When Donald Trump was in ABQ last month he criticized Gov. Martinez and said maybe he ought to run for governor. But a national politico with a much better chance of doing that is probably Bill Clinton.

He was tight with former Gov. Bruce King and ex-ABQ Mayor Marty Chavez and has always seemed to have a natural affinity for the state. Thursday the Clinton campaign sent him back here, with a stop in Las Cruces as they work to fend off any last minute surge by Bernie Sanders.

Rep. Gallegos

Recent polling by BWD Global that we posted this week had Hillary getting 53 percent of the NM vote. National pundit Larry Sabato is predicting a five point win for Clinton Tuesday night. If so she will have Bill to thank, in part. He's made three stops here during the campaign and gobbled up a lot of media attention for this wife.

Among those at the Clinton Las Cruces rally were Dem State Reps Doreen Gallegos and Bill McCamley, two politicos of the new generation getting acquainted with the dean of his generation.

BET HEDGERS

We pointed out the dual endorsement the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club gave in that primary in the SE Heights ABQ state House race where Rep. Idalia Lechuga-Tena was given their nod as well as Debbie Sariñana. Amanda Kincaid, the other candidate, did not get the endorsement.

Well, reader Michelle Meaders has been doing some research and says the Sierra Club isn't the only one  playing both sides in some of the primaries. Other interests groups are as well:

If you look at the endorsements from Planned Parenthood and Conservation Voters NM and Animal Protection Voters, they did the same thing in the Lechuga-Tena race. And the first two groups did the same for House District 38: Mary Hotvedt and Karen Whitlock. Planned Parenthood also did a dual endorsement in House District 35: Ray Jaramillo and Angelica Rubio, and in House District 48: Linda Trujillo and Paul Campos.Animal Protection Voters also did a dual endorsement in Senate District 39 of Mike Anaya and Liz Stefanics, and a triple one in House Distract 48: Linda Trujillo and Paul Campos and Jeff Varela.

What's next? A dual endorsement of Trump and Clinton?

P.S. We heard from Conservation Voters and Animal Protection Voters on their endorsement policies and will carry their responses on the Monday blog.

ROBOCALL TIME

Here come the robocalls on this the final weekend of the primary election. The automatic phone calls are aimed at likely voters, especially in close contests. One of those is the Dem primary for the ABQ area Public Regulation Commission (PRC) seat featuring incumbent Karen Montoya and challenger Cynthia Hall. Reader Alicia Hicks reports:

Hi Joe, I got a robocall but I don't know who was the sponsor. It asked who I was voting for from President on down. When it got to PRC, I told them I was voting for Cynthia Hall and up came this information: (I am paraphrasing) Did you know Cynthia Hall was disqualified from getting state funded campaign money for fundraising violations? Now she's being funded by big money. Well, I checked it out - the fundraising violations were the fact that she accepted a $150 check prior to applying for state funding (Limit she could have accepted was $100. ) And I never could find out who this "big money" was supposed to be. It was the strangest survey I've ever taken.

We understand the "big money" is mostly from Hall's personal account. It's interesting that the robocall producer are able to give recipients of the call this info when they answer a certain way. First we heard of that.

ODDS AND ENDS

No price is more important to the state budget and to state politics than the oil price. And this the place for all oil all the time. . .

So GOP US House Speaker Paul Ryan finally gives a tepid endorsement to Donald Trump. Can Gov. Martinez be far behind? Reporter Daniel Libit looks at how Martinez may play her trump card.

Reader James already has some definite ideas on how the Trump candidacy will play out in New Mexico this November:
At least 10% of the Democratic winning margin in 2016 will come from Republican women who will not have told their fathers, boyfriends, husbands or bosses how they voted. Furthermore, the number of normally Republican voters who just stay home out of disgust at the crassness of their nominee will be yuuuuuge. (We will see this operating in New Mexico, preventing a Republican takeover of the State Senate and assisting a Democratic takeover of the State House of Representatives.)

Meanwhile, US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is fretting about the Hispanic vote and Trump and he puts in a plug for Susana in doing so:

McConnell worries that Trump could ruin the GOP's relationship with Hispanics beyond repair. While he is committed to voting for Trump he said (Trump) could push Latinos away from the party in a way similar to how black voters distanced themselves from the Republican Party in 1964 when it was led by conservative Barry Goldwater. . . McConnell was asked if he worried Trump could have the same effect on Hispanics. . . "I do. I do," he said. . . pointing to Trump's recent scorching criticism of  Gov. Martinez. . . "Going after Susana Martinez, the chairman of the Republican Governors' Association, I think, was a big mistake," McConnell said.

We're busy this week with the primary election but the controversial events at APD take no break. Burque Media is one of the new voices covering them.

ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE

We had our pre-production dinner for our KANW 89.1 FM Election Night broadcast last night and our analysts tore into New Mexico politics as gingerly as their steaks. We're going to have a fun night Tuesday with guest experts Republican pollster Bruce Donisthorpe, Democratic consultant Sisto Abeyta and Burly Cain of the Rio Grande Foundation. An added bonus is the presence of longtime political warhorses Lenton Malry and Pete Dinelli. Coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. so get ready to go behind the curtain of La Politica with the top experts and get the story behind the story. See you then. . .

THE BOTTOM LINES

In putting together our monster pre-election blogs we came up short on two items. In a first draft Thursday we identified ABQ Dem State Rep. Christine Trujillo as Rep. Armijo. Sorry, Christine. . .

And reader George Richmond had us doing a fun piece about how there was no "contact" info on the state treasurer's website. But several readers including Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellis, pointed out that it may be hard to find, but it is there if you click on the "about" tab. We gave the treasurer a refund on that one and took down the Richmond letter.

Thanks for stopping by this week.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2016