurant reviews from last Friday's blog secured the attention of Ned Farquhar, a New Mexican doing time in DC:

Joe, Here I am in Washington, DC, three and a half years distant from the many enticements of New Mexico (after moving here to work for Secretary Ken Salazar at the Interior Department). Like other beached New Mexicans who washed up on this shore, I avidly consume your daily blog. The politics are great. Sure. But nothing beats Friday's food column. I was transported by your evocation of flavors, scents, and the affordability of life on the Middle Rio Grande. Thanks.

Thanks for checking in from DC, Ned. And thanks to all our readers here and around the USA for making us New Mexico's #1 political web site. It's a hoot...

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The torrent of criticism that has rained down on the Martinez administration over what we've dubbed the shadow government" has her giving a bit of ground. She came with a directive that state employees use only state email when conducting state business. This after the uproar over her, her political advisor Jay McCleskey and other top officials for using their Susana PAC email accounts to conduct state business, apparently to avoid public scrutiny. But even as she was trying to tamp down the flames of this scandal, it was revealed that a former cabinet secretary said under oath that Martinez's chief of staff told her and other cabinet secretaries to communicate state business with him by private email so they could avoid public records requests. (More below).

While her directive gets at the abuse of email, it does not get into the role of McCleksey and other outside political figures in her administration and how much state business in the administration's first 18 months has been conducted via private email. That saga goes under the heading "to be continued."

Here's a look at Martinez's directive:

I am directing all state employees under the governor's authority to utilize official state email when conducting state business via email. This includes discussions preliminary in nature to final decisions or actions that have occasionally been sent via personal email because they are not required to be maintained under state law. There is no state law that requires this to be done, but utilizing only state email to conduct state business in connection with public employees' duties is another important step to ensure continued confidence in government....

This directive goes beyond what has been required or practiced in the past..In addition, given that numerous other public officials, including legislators, discuss public matters on personal email addresses, I am urging the Legislature, other executive branch agencies, and local governments and municipalities to also adopt a similar policy that requires official email to be used when conducting state business and retained according to state regulations...

So we have the Guv coming clean on subrosa emailing, but still hanging out there is what other business--besides what already has been disclosed--has been conducted in the past 18 months via Susana PAC email or other private accounts and just what was that business? One wag joked, "They were busy pushing the "delete" buttons in Santa Fe over the weekend." Expect more news on this very soon. In fact, news is breaking today.

Lupe Martinez, the former corrections secretary, says in a court deposition that at a cabinet meeting "Keith Gardner told the cabinet secretaries, Governor and others in attendance to, whenever possible, use our private emails when communicating because by doing such would prevent them from being discovered through public records requests."

Martinez says she communicated numerous times with Gardner via private email.

Martinez was forced to resign as corrections secretary last September amid several controversies,but her statement regarding the administration's email policy should be able to verify or shoot down since she says it was made before multiple cabinet secretaries. The Guv's office told the New Mexican Lupe is lying:

"Her statement is simply false, and she knows it...And it's being peddled by a partisan attorney looking to bolster a termination appeal of her fired boyfriend."

If Lupe's charges are true, it will be yet another blow to Martinez's claim of being a "reform" Governor and one who would set new records for open and transparent government.

MORE EMAILS TO SURFACE

We have seen emails from Gardner and deputy chief of staff Ryan Cangiolosi discussing state business via email but using yahoo.com email addresses--not their state email accounts. Ryan Cangiolosi used "rmkcang@yahoo.com" and Keith Gardner used "gardners90@yahoo.com."

Also, an ABQ TV news source says he expects about 1,000 emails from Susana PAC accounts to become public soon and that some of them will deal with state business.

Now attention is on Attorney General Gary King and how aggressive he will be in pursuing the scandal. He has subpoena power if he thinks a violation of the law has occurred. He is also, by the way, talking about seeking the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

The Dems are pouncing, as one would expect. From the party HQ:

Today's Executive Order--issued only after she was very publicly busted--never addresses the business that has already been done outside of the reach of the public eye. For a year and a half, Jay McCleskey has been using the Governor's office as a political operation. No one voted for McCleskey, and he's not accountable for his job to anyone but the wealthy Republican donors who pay his hefty salary at Susana PAC. New Mexicans have no idea just how far his influence goes and they deserve answers. "Every indicator says the Public Education Department isn't the only department that was hijacked by the Martinez/McCleskey political operation, and today's Executive Order doesn't change the fact that for a year and a half Martinez and McCleskey were operating a shadow government in Santa Fe...We're calling on Susana Martinez to come clean with New Mexico: What other departments has your "senior advisor" been using for political purposes?"

