Dan Lewis may be gone and already pretty much forgotten, but he lives on as a city councilor, at least in the official photo of the council. Republican Lewis left his westside council seat to run for mayor and was defeated by Tim Keller. His seat was won by Democrat Cynthia Borrego, but in one wee corner of cyberspace Councilor Dan Lewis lives on. Congrats, or something, Dan.

Is State Senator Howie Morales the new front-runner for the '18 Dem Lt. Gov. nomination in the crowded field now that Sen. Michael Padilla has dropped out? Probably. What if Santa Fe Mayor Gonzales gets in?

On the GOP side they have a lieutenant governor contender coming in after Kelly Zunie dropped out. Michelle Garcia Holmes ran as an independent in her recent unsuccessful bid for ABQ mayor, now she has turned R and is the only announced GOP candidate for Light Guv. Everyone is still waiting on ABQ Sen. Mark Moores to make his move.

Curious about where state lawmakers get their income? "Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has posted the financial disclosure statements of public officials dating back to 2013 on the Secretary of State’s Office’s website. The financial disclosures, which are searchable by year and name, can be found here."

Pedal fast. ABQ has just been named the most dangerous city in the USA in which to ride a bike.

Headline of the week: "San Miguel Commissioner Rock Ulibarri Endorses VeneKlasen for Land Commissioner." Be still my heart!

Spin zone. "Joe, of the 10,700 people elected to the Congress, not one has ever been a Native American woman. If Deb Haaland wins next year's Dem primary for the ABQ congressional seat she will very likely be the first Native American woman to ever serve in Congress."

Did you hear? The erudite former Las Cruces area Dem State Senator Steve Fischmann is running against Public Regulation Commissioner (PRC) Sandy Jones in the Dem primary next year. That could make Sandy grey.

He is 99% sure that contractor Mick Rich will be the only '18 GOP candidate for the US Senate seat that is held by Dem Martin Heinrich. That from Rich's new campaign manager, Evan Machan, who has arrived from Ohio. By the way Rich is also rich.

Slippery slope? Minnesota Sen. Al Franken should resign because of the many sex harassment complaints he faces, say NM Dem Senators Heinrich and Udall. However, they are not saying whether State Senator Padilla, who dropped his light guv bid because  of sex harassment charges, should give up his leadership position in the NM senate.

A readers asks: "Is KKOB-AM radio going under?" No, but there is this news about the owner of the conservative talker: "Radio broadcaster Cumulus Media Inc. says ill-fated acquisitions and competition from digital streaming and web-based formats contributed to its chapter 11 bankruptcy filing." The company says it has the cash to keep things running while it deals with the bankruptcy.

About the goings on at UNM Health Sciences and its plans to build a new hospital, a reader writes: "I just ”love” closed meetings for strategic planning for a billion dollar replacement hospital."

THE BEST 

Finally, thanks to the readers of ABQ The Magazine for voting me the best blogger in the city in the magazine's 13th annual Best of the City awards.

It's always an honor to have it reaffirmed that it is many regular New Mexicans--not just political insiders or the media--we are reaching.

We'll continue to work hard to illuminate and improve our beloved Land of Enchantment because that's the ultimate reward of this journey.

By the way, the Best of City party is at Sandia Resort and Casino tonight (Thursday) Tickets are here. If you stop by be sure to say hello.

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You have to hand it to our Alligators--our longtime political sources who stay anonymous but come up from the waters with juicy info on the coming and goings of La Politica. For example. . .

During the ABQ mayoral campaign they said look for the westside city council Democrats to band together and form a voting bloc, even as Dem Tim Keller was winning a 62 percent landslide mayoral victory. And that happened this week which we'll explain in a minute.

Then, one of our second-generation Gators said look for youthful Silver City State Senator Howie Morales to give serious thought to an '18 run for the Dem nomination for lieutenant governor once Senator Michael Padilla dropped out over sex harassment charges from years ago. Padilla did drop out and Howie announced on Facebook Tuesday by putting up his lieutenant governor logo.

Back to our nine member ABQ city council. They elected westside Democrat Ken Sanchez as council president this week, rebuffing a bid by Dem Pat Davis, who represents one of the city's most liberal districts.

And how did Sanchez do it? He formed a conservative coalition with Republican Councilors Winter, Harris and Jones who were joined by Sanchez's fellow westside councilors Klarissa Pena and newly elected Cynthia Borrego. Sanchez voted for himself and took a 6 to 3 victory. Davis and his fellow non westside Dems who supported him--Gibson and Benton--were left in the dust.

