Friday, December 18, 2020Game On: Mad Scramble Starts To Fill Haaland's House Seat; The Process And Some Players
Phones across La Politica blew up immediately after the announcement that Haaland is Biden's pick. Here's how it's going to come down. (By the way, congrats Deb.)
--Once Haaland is confirmed, she resigns her seat and within ten days the secretary of state issues a proclamation for a special election that will be held within 77 to 91 days of the resignation. A January confirmation would put the election into late April or early May. --Picking the major party candidates for the special will be the ultimate insider baseball. There will not be primary elections. The nominees will be made by the State Central Committee members from the Democratic and Republicans parties who reside in the ABQ congressional district (The Libertarians also have major party status and will also be able to field a candidate). --All eyes will be on the Dems because no Republican has been elected to the liberal leaning district since 2006. --There are about 170 members from the ABQ district on the Central Committee, says Miranda van Dijk, Dem Party spokeswoman. She says depending on the timing of Haaland's resignation there is the chance that elections for new state central committee members in the new year could result in new members who would pick the nominee. Still, many, if not most, of the current members can be expected to seek and win another term. --There is no limit on the number of candidates who can seek the central committee nominations. Once the SOS issues the election proclamation those interested will file declarations of candidacy and all who do will be voted upon by the committees. The winning candidate must secure a majority of the vote so there is likely to be multiple ballots on the Dem side. FROM PROCESS TO PLAYERS
For now the early roads lead to attorney and State Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, 63, who finished third to Haaland in the 2018 Democratic primary. MLG later appointed her to the senate to fill a SE Heights vacancy. This year she won election with 78 percent of the vote. Sedillo Lopez checks all the Dem boxes--a woman, Hispanic and acceptable to the progressive wing. And she has experience running campaigns. But the committee could be looking for a fresher face. Lynn Trujillo of Sandia Pueblo, MLG’s cabinet secretary for Indian affairs, could be an intriguing candidate. She would keep the seat in the hands of a Native American woman and is known for her smarts. However she lacks political experience. Popular Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver no longer lives in the ABQ district but resides in Santa Fe. Still, as a former BernCo Clerk, the residency issue is not damaging. She has won statewide elections and would be a safe pick. But as an Anglo woman the timing may not be right. State Rep. Melanie Stansbury was said to be already working the phones in the hours following the Haaland announcement. She has been twice elected to a NE Heights seat and served as an environmental adviser in the Obama White House. The congressional nomination would be big vault, but she has nothing to lose for trying. Sleeper candidates could include BernCo Clerk Linda Stover and Sen. Linda Lopez. If the Dems want to make a move to the male side, State Auditor Brian Colon is letting it be known he's interested, even though he is a moderate in a progressive pond. Then there’s state reps Moe Maestas and Native American Derrick Lente who might get some interest (Mayor Keller is a no go) Then there's the national Dems who will try to shape the race as they work to keep intact their slim US House majority. Who will they side with? For the R's, it's a steep climb. Michelle Garcia Holmes lost big to Haaland this year so they will probably be looking elsewhere but a Hispanic woman seems their strongest play. Talk of unsuccessful GOP US Senate candidate Mark Ronchetti is making the rounds, but he may want to save his last bullet for the 2022 Governor’s race. There are angles aplenty. Keep those phones charged candidates, and those committee members on speed dial. 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 Thursday, December 17, 2020BIDEN TO PICK HAALAND FOR INTERIOR, Plus: More Name Dropping For Haaland Congress Seat, And: Death Claims NM Power Player Johnny Cope Her appointment is subject to US Senate confirmation. There will be a special election to fill her seat. That will occur within 77 to 91 days after Haaland makes her resignation official.