That executive order resulted, in part, from a meeting the Governor had with the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (NMFOG). My top political sources say it was tense and took place in ABQ on Saturday. We are told among those in attendance were Matt Stackpole, Martinez's assistant general counsel, Kent Walz, editor of the ABQ Journal, Gywneth Doland, director of NMFOG, attorney Charles Piefer and Terri Cole of the ABQ Chamber of Commerce. Walz, Piefer and Cole all serve on the executive committee of NMFOG whose history is closely tied to the ABQ Journal. The meeting is said to have ended without much progress but then late Monday Martinez came with the directive on state employee use of private email accounts.

THE READERS WRITE

Quite a bit of reader reaction to our in-depth Monday blog where we laid out the connections of what we refer to as the "Shadow Government" in Santa Fe. Lets go straight to the email bag:

A reader writes:

Joe: Regarding your Monday blog: Wow. You are right on target. You are so right about the shadow government. (Political advisor) Jay McCleskey and (lawyer/lobbyist) Mickey Barnett have been running this administration from day one. Susana and her folks could make Big Bill blush. We feel that McCleskey, Barnett and the rest...take advantage of Susana and her lack of knowledge of Santa Fe politics. She is in so over her head and they know it. 

The one thing that bothers us and should bother the rest of New Mexico is that the Governor and her Chief of Staff Keith Gardner were kept in the loop from the very beginning and never once told McCleskey, Larry Behrens or Hanna Skandera to stop doing this, and if they are going to conduct state business to do it using state computers and email, which in my mind makes them (the Governor's offfice) just as guilty. 
 
If Susana continues to be a part of this underhanded business the Romney campaign may do the same to her as Obama did to Big Bill and drop any thoughts of her being  a part of the Romney administration. Its pretty sad that she isn't even halfway through her administration and the wheels are beginning to wobble badly.

Reader Stephanie L. DuBois writes:

Joe, What about the list of schools with union contracts that the Governor's operatives requested from the Public Education Department? And the list of teachers with their e-mails? Do teachers have any rights? A right to privacy on their personal information? I would guess this was a move to bust the teacher's unions. 

This "shadow government"  spying on teachers smacks of "McCarthyism." What is this administration going to do with the info acuqired? "Out" teachers that are union members? Or pressure those who are not union members to bust the unions? This is government at its worst. I thought Governor Martinez ran on rooting out corruption and making her administration the most transparent... 

AND MORE MAIL

From Philip in California, we get this:

McCleskeygate? Emailgate? SusanaIsToastGate? Whatever.  Any hope Susana had of being on the Romney ticket is gone--though there probably wasn’t much anyway.

From blog reader and Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima:

Good Morning Joe, I just want to tell you how much I enjoy reading your blog, Monday through Friday. I especially appreciate the accuracy and fairness in your articles. Very impressive! Great Job! Regards, Ken Miyagishima

Thanks for that note, Ken. You don't last around here if you don't do your best to get it right. On this email scandal story, we don't know where it goes, but we feel we've done our job in laying out the connections and framing what is at stake.

And look at the way the Mayor signs off his email. You think he's been following the email scandal in Santa Fe closely? 

For city correspondence: Please use: mayor@las-cruces.org; For personal matters: Please use: miyagi@zianet.com

THIS BLOG

Reader Jon Hendry, president of the NM Federation of Labor, writes:

As an avid reader of your column, Monday's edition was the most insightful and informative that I’ve ever read. Not only good commentary but good journalism. Thank you for greatly adding to the discourse. Jon

Thanks much for that, Jon. It's good to know we can still hit a nerve once in a while.

Some of our critics like to forget that we started in journalism in the early 70's. One of our professors was a producer for the NBC evening news and one of our academic advisors was the famous author Tony Hillerman, who started as a news reporter and gave us a number of critiques of stories we wrote for the UNM Daily Lobo. We are also a winner of the Associated Press Spot News Award, have contributed news reports to CBS, NBC and the AP and served as a radio news director for several major ABQ radio stations.

We've hosted radio and TV talk shows, covered sporting events and done public relations for congress and mayors. We were once the assignment editor for the local CBS affiliate here and continue to anchor the longest running Election Night program in the state (on KANW-FM). We also continue to contribute to a variety of national media, striving to be both fair and penetrating in our analysis.