Sanchez, Pena and Borrego are from districts that supported Keller but are more conservative socially and economically and heavily Hispanic. Pena dragged her feet in endorsing Keller in the run-off and all three Westside councilors have been sympathetic towards the Santolina development project for the far Westside--not a fave of Keller's.

And how about this? Conservative Republican City Councilor Trudy Jones was rewarded by Sanchez and company for her support by being given the chairmanship of the important council budget committee. A Republican heading up the most important committee on a council commanded by the Democrats with a 6 to 3 majority? Counting council heads just went to the top of Keller's to-do list.

Remember, a 6 to 3 council is a veto proof council, but only if all the Dems stick together and don't play coalition politics. Do we really need to say "Stay Tuned?"

DAVIS DAYS

Not only did his fellow councilors reject him as the new council president, they also passed over Pat Davis for vice-president of the council which they gave to Republican Don Harris. That loss of stature can't help Davis as he seeks the nomination for the ABQ US House seat being vacated by Dem Michelle Lujan Grisham who is running for governor.

Davis has already lagged his chief opponents--Damon Martinez, Deb Haaland and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez--in fund-raising. And he has been scored by fellow liberal Dems for being too cozy with former ABQ GOP Mayor Richard Berry.

Davis backers don't deny his candidacy has faced its share of troubles but they argue that with so with so many Hispanic Dems chasing the Dem nomination and Davis the only prominent Anglo progressive, he could still eke out a victory in the June primary.

Meantime, Davis is leaving ProgressNow NM, the liberal advocacy group where he has served as executive director, to campaign for Congress. Former ABQ Dem State Rep. Stephanie Maez says she will take on the ED role permanently at the start of the new year.

METAL HEAD

Trivium

Any doubt that there is a cultural change at City Hall ended this week when Mayor Keller took to the stage of the downtown Sunshine Theater Saturday night to introduce metal heavies Trivium. He led the crowd in a chant of "Trivium! Trivium" and on came the band with a blaring set of head-banging numbers. Mayor Berry, as they say, has left the buildingp

On Facebook a reader said the best part of the video clip comes after Keller leaves the stage just before the band comes on and you hear someone in the crowd say, "Holy shit, that's the Mayor!"

Of course, in a few years they could still be saying that about the mayor, but in a whole different context.

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New Mexico's decades-long roller coaster ride with the oil and gas industry has again taken an upward lurch, making life a tad easier for state lawmakers when they convene their legislative session next month.

The news that there will be about $200 million more for the budget year that starts next July over what was first estimated means the budget death spiral has been halted, at least for a time. Oil has climbed to nearly $60 a barrel, making for the lion's share of new money as royalties and taxes again gush into Santa Fe's coffers.

We say a budget "death spiral" because the $6.1 billion budget for the current year is about where the general fund budget stood a long ten years ago. Calculating inflation into the equation and you see that funding for basic government operations--especially the schools--has suffered a significant decline in real dollars this past decade. That $200 million will be gobbled up quickly.

Meanwhile, Democratic legislative leaders are being taunted for not pursuing a complete overhaul of the state's complicated gross receipts tax system in the upcoming 30 day session. They are being accused of waiting for a Democratic governor to come in at the start of 2019 and do the job then. The current Governor's allies are accusing them of playing politics.

But there is no dire need to ram through a tax reform bill that originated under the House Republicans when they briefly held the majority but who are now distinctly in the minority. The majority party has a responsibility to draft its own bill using its own governing principles as the primary foundation for the reform. Besides, getting the sitting Governor to make a deal on anything is like trying to convince a scorpion not to bite you.

COLORADO COOL DOWN

While NM stagnated this past decade, Colorado boomed. And too much for some. The news:

Colorado’s red-hot population growth rate is cooling, and while current residents may celebrate, those who are leaving in increasing numbers say they were driven away by rising housing prices, jobs that don’t pay enough and traffic jams. The state in 2016 saw its first drop this decade in the number of people arriving from other states, while those leaving Colorado hit a record high, resulting in the lowest net-migration number — 30,000 total new residents — in seven years. New annual figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that 193,000 Coloradans moved away last year, 10,000 more than in 2015, while 223,000 moved here, down about 4,000 from the year before but still well above recent years.

No need to cry for Colorado. Their growth boom was off the charts and a breather may be what they need to catch up with quality of life issues

The state that is most popular for those fleeing the Centennial state is Washington. Not neighboring New Mexico.

