Today's blog is R rated or at least this first piece. . .

Unsuccessful Dem Guv candidate Jeff Apodaca is pushing back on Facebook against those who say he should get in line and endorse Dem nominee Michelle Lujan Grisham. Not going to happen. Take a look at this heated response Apodaca posted on Facebook:

. . . Sorry but I will not just fall in line when I have seen the corruption from our nominee. . . It’s not about the party anymore, it’s about what’s best for New Mexicans. I’m tired of our elected officials creating fourth degree felonies while making millions off taxpayers. . .You all can continue to call me sour grapes. . . The facts are, I met with Michelle and congratulated her and. . . offered to work together to get her elected. . .At our meeting she had her corruption business partner. . .  in the meeting and told me to “Fuck off, you cost me $2 million in the primary. I don’t need your help and the 35 percent of the Dems that didn’t vote for me, who are they going to vote for, Pearce? I don’t think so."

The alleged corruption Apodaca is referring to is MLG's role in Delta Consulting which has become a centerpiece of the Pearce campaign and which Apodaca used against her in the June primary. The "business partner" he references is ABQ Dem State Rep. Deborah Armstrong, who co-founded Delta with MLG and until recently served as her campaign treasurer.

In addition to Delta another ethics issues, albeit of the minor variety, could enter the Guv race. From Roll Call:

The Justice Department has issued an indictment of former non-profit head Kevin Oksuz for his role in a plot to hide the fact that a 2013 congressional delegation trip to Azerbaijan was funded by that country’s government.

Among the ten US House members taking the trip was Rep. Lujan Grisham. She and her colleagues were cleared to take it by the House Ethics Committee and are not accused of any wrongdoing. Nonprofits are allowed to sponsor education trips for members of Congress but this one turns out to have been secretly financed by the state-owned oil company in Azerbaijan. But there is this:

Lujan Grisham and some of her colleagues received Azerbaijani rugs and other valuables as gifts but didn’t report them when they got home. House ethics rules prohibit members of Congress from accepting gifts from “an agent or a foreign principal” but appear to allow gifts valued up to $350 from a foreign government “as a souvenir or mark of courtesy.” The rules say any gifts worth more than $350 must be disclosed. The rugs were valued at $2,500 to $10,000.

MLG said at the time she did not report the rug gift because she did not think they were "particularly valuable" and also called them "unattractive."

Although the dust-up over the trip has been settled don't be surprised to see Pearce come with something about MLG’s magic carpet ride.

PITCHING SMALL BALL

There does seem to be quite a bit of small ball on the Guv campaign trail. For example, the Pearce campaign launched a heated attack against MLG's camp for listing GOP Socorro County Commissioner Glen Duggins on a list of 100 Republicans she says are backing her. Duggins says not so. The MLG camp says Duggins told her at a social event he was supporting her. The Pearce people say she is "lying."

That tempest in a teacup comes on the heels of the MLG campaign raising Cain over an error in one of Pearce's TV ads in which he erroneously quotes a news organization to support one of the ad's contentions. The campaign later fixed the spot.

And then there's the Dems scorching Pearce over his admission that he has yet to read the full District Court ruling finding that the state's public education system is under-funded--especially for at risk students--and therefore in violation of the state Constitution. State Dems blasted:

If Steve Pearce is too busy to read, learn about, or get a briefing about the landmark public education ruling in New Mexico, he has no business running for governor while New Mexico’s public school system is at the bottom of all the wrong lists.

Pearce said it's no big deal because he has argued all along that the schools are underfunded and he will work to get more funds into the classrooms.

Well, all of the above is a lot of campaign dust that will soon be gone with the wind.

SUSANA APPROVAL

It was close but by only two points GOP Governor Susana Martinez narrowly escaped falling to the in-the-cellar approval rating sported by Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson when he finished his two terms in office in 2010.

The final ABQ Journal poll of Martinez has her scoring an anemic 35% approval rating, two points above the 33% where Big Bill ended his eight year run.

The poll, conducted Sept. 7-13, lists her disapproval number at 46 percent and 17 percent as having "mixed feelings." Other public polling confirms her descent into the low to mid 30's, far from the heady days of 2012 when she sported approval of 69 percent. Things started to go down fast after her infamous holiday pizza party in Santa Fe in December 2015. In October 2016 she was down to 42 percent approval and now this final descent.

It's true that every Governor who has served two terms failed to leave office with a majority of the voters expressing their approval. But Republican Gary Johnson came close, ending with approval of 45% in the September 2002 Journal poll.

The lousy economy, the bitter wrangling with the Legislature, her personally vindictive style that she shared with her influential political consultant and that pizza party that unmasked her worst personality traits, all contributed to her undoing. But as Richardson said of his own poor final rating: "People get tired of you."

Martinez, 58, a longtime government employee, appears to be eligible for a state pension in the area of $100,000 a year, assuming she did not tap her retirement plan these past 25 years. Whether the once rising star of national and local politics will land another job remains an open question. She has announced no job plans for when her tenure ends on December 31.

THE BOTTOM LINES 

Today is National Voter Registration day so. . .

Bernalillo County Clerk Linda Stover is hosting the Second Annual Be the Vote Voter Registration Drive today at Civic Plaza, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Staff members will be on hand to answer any questions.

CHI St. Joseph's Children, who we work with, sends this update:

CHI St. Joseph's Children announces the first biannual International Study Tour to educate interested parties about the benefits of Home Visiting as well as how to implement and operate a program. On Sept 24th – 27th CHI St. Joseph’s will present a comprehensive review of Home Visiting for first-time parents from prenatal to three years old. New Mexico ranks 50th in children’s wellbeing, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We have a beacon of hope in Home Visiting, attracting people from other parts of the world to learn about this effective program. Highlighted will be a UNM study about how the state’s largest Home Visiting program was implemented, how it operates and how it evaluates its outcomes. The participants will walk away with a turnkey process for establishing and operating Home Visiting programs.

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