Today, as we near nine years of non-stop blogging of New Mexico politics, we mix our journalism with blogging, analysis, context and perspective...and sometimes our own opinion. We've been around newsrooms since before we shaved and we've worked with the best. So when the politicos (and even a couple of (jealous?) "journalists") start beating up on us for not doing it their way, we take it with a smile and the proverbial grain of salt. In short, we're darn proud most days of what we do, or we wouldn't be doing it. We believe we bring to bear on the news of the day deep and meaningful experience not only in journalism, politics and public relations, but in that all important school of life. In other words, we've been humbled along the way and made enough mistakes to have learned a thing or two.

LAY OF THE LAND

The NYT comes with an in-depth look at why New Mexico has gone from swing state to a safe Obama enclave. It includes quotes from two UNM poly sci professors.

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The thing about power--besides how it corrupts--is how it also reveals. And what is being revealed in Santa Fe is nothing less than a shadow government run by Governor Martinez's chief political advisor Jay McCleskey and acquiesced to by the Governor and other government officials--many of whom owe their jobs to him.

This shadow government is now out of the shadows, splashed across the front pages of the state's major newspapers. The scandal is centered on the use of personal email accounts to keep official government business from seeing the light of day and threatens to expand in the days ahead, claiming victims and costing the administration dearly as these scandals are often known to do.

Insiders tell us that the back channel communications initiated by McCleskey and used by top administration officials--including the Governor herself--are more numerous than the two instances that have surfaced. One of them told us:

"They are like cockroaches. When you see one, you know there are more."

The news load is heavy when these affairs blow-up. The New Mexican leads the coverage with the first front-pager here and another here. The ABQ Journal comes here and here. The New Mexican comes back with an editorial. The AP takes it national with a rewrite of the papers. The New Mexican returns with a report on state legislators using their state email accounts for personal business, but one of them points out lawmakers don't implement policy or issue state contracts. Also, their email addresses are listed on the state legislature's web site. Coverage from KOB-TV includes this:

The emails invoke secrecy and open government issues that all seem to slop into the soup of a brewing email scandal. Big questions--did the Governor's political team use state employees for a political purpose, and did a hired-gun political operative get special treatment and special information?

And the Journal finally comes with a much overdue profile of McCleskey (with some tasty touches from their crack investigative team). Several Republicans are so fearful of McCleskey they refused to go on the record, though one of them flatly says McCleskey is running the government.

For McCleksey, 37, to be drawing this much attention to himself is a mortal sin for a consultant and it may signal his mortality as a major political figure in this administration. Maybe not right away, but....

The Journal also comes with an editorial reprimanding Martinez who has long been one of their favorites:

The question of a state agency doing the bidding of a political group on the taxpayers’ dime is troubling. If that’s what happened, it should have no place in the Martinez administration, which has pledged transparency and the rooting out of corruption and abuse.

"Troubling?" For sure. How about "illegal?" Well, with more email communications bound to surface that question can't be far behind.

Then there's this gem from the Governor when asked if McCleskey is running her administration:

“I wouldn’t get these kind of questions from reporters down south, who know me,” said Martinez, a former district attorney in Las Cruces. “They know that I’m a strong, informed executive, and I don’t win the office without having great passion for the policies that I’m pushing forward. No one tells me what to think.”

"Reporters down south?" Just a reminder, Governor, you are no longer "down south" where you were covered as a mere local district attorney and protected. You are now on the statewide stage, dealing with all kinds of pain in the ass people--like us--who want to know who really is running our state.

As we've pointed out the past two years, that is not the case with a number of "reporters" from "down south" whose bias in favor of this administration has left them eating our dust and that of others "up north" when it comes to telling the true narrative of governmental power.

Based on the evidence, Guv, your denials about McCleskey simply don't ring true. And if they are true, then send him packing so we can see that you are indeed the independent executive you claim to be. But before you show us, you might want to let your fellow Republicans know--especially the ones afraid to talk to the press out of fear of reprisal.

Before we go any further, let's be clear. On its surface the scandal is about emails and government transparency. But the larger issue is the operation of a shadow government by a non-elected official. It is that matter that needs to command the attention of the Governor, the media and the public.

ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

At the root of the problem is Martinez's decision to turn over tremendous power to McCleskey who has no official role in the government, but is a political operative of long tenure known for his harsh tactics on the campaign trail. He played a major role in getting Martinez elected in 2010, but now the question is whether he will be instrumental in bringing her down.

McCleskey, who runs Susana PAC, has been dubbed New Mexico's Karl Rove, after the tough-minded Bush advisor. He is also known as "The Fifth Floor." That's a reference to the Governor's office being on the fourth floor--the top floor of the Santa Fe Roundhouse--and McCleskey occupying a metaphorical "Fifth Floor" where the real power resides.

