Will a little ABQ city council race go to statewide TV? Could be and it just might be Gov. Martinez's arch-enemy Pat Davis who will be the star--or villain--of the show. One of our Alligators reports of the ABQ Dist. 6 SE Heights candidate:

I'm just back from a birthday party full of Alligators. Word is that the Governor's machine will have enough money to run TV ads against Pat Davis for his DWI conviction last September. Davis’ plan seems to be door-to-door and neighborhood alliances. 

Such is politics today that a city council race featuring well under 5,000 voters could be brought to the attention of the entire state. But if the money is there it will be spent--and while the economy may be tight overall--there never seems to be a recession in campaign spending. (Davis has opted for public financing and unless a third party helped, he would be financially unable to respond to TV ads that would presumably be financed by the Machine PACS.)

Davis is head of the liberal activist group ProgressNow NM and has repeatedly gone after the Martinez administration and in turn the Guv's machine has gone after opponents of any size or scale, most recently even wading into an APS school board seat featuring their critic Kathy Korte. She was ousted.

Davis is running against two candidates. The Machine backed Hessito Yntema describes himself as a "moderate Republican," but Yntema has yet to be vetted on the issues to determine what he means by "moderate." The district includes the UNM area and is the most liberal of the nine districts.

YAWNING AWAY

Voters in the city council districts of Dem Ike Benton and Republican Trudy Jones will yawn the election away. Neither will be challenged for re-election, further lowering turnout in what  could be an all-time low for voter turnout in an off-year city election.  The crystal ball gazers do not expect the 5 to 4 Dem majority on the council to change as a result of the election.

SANCHEZ VS. SANCHEZ

John "Buddy" Sanchez

We're ready with that name being tossed around in the race to topple State Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez. It's Valencia County Magistrate Judge John "Buddy" Sanchez. He is seriously weighing a bid to topple the Senate's top Dem, setting up a possible Sanchez vs. Sanchez contest next year.

When we ran into Sen. Sanchez at the recent Children's Cancer Fund Gala he confirmed that he has heard Buddy's name as the one the Guv's machine is touting. He said he is preparing for a re-election campaign that will feature big campaign spending and probably statewide TV ads. Dem Sanchez will be aired over the coals for sure, but if Republican Buddy gets in he'll have to contend with his own baggage, including being disciplined by the NM Supreme Court for interfering with the DWI arrest of one his friends.

And get this. Michael Sanchez's late father, Gillie Sanchez, served as a Valencia County magistrate judge for 30 years. And in 2000 then NM House Speaker Raymond Sanchez, brother of Michael Sanchez, was defeated by John Sanchez, now NM's lieutenant governor. Only in New Mexico. . .

TREADING CAREFULLY

Sen.Martin Heinrich is treading very carefully in order to not disenchant the many in the Democratic base who are supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders for the '16 Dem prez nomination. Heinrich came out early for Hillary Clinton and says:

Heinrich said Clinton’s experience as a diplomat and senator makes her the “whole package” and the strongest Democratic candidate. Asked if Sanders could win a general election, Heinrich said: “No comment. I’m supporting Secretary Clinton, but I have a lot of respect for Sen. Sanders. I think it’s his job to make that case.”

Heinrich, serving his first term, is not up for re-election until 2018. Some insiders have mentioned him as a possible Secretray of Interior pick if Clinton were to claim the presidency.

MARTINEZ WATCH

With the star of South Carolina GOP Governor Nikki Haley on the rise and a very crowded field for the '16 prez nomination, Gov. Martinez's national standing seems stalled to some analsysts. But the Republican National Committee continues to throw her bouquets. On its blog this week the RNC gives "Four Reasons Susana Martinez is a Woman to Watch:"

She is Proof of the American Dream; She’s a Tough & Decisive Leader:
She Makes Change Happen: She is an Advocate for Justice.

Martinez has said she is not interested in the '16 GOP vice-presidential nomination.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com)

Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.


(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2014. Not for reproduction without permission of the author