Rep. Alan Martinez

For a minute it appeared that state House GOP members might hew to the middle and choose Rep. Gail Armstrong as their new House Minority Leader. Instead there was a swing to the hard right and former House Minority Whip Rod Montoya of Farmington defeated Armstrong to become the new leader. Armstrong retains her role as Caucus Chair. Freshman Rep. Alan Martinez of Rio Rancho (District 23) is the new Minority Whip.

It's a return to power for Montoya, who served as the minority whip when he and House Minority Leader Jim Townsend left leadership following the poor GOP election results in 2022. But the GOP members turned back to Montoya, 57, a scrappy, confrontational lawmaker from Farmington who will now front the election year effort for the House GOP, including critical fundraising.

The House R's are overpowered by a Dem majority (45-24) that is not expected to change substantially with this year's election.

Rep. Martinez, a retired career employee of the state veterans department, and Rep. Armstrong, a rancher and business owner, are seen as more moderate members of the caucus. 

The House Dem dominance has led to a topsy-turvy pattern in GOP leadership. Townsend departed to run for the Senate and Minority Leader Ryan Lane of Farmington resigned not only from leadership but also from his legislative seat. 

Lane tried to work collaboratively at times with the Dems but lacking experience and with the Trumpers breathing down his neck, he got lost in the maze of Roundhouse politics. 

Supporters of Montoya, a real estate broker who has been in the House since 2015, like his backbone. Critics dismiss him as ineffective and abrasive. 

While serving as minority whip Montoya tussled with House Speaker Egolf. Now he will have a new foil in Speaker Javier Martinez.

WHERE GOP STANDS

Rep. Montoya

The House Republicans only register a heartbeat when they are able to form a coalition with conservative House Dems to defeat progressive legislation as they did this last session with the family medical leave act. Otherwise they suffer from a diminished relevance that has depleted their ranks of political heavyweights.

The House GOP put this spin on their new leadership: 

Representative Montoya, known for his powerful conservative message and bold presence on the House Floor, vows to take his vision directly to New Mexicans and focus on policies that promote education choice, job growth, safe communities, and affordable and reliable energy. Representative Martinez, as the new Whip, complements this vision with his commitment to public service and government accountability. His track record of working with diverse stakeholders is expected to be instrumental in advancing the Republican Caucus’s priorities. Representative Armstrong looks forward to using lessons she has learned across 30 years of business ownership to strengthen the Caucus.

The bottom line is that the GOP in the state House and the state at large is deeply isolated--almost historically so--but is still determined to rebuild by waiting for the Democrats to trip over themselves rather than redefine their party.

The waiting game has paid off in the past but since then the GOP and its positions on social issues has made it an anathema in a Democratic state, urgently needing a refocused party that can again attract moderate Dems and independents,.

That may happen when the Trump era ends but for now New Mexican politics is like an intramural contest between the progressive Dems and conservative Dems with the GOP House occasionally being called off the bench to participate.

Speaking of which. . . 

DEM PRIMARY INFIGHTING

A fiery rebuke of a progressive PAC attack on ABQ moderate Dem Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto by progressive ABQ Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino has the PAC firing back.

The trio of  Dem consultants whose Better Future for NM PAC is seeking to defeat Ivey-Soto in the June Dem primary with challenger Heather Berghmans, sent out a fund-raising letter that the blog published last week and that revealed the well-financed PAC's conservative Dem primary targets.

Here's Amanda Cooper and company of the Better Future NM progressive PAC doubling down on their Ivey-Soto hits in the wake of Ortiz y Pino's defense:

In response to your blog published on April 4th, history cannot be rewritten once it has been documented. You don’t have to search for long to find when Sen. Ivey-Soto refused to support access to abortion care after the fall of Roe or to pinpoint his history of obstruction, for example to paid sick leave. Taking the right vote during an election year does not erase history, but let’s not lose sight of the elephant in the room: multiple credible accounts of harassment in the Roundhouse. Let’s not forget that the report by the independent special counsel (hired by legislators) found "credible evidence" in harassment allegations against Sen. Ivey-Soto. The ethics and accountability system at the Roundhouse is broken, but the voters have the opportunity to help make an unsafe space safer by voting for a change on June 4.  