McCleskey has deep ties to the Republican National Committee whose philosophical footprint has been deep in this administration. McCleskey's political associates include the aforementioned Rove, and lawyer and GOP National Committeeman Pat Rogers who played a key role in the US attorney scandal that engulfed US Senator Pete Domenici and Congresswoman Heather Wilson. Rogers and McCleskey have close ties to lawyer/lobbyist Mickey Barnett, a longtime player in state GOP politics. Informed sources say that these personalities, in addition to McCleskey, constitute the "shadow government" we refer to.

Already two Democratic legislators have started the legal drumbeat, asking the attorney general to investigate the controversial emails to determine if they violate the law (Their letter is here). As a result, McCleskey is now becoming a known political figure--no longer able to operate in the shadows. It is going to cost Martinez political capital to defend him--and to keep him. Her foes will make sure of that. We asked one of our Alligators to sum up the situation and they came with this:

What we have is a shadow government and what you see before the TV cameras is all for show. The real business of the state takes places behind the scenes in the shadows, where no one--especially the tax-paying public--is not supposed to see what is really going on.

Even the mild-mannered director of the state's leading transparency group could not hold back:

Gwyneth Doland, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (FOG), said: "I am horrified to think that it may be the practice of the state of New Mexico to conduct public business in secret using email accounts that no records custodian could access."

The evasion of accountability is especially galling to the open government groupies. The Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) is relied on by them to pry information from the government. But it can't get at personal email accounts. McCleskey was busted by trial attorney Sam Bregman, a potential 2014 Dem Guv candidate, who turned over his booty to Michael Corwin, head of the Independent Source PAC, a union-funded watchdog group which fed the leaks to the media. The administration is going to meet with the open government foundation in an effort to get them to back off their criticism and quiet the scandal.

But in a first sign of how the administration will react to the criticism, Darren White, a close friend of McCleskey's who is now working for the Downs at ABQ after being ousted from his position as Director of Public Safety under ABQ Mayor Richard Berry, lashed out at Doland on his Twitter account. He accused her and the NM Foundation for Open Government of being hypocrites for not probing the use of personal emails by state legislators. For her part, Doland responded: "We believe all public business should be done using public email accounts, no matter the office.'

This is exactly the wrong tack to take--making more enemies, retreating into the bunker and keeping the scandal going. That's what cost White his job when a scandal exploded last year in which he was accused of showing favoritism towards his wife when she got in an auto accident. He and his allies lashed out at the media--rather than come clean--and the rest is history.

SCANDAL FALL OUT

The outing of McCleskey's power is nothing new to readers of this blog. We've been on the story from the get-go, warning that Santa Fe was being run largely as a political operation, not a government. Now that this truth has been revealed to the New Mexican public at large, it is a seminal moment in the Martinez governorship. She is an important symbolic figure to the nation's Hispanics, but one who has ceded much of the real power of her office to McCleskey and his political allies.

Predictions as to where the government goes now are all over the map. Will Martinez and McCleskey dig in their heels, double-down and wage all-out war against their enemies--real or perceived? Or will she take action to nip the budding scandal in the bud? That Twitter from White was the first indication that the administration will head to the bunker. An Alligator of long standing weighs in with this:

At some point she is going to have to decide whether she is going to stand on her own two feet or whether this umbilical cord wrapped around her neck is going to stay and take her down...And Jay is taking her down. The velocity is starting to pick up. If you are a Democrat, you could be looking forward to a whole boatload of people going down because of this...

If the boat has sprung a leak, there is a way for Susana to patch it up, says our Gator:

She should immediately say there will be no more communications on private email. 'I am getting rid of my account. Everything is going to be done on state of New Mexico email and if you are a state employee you will not have political involvement and you will not be taking phone calls from Jay McCleskey.'

 I don't think she will do that because she is convinced that Jay provides the political oxygen that sustains her..

Martinez is not about to plummet in the polls because of this scandal. The damage in these affairs is usually done drip by drip over a period of months not days. Suddenly, however, the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nomination does seem to be worth more than it was a week ago.

TOO MUCH POWER?

That McCleskey had accumulated too much authority and had begun to overreach first became public during the recent primary election. That's when he got the Governor involved in a GOP state Senate primary in which he pulled out all the stops and lost. Rancher Pat Woods triumphed over Angie Spears in that Clovis area contest, but Martinez shared Spears' loss, having campaigned for her publicly and being unable to deliver. Jay's scorched-earth tactics, sanctioned by Martinez, were soundly rejected and ripped apart the state Republican Party.

