Attorney General Balderas

It's a sad and unseemly ending for Attorney General Hector Balderas, a once rising political star who has been taken down by progressives after being exposed for appearing to sell out his office to a law school buddy and his politically connected powerhouse law firm. 

Balderas, 47, is term limited when he finishes his second four year term next year and did not have any known plans of seeking another office, but there will be no resurrection at a later date, not after the sharp nails placed in his political coffin.

The end came when the aforementioned progressives were enraged over Balderas backing off from setting tougher conditions for Avangrid's proposed merger with PNM. 

PNM is the state's largest utility and the merger is under consideration at the Public Regulation Commission. Avangrid is owned by the Spanish corporation Iberdrola.

That's where Marcus Rael, Jr. of the politically connected law firm Robles, Rael & Anaya comes in to what is an ugly picture. Besides graduating together from UNM Law in 2001, Rael and Balderas briefly practiced law together. 

The facts:

--On April 2, Balderas told the Journal that he had concerns about the merger’s lack of benefits for utility customers and worried about utility profits leaving the state. Experts for the state recommended massive changes, including doubling customers’ credits. . .Days after those recommendations were filed with the PRC, Rael paid one last visit to Balderas’ office. . . A few weeks later, Balderas signed onto a tentative merger deal that fell dramatically short of what expert witnesses had suggested — a pivot from his earlier critiques. 

Robles, Rael & Anaya have a myriad of contracts with local governments in the state and this unmasking of its political connections is not the first.

In August of 2017, questions were raised on the blog about why Balderas had not pursued the scandal involving ABQ Police Chief Ray Schultz and his dealings with the Taser company. It appeared Schultz had rigged a city contract with APD and Taser. It was investigated by then State Auditor Tim Keller who in 2015 forwarded his report to Balderas for action. The AG never took any. From that blog:

Current State Auditor Brian Colón, a best friend of Balderas, was employed at Robles, Rael and Anaya which was defending Schultz at the time of the scandal, furthering the criticism of Balderas that he was being swayed to not pursue the charges by Marcus Rael and also Colón. When he ran for mayor in 2017 Colón said he did no work on city of ABQ contracts while at the firm.

The Schultz case was an epic moment in city and state political history. Why? Because if AG Balderas had busted open the corruption at APD it could have made way for a new culture to take hold and with it a new approach to the crime crisis. Today we have the same change resistant culture and a historic crime wave to boot. 

After that Balderas boasted of taking down corrupt actors state Senator Phil Griego and Sec. of State Dianna Duran but Duran was a gambling addict, a Republican and easy pickings. Ditto for the bumbling Griego who misused his Senate office by rigging a real estate deal. 

The walk the AG took on Avangrid is also of historic proportions, involving future millions in profits and utility bills. Unlike Taser, Balderas has been called to account. 

With an affable and humble public persona, Balderas, who grew up dirt poor in Wagon Mound, turned into one of the state's most popular political figures. He was elected State Auditor in 2006 after Auditor Jeff Armijo fell victim to a scandal and resigned. The Dem Party named Balderas the nominee. Balderas won election that year, was re-elected in 2010 and in 2014 it was off to the attorney general's office for two terms 

In between he challenged Dem US Senator Martin Heinrich in the 2012 primary but never attacked Heinrich. He lost but maintained his viability. He then toyed with running for Governor in 2018 but backed off in the face of a strong candidacy from MLG.

Now the last entry on his political resume has been made. It's sad and somewhat tragic. Young, smart, native New Mexican men who connect widely don't often seek political careers and they are the potential agents of change the state needs to reverse its poor standings. 

Hector Balderas rode high and mighty and then crashed and burned. He isn't the first to make that trip but that doesn't make it easier for the hundreds of thousands who placed their faith in him to witness the wreckage.

Colón And Balderas

The downfall of Balderas is a blow to his BFF Colón, 50, who is now seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 2022. His main rival is Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez, a favorite of mostly progressives, while Colón is more at home with the moderate Dems who are now outnumbered in the primary. Colón's association with Rael is bound to be a sore point after the progressive takedown of the AG, making it that much more difficult to defeat Torrez. 

Not that the DA doesn't have financial connections that Colón could turn against him, namely that $107,000 in support a committee backing him received from progressive billionaire George Soros when he first ran for DA in 2016. A number of progressives are not happy with Torrez carrying the progressive label, saying he has turned his back on them.

THE MERGER 

With Balderas, the chief consumer advocate for utility ratepayers sidelined, the PNM merger deserves even more scrutiny by the Public Regulation Commission. New Energy Economy, which promotes renewables, has been holding Avangrid's feet to the fire while the company conducts an expensive advertising onslaught to convince the public of the merger's merits. After what happened to the AG following the money of all those involved in the deal will be a must. 

When we finished the first draft of the blog Tuesday the question of Sheriff Manny Gonzales would appeal the city ruling denying him public financing was still unanswered. Later it was announced Gonzales will appeal the denial to district court. More on the updated Tuesday blog. . . 

Notable public official Herb Hughes died at the age of 90 this month. He was a Republican who served on the ABQ city council as well as top positions in state government.