Even better news for MLG would be a ticket out of here courtesy of a President Kamala Harris. The second term Governor, soon to become an official lame duck following the November election, continues to see her standing with the Legislature deteriorate and a dreadful final two years of bickering and stalemate taking shape.
House Speaker Javier Martinez has now openly broken with her over the botched special legislative session she called on public safety measures.
The split is so bad the Democratic Governor finds herself embracing the Republican newspaper and the ABQ Chamber of Commerce
So, will it be Harris to the rescue and Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales looking at new furniture for the Fourth Floor of the Roundhouse?
MLG messed up her chances for a cabinet slot under Biden but her relationship with Harris is stronger. But first Harris must win and that is far from a certainty.
ABQ's interminable crime problem will be far from the Guv's mind over the next two months as she campaigns for Team Harris and in turn her own political future.
VASQUEZ DITCHES DNC
Southern Dem US Rep. Gabe Vasquez, joined at the hip to Sen. Martin Heinrich, has joined his mentor in deciding not to attend the Dem convention.
Vasquez is locked in a truly tight race with former GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell while Heinrich remains favored to beat Republican Nella Domenici but is playing defense to prevent making an opening for her.
Herrell went up on broadcast TV this week with her first ad and she's in no mood to play nice. She unveils a hit piece narrated by tough talking ABQ US Army veteran Steve Tafoya who tells the audience:
As a veteran it's tough to watch Gabe Vasquez destroy the country I sacrificed to defend. Gabe rejected anti-crime reform. He's working to tear down the border wall. He called to 'deconstruct' law enforcement.
Vasquez audio: It's not just about defunding the police, it's about defunding a system.
And just this year Vasquez had a warrant out for his arrest, the latest of his run-ins with the law. I know an enemy when I see one. Gabe Vasquez is a repeat offender and wrong for New Mexico.
To voters just coming to the campaign the spot could seem devastating for Vasquez. But the warrant for his arrest was over him failing to appear in court in 2002 after being charged with driving without a license or insurance.
Vasquez who was 18 at the time of the offenses, was neither booked nor arrested at any time and settled the matter in March by paying a bond, Luis Yañez, an attorney for Vasquez said. Vasquez never received notification of the outstanding citations but paid them immediately when he became aware of them.
The "deconstruct law enforcement" charge has sting and the spot features Vasquez from a TV interview where the then Las Cruces City Councilor strangely conceals his face with a bandana as he calls for defunding the police.
But the video was already used in the 2022 campaign.
Vasquez said then he was not in favor of defunding the police and that as a Las Cruces City Councilor he had voted to increase police budgets.
OTHER "RUN-INS"
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| Rep. Vasquez |
The Herrell ad reference to Vasquez being a "repeat offender" and having other "run-ins" with the law refers to other incidents involving Vasquez from his youth. Those have been reported on but not amplified via TV.
Voters may be hearing more about them in the days ahead. Here is a rundown from the UK's Daily Mail:
--In July 2004, Vasquez, who was a college student, placed a call to a human resources employee at a call center in Las Cruces. Vasquez, asked the center to speak with 'Chris,' and when the employee asked which Chris he was referring to, Vasquez replied 'Chris, the n***er.' The employee called back and left a message for Vasquez notifying him that she intended to report him to the police. Vasquez said: 'I have not and would never use language like this, this attack is categorically false. This is another example of how desperate Republicans are lying about my character rather than focusing on delivering for New Mexico.' 'It is not a coincidence that these lies are coming immediately after the video of Yvette Herrell wanting to ban all abortion in New Mexico, even in the case of rape and incest, came to light.'
--That wasn't Vasquez's only run-in with the police during his time at New Mexico State, which he attended from 2002-2008. He was given a criminal citation by police twice in 2005 for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia. In one instance, officers arrived at Vasquez's residence due to a loud music complaint and witnessed him cutting up marijuana and rolling it. In another, officers on bike patrol found Vasquez and his underage friends intoxicated and reeking of marijuana in a car. Vasquez handed marijuana over to the officers. All of the police records say the cases were 'suspended' and there is no indication further action was taken against Vasquez.
--Twice police were involved in domestic incidents when Vasquez and his ex-girlfriend were fighting. In 2004 Vasquez called the police because he said the ex, who he had broken up with a day earlier, refused to leave his apartment as they were arguing and he 'didn't want to do anything stupid and end up going to jail.' In a 2007 'possible domestic' incident, an officer arrived at a residence where Vasquez and a handful of other people were and Vasquez said he and his girlfriend had gotten into a verbal argument because he asked her 'not to drink so much because she just turned 21 and she gets kind of wild when she drinks. Vasquez said the girlfriend 'had a few too many' and 'began getting a little wild and dancing around in front of his friends' and he asked her to stop. They then got into an argument and the girlfriend had a friend pick her up.
That's a lot of potential fodder for Herrell. Will she use it to make this race more about character than policy? That could be the smart play even though the events are long ago. Repeating the events incessantly with TV spots could make a difference.
The use of veteran Tafoya as the narrator in Herrell's first ad confirms what we and other observers have been saying--Herrell must avoid a Democratic blow-out in ABQ's Hispanic and Dem-leaning South Valley if she is to thwart Vasquez's bid for a second term.
This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.