CANNIBALISM AND A GATOR

The GOP cannibalism in Clovis and Susana's reliance on her chief political advisor brought this comment  from Andrew Leo Lopez, a longtime ABQ South Valley Democrat, but a staunch supporter of Susana's:

The Governor is throwing away her political capital--and she has a lot of it. What's at stake now is not just the success of her administration but the future of the Republican Party. It has only about 30% of the state's voters. If she fails, it will set back her party immensely. She needs to broaden her circle of advisers and bid adieu to Jay and his companions. It is that simple."

Some kind of moment of truth is approaching for Martinez. With more emails apparently coming that may reveal even more plotting and executing of government action via unofficial channels, she is threatened with the prospect of looking like a puppet of her political advisor as well as collaborating with him to keep the government between her and him. Not the "bold change" she and Jay so proudly trumpeted during the 2010 campaign.

NOT NOW

The mess with McCleksey is disheartening to open government advocates who thought a new leaf had been turned when the Richardson administration passed into history. It is also worth noting that the public mood is much more sour and cynical than when Bill was around and money was flowing. Tight economic times mean a more impatient electorate, something Martinez has yet to encounter, but she could if the email scandal spreads. The serious economic problems the state faces are going to look even more glaring if Martinez is tied up with an ethics mess.

And what about policy? Well, let's not get too far ahead of the curve. If the scandal is quieted she has a long two and half years before her re-elect. But if there is an erosion of power, industries like oil and gas that have had the administration's protection could find themselves looking around to make sure they have more legislative support. They could start dealing more nicely with the Dems, instead of continuing to give big money to Jay to attack Dems on the campaign trail.

SACRIFICIAL LAMB?
Behrens
How about a sacrificial lamb? You often get one in these deals. This time it seems Public Education Department spokesman Larry Behrens fits the bill. He's already said he made "a mistake" in sending McCleskey an official education department email via his personal email account--not his state account. Will Behrens (or education secretary Hanna Skandera) be hung out to dry in order to protect the bigger fish? The Gators are watching this like they watch wounded prey.

THE IRONY BEAT

This statement from Guv spokesman Scott Darnell on why McCleskey was included in a state email from the Governor brims with irony--of the near-comic variety:

It’s likely due to the fact that he is an adviser to the governor, and like many governors, she seeks broad input on situations. 

Of course, if this was a Governor who sought "broad input" she would not be faced with this email mess...

IT'S THE COVER-UP

We're not saying that the email scandal is the equivalent of Watergate whose beginnings 40 years ago this week were observed over the weekend, but we do note that it is usually efforts to cover up transgressions--even minor ones--that get Governors and Presidents in trouble. In Santa Fe's case there may be bunch more emails floating around that originated from Susana PAC email accounts and deal with official government business. If so, it's best to come clean early rather than try to cover the tracks.

It was email accounts from Susana PAC, the political committee run on behalf of Martinez by McCleskey, that state officials used to go below the radar. It was the Committee to Re-elect the President--known as CREEP--that played a central role in the Watergate scandal that brought President Nixon down. Not that this is that serious yet, but we're just sayin'....

THE WAY FORWARD

Martinez could use this eruption as a reason to make a mid-course correction. If she is serious about getting out from under the thumb of Jay, Pat Rogers, Mickey Barnett and other longtime players in the McCleskey circle--egged on by the operatives at the Republican National Committee--she could make major staff changes.

We blogged exclusively in June of 2011 of how former State Representative Brian Moore was forced out as Martinez's deputy chief of staff after only several months on the job. He was forced out because he was not fully on board with McCleskey, reported our insiders. What if Martinez were to make a bold move and bring him back from exile in Washington and make him chief of staff? Could Moore be the anti-Jay and restore the badly out of balance power structure on the Fourth Floor? Only if the Guv would let him.

What of current Chief of Staff Keith Gardner? It is now even more obvious how subservient he is to McCleskey who the emails confirm has the run of state government--even though he is not on the state payroll. Gardner could be placed elsewhere and placated with a nice salary.

Give Jay his due, he helped the Guv get elected after he presided over years of many political losses. If Martinez could keep him on the leash, she might be able to keep him aboard as a political advisor--and really mean it. Run the campaign but get him out--really out--of the government decision making process. Still, with the notoriety Jay has accumulated his presence in any political context is now going to be radioactive for this Governor. A complete break may be required.

The uproar the scandal has created can actually be an opportunity for a mid-course correction for Martinez, but if they do the dig-in-the heels-act and it works, the problem may go away only to  reappear on her doorstep again and again.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2012
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