Wednesday, December 01, 2021Herrell About To Face Redistricting Music As Dems Feel Free To Make Their Move; Observers Also Say Dems Could Grow Their Legislative Strength A Bit; Special Session Kicks Off Monday
Even though Herrell is a former GOP state House member, one veteran lawmaker says: The R's are not about to fall on their sword for Herrell. They have their own seats to worry about. The legislature's special redistricting session kicks off Monday and the southern congressional seat gets top billing, although the 112 lawmakers who will be finalizing district boundaries for their own state House and Senate seats are obviously more consumed with their own futures. The lead up to the session has been pretty buzzless, mainly because the Dems control the Legislature and the Governor's office. This redistricting doesn't have the edge that it had ten years ago when the R's had the governorship. While this legislative redistricting is not a nonevent it is nothing like back then when lengthy and expensive court battles erupted in the aftermath of the redistricting session (not that the R's couldn't file suit after this one). What will be the final impact of the 2021 redistricting expected to be completed in about a week? Back to our veteran lawmaker: The issue is whether the House and Senate will get more Democratic or not. Republican strength is not going to grow. We could end with a status quo state Senate that protects the 27-15 Dem majority. In the House the leadership may try to pick up a seat or two but that is not uncomplicated. The current breakdown in the House is 45 to 24 with one independent identifying with the R's. As for freshman Herrell, a number of insiders we spoke to off the record attributed the lack of interest in her fate to her coziness with Trump, calling into question the 2020 election results and warming to radical R's such as Sheriff Couy Griffin who she since has tried to distance from. Said one: She's made it easy for the Democrats. They don't see reshaping the seat as a political issue but as a moral issue. The Herrell wing of the GOP to them represents a threat to democracy. If she had adopted a more moderate tone it may have been different but probably not. But there could be vigorous debate over how to make Herrell's district more Dem friendly. The so called Peoples Map that was one of several sent to the Legislature for consideration by the Citizens Redistricting Committee is coming under harsh fire for the way it sends the southern district into ABQ proper and also splits in two the city of Hobbs. A longtime Santa Fe Wall-Leaner explained: That map enrages Southeast New Mexico. They already feel ignored even as their oil boom gives the state historic surpluses. Splitting Hobbs is a spit in their eye. There is a way of making that congressional district more favorable to the Democrats without humiliating the Republicans and oil country. 2022 is shaping up as a tough year for the Dems so even with a new map the southern CD could still stay in play given the large swatch of conservative country it is still expected to cover. As for spicing up the session, Governor Lujan Grisham could add some fireworks to the redistricting show by adding other items to the agenda. How can she resist? KELLER'S SWEEP--TAKE 2  Political consultant Sisto Abeyta apologizes for a data entry error that had Keller garnering 63 percent of the vote in SE Heights District 6 when it should have been a whopping 75 percent. And in the Downtown/North Valley District 2 Keller secured 73 percent of the vote not the 59 percent initially reported. Keller's percentage did go down in some of the districts with the recalculation. In Westside District 5 he won with 46 percent in the three way mayoral race; in NE Heights District 4 he took 50 percent of the vote and in Valley District 3 he won with 49 percent. All the outcomes are posted in the graphic that was composed by the Keller camp from the final official numbers. We updated yesterday's blog to show the change. Sheriff Manny Gonzales finished second in all 9 council districts and Eddy Aragon third. As for Abetya's initial take, he will be given the traditional punishment of ten lashes with a wet noodle and also is banned from Barelas Coffee House for 30 days. Better you than me, Sisto. This is the Home of New Mexico Politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.
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