MORE NAME DROPPING Add BernCo Sheriff Manny Gonzales and ABQ City Councilor Lan Sena to the list of possible Dem hopefuls for the ABQ congressional seat if Haaland is confirmed as secretary of interior. Gonzales is interesting because he's currently weighing a 2021 bid for ABQ mayor. Sena was appointed by Mayor Keller last year to a westside city council seat left vacant by the death of Ken Sanchez. She's a progressive D. One more. Greg Jackson, a mixed martial arts trainer who co-owns Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, apparently wants to bring his fighting arts to politics as his name circulates. If Haaland left, about 150 Dem Central Committee members from the ABQ congressional district would name a nominee. The R's would also name a contender. By the way, a candidate for the US House need not be a resident of the district they seek to represent. They only need to be a resident of the state. And as news of Haaland getting interior broke, the names of ABQ City Councilor Pat Davis and defense attorney Randi McGinn were being added to the list of possibles. (In the first round of the name game we misspelled the last name of Claudia Risner and had an incorrect first name for ex-Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Biden's pick for secretary of energy.) JOHNNY COPE  Joe, Johnny died Monday near Palm Springs, CA. Johnny was notorious, generous, kind hearted, gentle, smart, fun loving and a Friend of Bill. He was a boy from Hobbs who became a successful businessman, lived hard and died tragically. Update--Cope family friend Bob Gallagher reports that he has spoken with the family and they say that medical authorities determined Cope died of an intestinal eruption while in his backyard. Cope had close ties to the NM horse racing industry. He was also a major contributor to the UNM athletic department . ABQ Journal reporter Thom Cole wrote of Cope in 2007: Cope was the master of ceremonies when Richardson put his left hand on the Bible and took the oath for a second term. . . A self-made millionaire many times over, Cope (helped) the governor raise millions for his gubernatorial and presidential campaigns.
Those who know him describe Cope as a man of his word, generous, hardworking and a shrewd businessman.
But his rise to the top hasn't been without troubles: business setbacks, a drug problem that led to jail time and a couple of stormy marriages that involved allegations of abuse.
Johnny Cope was 71. 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 Wednesday, December 16, 2020Election For Early Childhood Funds Being Pushed For September, Plus: Haaland Departure Would Mean A Special Election And A Crowd Seeking Her Seat There could be a statewide special election next September if supporters of a constitutional amendment to fund early childhood education get their way. Supporters of the amendment, which has repeatedly won House approval only to stall in the Senate, could get better treatment now that the upper chamber has taken on a more liberal hue as a result of the November election. The amendment would authorize one percent of the $20 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund to be spent annually for early childhood education. The legislature and voters must approve the proposal. It does not require approval of the Governor. The last election of this sort was a special election in September 2003 on a constitutional amendment that tapped the Fund for teacher salaries. It narrowly won. If the legislature approved a September vote and it passed, the education money would start flowing July 1, 2022. A possible sticking point in getting the amendment through this time? Some lawmakers want half of the proceeds to go to the public schools, not only early childhood. The schools currently get over $800 million in interest monies from the Permanent Fund. MORE ELECTING? And there could be yet another special election next year---for the ABQ congressional seat. It's been a see-saw ride for US Rep. Deb Haaland when it comes to her chances of becoming Secretary of Interior under Joe Biden. First she was up--way up--and then she headed back down. Now as the Biden decision draws near some speculators have her back at the top of the list. So if she were to leave her House seat what Dems would line up to replace her? The rumor mill is throwing out the names of State Reps Melanie Stansbury and Javier Martinez, Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, retired Navy captain Claudia Rosner, Sec. of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Lynn Trujillo of Sandia Pueblo and former US attorney Damon Martinez. And that's just for starters. The R's would also have contenders but the seat is deep blue and the D would be expected to prevail. If Haaland resigned an election would be called within 91 days of the resignation. But there's a long way to go. Haaland has to not only get the nomination but then she would have to make it through what could be rough waters at her Senate confirmation hearing. Her unabashed liberalism would give the R's plenty of reason to try to stop her. NEW ENERGY SEC. Biden is expected today to appoint a new secretary of energy, a position closely watched in NM because of the department's responsibility overseeing the Los Alamos and Sandia nuclear weapons labs. Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm is the reported choice, an ardent advocate for electric cars. But nuclear programs consume 75 percent of the department's budget which could mean . . . She would not be the first energy secretary without a background in nuclear issues, but will have to rely on the expertise of deputies. Don't fret, Gov. Granholm. The bean counters at the Labs will give you all the time you need to understand why they deserve those billions of dollars. THE BOTTOM LINES In reporting this week on the win of Rep. Willie Madrid over Republican Rick Little, the final state House race to be counted, we said that the Dem House majority "stayed the same" at 45 to 25. Actually, the Dems ended up losing one state House seat in the 2020 cycle taking their majority down from 46 to 24. 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 Tuesday, December 15, 2020Ghostly Sunport Contrasts With Neighboring States, Plus: NM Electors Remain Anonymous And GOP's "Fanciful Notions" The reader who snapped the pic writes: It’s 6:30 on a Sunday night. And they have one plane at the entire airport.