PADILLA BOWS OUT

No stunner here but it did take a while. ABQ Dem State Senator Michael Padilla ended his bid for the 2018 Democratic lieutenant governor nomination late Monday, over two weeks after front-running Dem Guv candidate Michelle Lujan Grisham urged him to get out.

We covered the politics of the Padilla candidacy extensively on the Monday blog and by Monday night he decided it was time to go. He said:

I do not want to be a distraction as we come together as New Mexicans to solve this unacceptable work place issue.

The brouhaha started when Grisham called for Padilla to hit the exits because of sex harassment charges leveled against him a decade ago while serving as a supervisor at an ABQ call center. He never admitted guilt but the city made settlements with the women who said they were the targets of his harassment,

What did Padilla get for getting out? Alligators wondered. Padilla did not respond when we asked him if he had met with Grisham before announcing that he was dropping out.

Is his relationship with Grisham still an issue? Will he support her in the coming campaign if, as appears likely, she is the Dem nominee? And if she's governor and he is still Senate Majority Whip will someone have to pull out a defroster to break the ice between the two?

Questions for the future but for now Dems can breathe a sigh of relief that Padilla is out and that likely GOP Guv nominee Steve Pearce has been deprived of a prime political target.

WAYNE'S WORLD

Johnson

Insider betting weighs toward former ABQ City Councilor and BernCo Commissioner Michael Brasher as the likely replacement for Wayne Johnson if, as he indicates, he soon resigns his county commission seat in the wake of being appointed state auditor by Gov. Martinez. (He took the oath Monday).

Republican Johnson is filling the unexpired term of Tim Keller who was elected ABQ mayor. Johnson ran against Keller in the recent mayoral election but failed to advance to the run-off.

Brasher has indicated he is preparing to run for the Johnson commission seat situated in the far NE Heights and East Mountains. Johnson's term expires at the end of '18. Already in the running is retired naval officer John Jones, husband of ABQ GOP congressional candidate Janice Arnold Jones.

Martinez named Brasher to the powerful State Board of Finance and the Guv's relationship with Arnold Jones remains rocky. The bad blood started in 2010 when Arnold Jones ran against Martinez for the GOP Guv nomination. There has been no peace made.

If Brasher, the longtime general manager of public radio station KANW 89.1 FM, gets the appointment, John Jones could run a primary against him but it would be an uphill battle against an incumbent. Also, Brasher was elected to the seat in 2006, preceding Johnson's tenure.

No matter the R appointed, the commission district is strong Republican. No Dems need apply.

Johnson is signaling that he will seek a full four year term for state auditor in 2018. Will that temper any zeal he may have to go after Dems as he looks to make friends across the aisle? Or does he go full throttle against Keller and legislative Dems? Or does he just play it as it lays and do a job based on good government?

And does any R have a real chance to become state auditor? None has been elected to the position since 1966 when Harold G.Thompson won what was then a two year term. He was re-elected for another two years in 1968.

Thanks for making us the state's #1 political website year in and year out.

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Padilla Still Campaigning

Late Monday Sen. Padilla ended his candidacy for the '18 Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor.

It's turning out to be a bit of a dangerous dance for Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham when it comes to the race for the 2018 Democratic lieutenant governor nomination.

Grisham, the front runner for the Dem Guv nomination, has publicly called on ABQ State Senator Michael Padilla to take himself out of the running because of sexual harassment charges he faced a decade ago and for which the city of ABQ paid out settlements, but the call came over two weeks ago and Padilla is still running.

Padilla, 45, went dark after Grisham's rebuke but he resurfaced this weekend on his social media accounts, congratulating ABQ Mayor Keller on his election and putting up the photo posted here posing with Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye and Public Regulation Commissioner Lynda Lovejoy. On Saturday Padilla was campaigning in Raton.

The angst in the Grisham camp is palpable. They think Padilla's addition to the ticket at a time when sex harassment is a red hot topic could hobble her if she eventually wins the Guv nomination and faces off with likely GOP nominee Steve Pearce.

Padilla was keeping his cards close to his chest when I ran into him late last week at the Starbucks at the ABQ Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. He was sharing a cup with fellow Dem ABQ State Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto.

While Padilla did express chagrin over the news coverage of his dilemma, pointing out he has an extensive senate record and these were long ago charges, he was tight-lipped about his future plans.

Others watching this melodrama have looser lips. They believe that if Grisham wants Padilla out she may have to cut a deal. That would mean abandoning those who are calling for him to resign from the senate and extending an olive branch when it comes to working with him in the senate where he serves as majority whip.

