Sen. Udall In Play For Sec. Of Interior, "All The Signals Are There" Plus: Lujan Blinks On TV Debate, Big Endorsements In Southern CD Race And Keller's Crime Problem

Sen. Udall

Add another New Mexico name that's high on the list of possibles for a Joe Biden cabinet, should the Dem presidential nominee prevail November 3.

Joining MLG in the inside the beltway speculation is Dem Sen. Tom Udall who is being prominently mentioned for Secretary of Interior, the post his late father Stewart Udall held and excelled at under President Kennedy. Energy and Environment News (E&E) comes with details:

Udall is on a short list of possible Interior secretaries if Biden is elected, according to former high-level Interior Department officials working for the former vice president's campaign. And Udall would be interested if asked, sources told E&E News. The Democrat, who announced last year he would not seek a third Senate term, has made it clear he's not retiring from public service. "I intend to find new ways to serve New Mexico and our country after I finish this term," he said. . . No final decisions have been made. . . But Udall is at the top of the list, insiders say, citing his strong conservation track record. . . All the signals are there," one official involved in the insider discussions said. . . 

Udall, 72, joins MLG, 60, in having serious interest in being in a Biden cabinet and winning serious consideration. The NYT reported in July the Governor was on the list to become Secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

A New Mexican as Sec. of Interior is not unheard of. ABQ GOP Congressman Manuel Lujan, Jr. was named to the slot by President Bush in 1989 and served four years. In the 20's Albert Fall of NM held the position, a tenure stained by the Teapot Dome Scandal.

Udall's ascension to the cabinet would have little impact on state politics. His Senate seat will be filled in November, with Dem Ben Ray Lujan the favorite to prevail over R Mark Ronchetti. But an MLG departure would be an earth shaker. Lt. Gov. Howie Morales would become Governor, naming his own lieutenant governor and igniting a flurry of speculation about what fellow Dems would challenge him for the 2022 Dem Guv nomination. Then there is the question of how Morales would handle the governorship handed off to him in the middle of a pandemic and an economic disaster wrought by the pandemic.

DEBATE BLINK

In that US Senate race Rep. Lujan has blinked on his decision to not appear at an Oct. 5 TV debate sponsored by KOB-TV and his hometown newspaper, the Santa Fe New Mexican. He now says if the Congress is not in session he will appear. The debate sponsors had said if he did not show they would place an empty chair on the stage to represent him.

Lujan was slammed in a newspaper editorial for avoiding the debate and rival Ronchetti has been pounding away at Lujan's no debate decision on social media, even though the five term lawmaker has agreed to two debates--on KOAT and KNME TV. Lujan says he needs to be in DC to vote on any coronavirus aid package that comes up but if the Congress has recessed by then he will do the third debate. Now the question is who gets the empty chair?

SENATE TRAIL

The latest polling has Lujan running nine points ahead (49-40) and while negative campaigning has sprouted up he also continues to push his softer side. An example is his new TV spot. Ronchetti's latest ad accuses Lujan of sharing "San Francisco values" with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He also announced his endorsement by the NRA.

SOUTHERN ACTION

President Trump made it official and tweeted out his support of southern GOP congressional candidate Yvette Herrell who is locked in an intense battle with Dem US Rep. Xochitl Torres Small.

Trump's backing is welcome but he could use some endorsements of his own in the largely conservative district. The recent ABQ Journal poll had him winning the district by only 4 points, hardly the landslide Herrell wants so she can ride his coattails into office.

Meanwhile, clever XTS continues to come with little surprises that must be irritating the Herrell camp. First, the NM Oil and Gas Assocation said nice things about her. Now the R leaning US Chamber of Commerce has given her an outright endorsement. XTS was one of the House Dems who scored better than 70 percent on the Chamber's scorecard.

KELLER'S CRIME PROBLEM

ABQ Mayor Tim Keller isn't up for re-election until November of next year but he can hear the footsteps of potential rivals, one reason crime-ridden ABQ is getting a new police chief. Keller made the announcement of APD Chief Mike Geier's departure at an uncharacteristically somber news conference. The weight of the crime epidemic and State Auditor Brian Colon's investigation of alleged wrongdoing at the agency appears to have fully settled on the Mayor's shoulders. Dem BernCo Sheriff Manny Gonzales has all but announced a mayoral bid and Republicans are starting to make noise about possible challengers.

Keller named Harold Medina as acting chief, a move immediately decried by APD critics as presenting the same old wine in a brand new bottle. They say Medina is a product of an aggressive APD culture that brought the Feds to town to reform the troubled department. Keller says he will launch a national search for a permanent chief but with the election so close he could be hard-pressed to persuade anyone to come here.

Medina, Geier and Keller (Pierre-Louis, Journal)

Ineffectively micromanaging APD. That’s the accusation Keller and his Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair have had to deal with as crime continues to soar. Under questioning from freshman GOP City Councilor Brook Bassan Nair denied the charge and became upset and frosty toward Bassan when she asked about the administration's support of Chief Geier before his departure was later announced. Pretty messy.

Tom Grover, a former APD officer and now an attorney who has had many officers and others associated with APD as clients, fired back at the CAO's denial of micromanagement:

“Let me be clear: To the extent you’re suggesting that the 11th floor is making operational or tactical decisions about the Police Department, we are not,” said Sarita Nair to Brook Bassan. But this doesn’t appear to be true. A memo from Paulette Diaz (Geier’s secretary) is evidence that they do micromanage. Geier getting pushed out when he tries to control his office is also evidence that they do. The administration choosing Medina as interim chief when he’s been their snitch and has even been looking for other jobs is evidence that they totally do micromanage. So please spare us the continued lies. (Like Sarita wasn’t micromanaging during the Oñate protest).

Handling APD has been like juggling porcupines and has left visible political wounds on Mayor Keller. Never mind that the epic mismanagement by his predecessor, Mayor Berry, set him up for a fall. He owns it now and he can't return it to the sender.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020