Former Dem State Rep and attorney Daymon Ely, who was a key player in ethics rules and legislation, came with this:

Your readers should know that the process used to investigate Sen. Ivey-Soto was broken, making it impossible to hold legislators accountable. Senator Ivey-Soto was investigated by a well-respected attorney. He concluded that there was probable cause to the claims of sexual harassment. However, because of a flaw in our rules, the Senate was allowed to stop the prosecution in its tracks by the interim ethics committee reaching a tie vote of 2-2. This had two consequences: (1) the process could not move forward; and (2) the Senator could (and did) proclaim his innocence while, at the same time, the complainant was gagged from talking to anyone. As a legislator, I worked to change the rule on the possibility of a tie. And, in the following session, the Majority Whip, Reena Szczepanski, removed the gag provision. No one should confuse the conclusion of that process as a vindication for Sen. Ivey-Soto. 

The voters' decision on Ivey-Soto comes down to a political assessment, not a legal conclusion because  as Ely said none has been rendered--an opinion from the solo investigator is not a conclusion and as  stated no prosecution is contemplated. 

CONSERVATIVE DEMS SPEAK

Campos

Margaret Campos, seeking to unseat progressive Dem Rep. Susan Herrera in District 41 centered in Rio Arriba County, also hit back against the progressive attack against her that claimed she is "well-funded by oil and gas and other special interests."

Campos pointed to a $5,500 campaign contribution to Herrera from Chevron lobbyist Partick Killen. She notes that Herrera lists Killen's employment as a "lobbying organization" failing to mention Chevron. 

That could be an effective hit. A fallacy of state politics is that the oil boys are all Republican all the time. Not so. They have given to virtually all members of the Legislature. No one is turning down that money. 

Progressives can pretend otherwise but big oil has a seat at all the tables in Santa Fe and Campos' hit on Herrera proves the point.

Marsella Duarte, a conservative Dem is running against Rep. Yanira Gurrola in the House District 16 Dem primary on ABQ's westside. The progressive PAC said in their fundraising letter that "Duarte was  recruited and is supported by high-profile corporate lobbyists." Duarte responds:

When did it become wrong to be labeled a conservative and right to be to be known as a progressive? I am neither. Pundits would have the voters in my district believe that I am a one-dimensional candidate with a limited thought process. . .That could not be further from the truth. It’s a polished lie. I will listen to everyone whose agenda is to improve my west side community. My campaign is fueled by a lifetime living in my District. I will represent it with dignity and gratitude. I know what life can be like when all hope is lost. And I know the joy when hope is regained. Conservative or not, my vote is my vote. I was not hand-picked by a group whose goal is to lead a legislator around by the nose.

MONEY WATCH

GOP US Senate candidate Nella Domenici reports that from mid-January when she announced her candidacy through the end of March her campaign has raised $1.25 million. However, that includes $500,000 the wealthy hopeful contributed to her own coffers. Aside from that she raised $750,000. 

Dem Senator Martin Heinrich has not done an early release of his first quarter fund-raising numbers which are due at the FEC April 15. At last count in October he had $3.5 million in cash on hand. 

Domenici has healthy initial fund-raising but without firmer signs she is a real threat she may have to rely even more on her personal funds to keep pace with the two term Senator. She has the money. The question could be if she has the desire to dig deeper into her bank account which will be answered in due time.

Her campaign comes with this spin:

Despite only being in the race for just over two months, the campaign received donations from more than 1,100 individuals. Nella's total is significantly larger than any GOP U.S. Senate candidate raised in New Mexico in the first quarter of an election year. The previous record for a Republican was set in 2012 with $760,000.

But if you don't count the personal funds Domenici has contributed, she falls $10,000 short of that 2012 record. 

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