Rep. Youngblood (Sorber. Journal)

Let’s head out to that crowded campaign trail and find out who's making tracks. . .

ABQ GOP State Rep. Monica Youngblood earned her day in jail when she refused to take a breathalyzer test and was charged with and found guilty of aggravated DWI. In sentencing her Wednesday ABQ Metro Court Pro Tem Judge Kevin Fitzwater gave her credit for a day served for the hours she was held when arrested and taken into custody.

The law requires a two day sentence so Monica will have to spend at least one day in the pokey, be on supervised probation for one year and use an ignition interlock in her car for a year. She has been ordered to report to jail by October 19.

Youngblood faces Dem Karen Bash in her re-election bid to her NW ABQ district which tilts Republican. It's hard to see how the Dems can't take this seat back given the humiliating video tape of Monica's arrest, her refusal to take a breath test and her guilty verdict. She has been a tough on crime legislator frequently calling for stronger DWI laws and now she has violated those laws and refused to resign. The charge in the campaign won't be the law as much as it will be hypocrisy.

But nothing is for sure and Bash said after posting a brief Facebook comment that she is not going to use the issue. That leaves the dirty work to the Dem PACS. Based on this statement she made following her sentencing, Youngblood seems to think she has a fighting chance:

I want to thank. . . my constituents all who seem to be supportive of what I have done and how I have handled this.

Well, this will be a fun one to watch Election Night when we take to the airwaves of KANW 89.1 FM to call all the action.

As for that one day in jail for Monica, that shouldn't be too tough on her--as long as they don't have her sharing a jail cell with Jessica Kelly.

A SUPREME CONTEST

He was administered a rare Republican knockout when he ran two years ago for a NM Supreme Court seat against Bernalillo County's popular Judy Nakamura, now NM Court of Appeals Judge Michael Vigil is back for a second try at a high court seat and he thinks this time his chances are much better. Here is his first TV spot. It's a short 15 seconds because Supreme Court candidates who agree to public financing only get about $180,000 for their campaigns.

This time Vigil will be going up against GOP Supreme Court Justice Gary Clingman, the former Hobbs District Court judge who was appointed this year by Gov. Martinez to fill a court vacancy but now must stand for election. And that's tough because Nakumara pulled off a rare feat when she beat Vigil, becoming only the second R since the 1980's to win a high court seat. Clingman is not taking public financing. He reported a cash balance of $60,000 in early September,  including a personal loan of $20,000. Vigil had a balance of $140,000.

BIG COURT CHANGE

The five member Surpeme Court is going to look a lot different come January. You have that battle for the open seat between Vigil and Clingman but also two Justices--75 year old Charles Daniels and 70 year old Petra Maes are retiring at the end of the year. Their positions will be filled by the new Governor from a list provided by the judicial nominating commission. If underdog Steve Pearce were to win for Governor and he appointed two GOP judges to go along with Nakamura that would be the first GOP majority on the high court since when? If that happened, it had to be back in the 20's or early 30's when NM was heavy R.

One other note. If attorney Lujan Grisham becomes Governor she might channel her grandfather, the late Justice Eugene Lujan who was the first Hispanic chief justice of the court serving from 1945 through 1959.

A HEINRICH VET

Senator Heinrich comes with an appeal to veterans in his latest TV spot featuring an army veteran who says the Dem lawmaker "expanded outpatient clinics (for veterans) in Gallup, Raton and Santa Fe."

Meantime, state Dems have been blasting Gary Johnson's Super PAC for filming campaign commercials about NM in Utah:

New Mexicans know Gary Johnson, but his Utah-based Super PAC doesn't seem to know New Mexico. The most notable of the bunch is called "Washington Doesn't Work" and appears to have been shot entirely at an outdoor mall in Salt Lake City.

The PAC may have been shooting ads but none, as far as we know, have yet shown up on broadcast TV here. Johnson is the Libertarian nominee for the Senate and Mick Rich is carrying the R banner.

PANNING GARY

Johnson won some praise from us Tuesday for running a relatively corruption-free, eight year governorship. Of course the Dems aren't going to let that stand. From a Dem Alligator:

Johnson may be free from scandal based on the standards set by Governors Richardson and Martinez, but when he was governor he was held in contempt on welfare reform, and forced special legislative sessions. Not to mention that he promoted and benefitted from the John Dendahl/GOP scorched earth strategy against Democrats, minority voters and Republicans who dared opposed the Johnson agenda in Santa Fe. I don’t think Republican Senator R.L. Stockard and Republican State Reps Andy Kisner and Townsend thought Gary Johnson was very kind when they saw primary challenges after opposing him.

BIG BILL SIGHTING

Big Bill has been spotted on the campaign trail. The former two term Dem Guv hosted a $25 a head fund-raiser for Dem congressional hopeful Xochitl Torres Small in Mesilla last Saturday. 25 bucks? In Big Bill's heyday that number would have had a couple of zeros added but given that Pearce is using Bill as a foil in his corruption campaign against MLG, it's probably best to keep the solicitations on the very low side--at least the high profile ones.

CONSERVATIVE OR NOT?

Dem Guv contender Lujan Grisham took heat over her congressional junkets to Azerbaijan and Puerto Rico. Now ABQ attorney Jeffrey Baker applies some junket heat to Republican hopeful Steve Pearce:

Is Steve Pearce a fiscal conservative? In November, 2012, after a Congressional trip to Egypt was canceled, Congressman Pearce decided to go by himself. He stuck the taxpayers for a $19,525 plane ticket (the Journal found available flights for $2400). You might also check out Stephen Colbert’s July, 2014 segment on a Pearce “fact finding” mission to Central America. Pearce spent a weekend visiting Guatemala and Honduras, and, according to Colbert, spent most of his time in the hotel lobby. Perhaps Congressman Pearce can tell us how this behavior is consistent with fiscal conservatism.

THE BOTTOM LINES

The first TV ad in the ABQ congressional race is finally out. It comes from Deb Haaland, who is far ahead in the fundraising, with her opponents Republican Janice Arnold-Jones and Libertarian Lloyd Princeton lagging.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018