Others say if Padilla persists hardball tactics will have to be employed, perhaps by third parties. That could include paid media against him if Padilla is still a candidate next year and as the March Dem pre-primary convention approaches.

Complicating Grisham's problems is the perceived weakness of the field outside of Padilla. He has a solid record as a senator, is an able campaigner and speaker and has generated considerable national publicity in his tenure over issues such as school lunch shaming. But he appears irreparably marred by the sex harassment charge.

The other major Dem Light Guv hopefuls, Taos educator Jeff Carr, former ABQ State Rep. Rick Miera and Dona Ana County Commissioner Billy Garrett, have made no move in the wake of the Padilla controversy, preferring to wait and see. That's not exactly causing sleepless nights for Padilla.

HELLO, HOWIE?

Morales

But there is some movement. The name of Dem State Senator Howie Morales of Silver City is now being floated as a possible Light Guv candidate. Like Padilla, he is seen as a substantial senator. Getting him in, the theory goes, would make it obvious to Padilla and the Dem base that they have a strong replacement on the bench and the Grisham-Padilla standoff ends.

In the old days Padilla would already be a dead duck--or an over roasted chicharrone--whichever you prefer. But Grisham does not yet have a strong statewide support base like a Bill Richardson or a Bruce King so Padilla limps along. She could have some heavy lifting to do if she is going to get Padilla out and she knows it. And so does Michael Padilla who may be holding his cards close to his chest, but still has a few to play.

JEFF AND JOE

Grisham faces two major foes for the '18 gubernatorial nod--Jeff Apodaca and Joe Cervantes. Neither have made much of the Grisham-Padilla spectacle. Apodaca did say that the voters should decide in the June primary whether they want Padilla or not. Cervantes issued a statement supporting the victims in the Padilla sexual harassment case from a decade ago when he was supervising a city of ABQ call center.

Neither Apodoca or Cervantes has caused the hearts of Dems to flutter and as we head deeper into December it's clear the only way one of these fellas is going to emerge is to wage an all out campaign on why Grisham is not the best choice and why they are. The pre-primary convention is now only about three months away. Cervantes and Apodaca may still think they have a lot of time. But they don't.

LIGHTEN THE LT. GOV.

The brouhaha over Padilla has led some in the political class to examine the whole notion of having the parties nominate and vote on Lt. Governor candidates.

ABQ Dem State Rep. Moe Maestas is among those who believe it's time to return to the days when the governor nominee chose the lieutenant governor candidate they would run with and do away with the separate primary election of the state's #2. "It is not a position of power or importance and it needs to be treated as such," he said. Maestas also said the position should return to being part-time.

The main job of the Light Guv is to preside over the state senate when it's in session and to stay alive if the Governor dies so they can take their place. Often their secondary job is to annoy the governor they serve under.

WELCOME, MR. MAYOR 

Forget about governor or lieutenant governor, the political position that commands the most publicity in New Mexico is arguably the mayor of ABQ. Situated in the state's media center the scrutiny is intense. And so it is for Tim Keller after only a few days on the job. Hold on to those glasses of craft beer, Keller fans, here come the critics.

Reader Jim McClure writes:

Did anyone seriously believe the police union endorsed Tim Keller because of his tough stance on crime? A Dem mayor means the unions are back in the driver’s seat. So it’s no surprise that the mayor-elect is having second thoughts about bringing in an outside APD chief against the wishes of the union. Expect to see a new union contract restoring “union time” that allows union work on the taxpayers’ dime. The only question is whether the police union will be allowed to reinstate its payments to officers involved in shootings.

Reader Carmie Lynn Toulouse says:

Joe. I am a supporter of our newly elected mayor but It has been bothering me since I got the email invitation to Tim Keller's inauguration that his four watch parties were all at local breweries. I am aware, having a son & daughter and various other relatives in the new mayor's age group, that his generation makes frequent use of the breweries for social functions. With the DUI rate in this city & the social problems from addictions this city suffers, however, it doesn't send a positive message from the new mayor to his constituents to encourage them to gather where they can drink before they drive to celebrate his assumption of power.

And so it will go over the next four years, with every move of the new Mayor put under the microscope.

JACK'S ACT

To balance out that criticism we offer some praise for two year old Jack Keller.

During what seemed like an inauguration ceremony that would never end--with five elected councilors pontificating way too much--Jack took it all in like a seasoned veteran and not someone afflicted with the terrible twos.

Meanwhile, everyone else was fidgeting in their seats and getting ready to throw something--like a regular two year old might.

And that's a fact, Jack.

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