I should’ve taken pictures at Austin and Dallas. Everyone’s wearing masks, but the terminals are packed. The restaurants are open. People are coming and going. It’s an unbelievable contrast. New Mexico has been laboring under some of the toughest virus restrictions in the nation. But it's a tale of two worlds. The state is dominated by government employment and its contractors. Besides working remotely, they have felt little economic impact from the various restrictions while a large swath of the private sector economy is devastated. ANONYMOUS ELECTORS The state Democratic Party got the jitters when it came to releasing the names of the state's five electors who cast ballots for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Monday, affirming their November victory. The Dems said the names were being kept out of the public eye because "of security concerns reported in other states." A check of Ballotpedia shows a handful of other states also did not publicly name their electors as Trump continues to dispute the election outcome. The party said the five electors came from Valencia, Sandoval, San Miguel, Chaves and Curry counties and represented the "diversity of our state." That may well be, but it's notable that none of the electors came from Bernalillo, Dona Ana or Santa Fe counties--the ones that were instrumental to the Biden win here. FANCIFUL NOTIONS While Trump was losing here and nationally in the Electoral College, his campaign. . . . . filed an election lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, claiming the state broke the law when it allowed drop boxes to be a part of the voting process during the 2020 election. . . The Republican Party of New Mexico worked with the President’s legal team leading to this legal action. RPNM has questioned the validity of votes and the outcome in the presidential races due to mail-in ballots issues and drop box infractions. The final NM presidential vote as certified by the state after an independent audit was Biden 501,614 and Trump 401,894. That's a margin of nearly 100,000.
In case someone missed it, the Democrats control the governorship, both houses of the Legislature, all statewide executive offices, the Supreme Court, four of the five congressional seats and they've won four presidential elections in a row here. Welcome aboard, Nike. Congrats. . . or something.
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 Monday, December 14, 2020In the Shadow Of An Elephant: Keller Fights Crime As He Prepares Re-election Campaign, Plus, Electoral College Not Routine This Time Keller, 43, faces re-election next November and is scrambling to get ahead of his potential challengers. He has rolled out a Violence Intervention Program, a Rapid Accountability Diversion Program and APD’s ShotSpotter Technology. Now he wants to dress up an old idea in new clothes and hire a Chief of Public Safety, a position other Mayors relied on with little success. In addition, Keller says the national search for a new police chief to replace interim Chief Harold Medina is for real (although Medina is applying for the permanent posting). It's in that difficult search in which Keller's best hope for a culture change may rest. A kick-butt chief who is given the ability to hire his own upper command, who won't tolerate the overtime scandals and other corruption and who understands his civil rights responsibilities may be an unrealizable dream, especially in an election year. But placing another layer of bureaucracy over a rotten corpse isn't going to get the job done. City Councilor Brook Bassan put it this way: I don’t know why we need more chief positions when we need to trust and find a chief of police that can do a really good job, and be effective when it comes to the Department of Justice, and the consent decree and rebuilding our department. Keller is scurrying as Dem BernCo Sheriff Manny Gonzales weighs a mayoral bid in which crime would be his be-all, end-all (and as State Auditor Colón circles APD). But it remains highly uncertain whether ABQ desires having a lawman as Mayor and one who would essentially double as police chief. And kissing Trump's ring once in a liberal leaning city is excusable. It's the second and third kisses that get you accused of cheating. Take APD out of the equation and Mayor Keller has demonstrated a nimbleness in administering the city during this historic pandemic. Of course that's like taking the hamburger out of the bun and still calling it a burger. Still, the failures of past administrations in reining in crime is, in a twist of irony, benefiting Keller somewhat. The shadow of this elephant has been over our city for a very long time. You learn to live with it. ELECTORS MEET TODAY Usually the casting of the state's five electoral votes at the December ceremony following the November presidential election passes with minimal notice. But in this year fraught with charges over the outcome of the election, there is more interest than usual. Today at 11 a.m. the state's five Democratic electors will convene with the Secretary of State to organize and cast their ballots for Joe Biden. The livestream can be viewed here with the actual voting set for the noon hour. The meeting agenda is here. Biden won the electoral college over Trump 306-232 and those votes from across the nation will all be cast today, but Trump says he won't give in and will continue to fight the results. Next stop: a joint session of Congress Jan 6. to make a final count of the electoral college and certify the election. THE BOTTOM LINES
The victory means a 45-25 House majority for the Dems. The D's ended up losing one seat. The Dems picked up one state Senate seat this cycle giving them a 27-15 majority in that chamber.
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 |
|
