Monday, January 06, 2020Sheriff Manny Gets Closer To Mayoral Run; Says Announcement Later In Year, Plus: Oy Vey! Drunk Driving Senator Martinez Draws Foe With Own DWI
The first-term Mayor announced on our November Election Night broadcast on KANW 89.1 FM that he would seek a second term in '21. Now comes Gonzales in a Friday interview with TJ Trout on KKOB-AM-FM letting this shoe drop: My intentions are to do it, to officially announce sometime this coming year, and when I do, I told you, you would be one of the first to hear. . . It's early, but the city's record high '19 murder rate (82) and other sky high crime stats appear to be pushing Gonzales toward the run, and to get in early to keep others out. Like Keller, Gonzales is a Democrat but more conservative. Appealing to Republicans and independents would be key to a serious challenge, but also avoiding entangling himself with the GOP in a Dem dominated city. Gonzales managed a 55-45 win in his 2018 re-elect over Republican Lou Golson. Gonzales, the first Hispanic sheriff in BernCo in the modern era, earned praise for his intervention in the crime-ridden SE Heights in 2019. But he is drawing criticism from Keller supporters. They say the Sheriff, who is serving his second, four year term that ends in 2022, is getting in way over his head and that his administration of the sheriff's department has been far from stellar. Still, crime is the be-all-end-all issue for ABQ. If it continues to rise, the star of law and order Gonzales could rise. If it falls, Keller's crime-tarnished star could gleam again. The mayoral election may be in 2021 but 2020 will be a pivotal year in deciding the shape the race will take. OY VEY!
The difference between the 18-year-old college freshman who pleaded guilty and took responsibility as opposed to the 66-year-old state Senator who pleaded “not guilty” to aggravated DWI; never showed remorse or apologized to his constituents or the victims is astronomically different. Okay, but why didn’t Jaramillo come clean on his long ago arrest when he first announced his candidacy against Martinez which is largely the result of Martinez's DWI? Why did the news have to leak and then he issues a statement? And Jaramillo was once a journalist? Not a good start and not at all inspiring. Martinez stands to lose the seat he was first elected to in 2000. Gov. MLG has called on Martinez to resign, a call he has refused to heed. He has said he would not keep his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, not that he wasn't going to be stripped of it anyway.
Martinez not only refuses to resign he even argues, incredulously, that his drunk driving conviction will "probably make him a better Senator." Talk about problematic candidates for Democratic voters in the four county northern Senate district that includes Española. Well, if they want a change they are going to have to take the least flawed of this pair. Since Martinez's aggravated DWI took place while he held office and caused injuries and is accompanied by that embarrassing and humiliating arrest video, removing him is the first order of business. But Jaramillo, 43, who proclaims himself the standard-bearer of a new generation, needs to get rid of old school habits he shares with Martinez and that led him to attempt to cover up his past. The cover-up is much worse than his offense. The North is changing (ask Debbie Rodella or Carl Trujillo). It's no time for pretenders. 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.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020
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