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Thursday, September 09, 2021

MLG Gets Nod From State's "First Endorser," Stansbury And Herrell Surprise As They Get Chummy And Some Positive Thoughts For Beleaguered ABQ 

Sen. Heinrich
It was a tough sell and the negotiation went down to the wire but finally Dem US Sen. Martin Heinrich agreed to endorse MLG in her bid for re-election. Just kidding, of course. 

Heinrich is carving out a reputation as the "first endorser," issuing dozens of then in recent cycles and true to form he is the first big name endorser for fellow Dem Lujan Grisham.

She has work to do nailing down and exciting the Democratic base as her approval rating in recent polling has sunk below 50 percent She hopes Heinrich's strong appeal with environmentalists will help and also discourage any out of the blue Dem primary challenge. From Heinrich:

. . .Lujan Grisham has set bold statewide renewable energy standards -- putting New Mexico at the forefront of the clean energy industry that will produce good jobs. . .She has aggressively pursued polluters and established nation-leading rules that will reduce harmful emissions and create even more jobs through detecting and capping gas leaks that harm our air. Governor Lujan Grisham has made New Mexico a national leader in the fight against climate change. I am pleased to endorse Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham so she can continue delivering for. . .New Mexico.” 

And there you have it direct from the First Endorser. 

Other titles held by New Mexico politicos include State Auditor Brian Colón as "Most Photographed Man in New Mexico" (just check out Facebook) and "Most Recognizable Politician" held by AG Hector Balderas. Yes, it has something to do with not having to go to the barber. 

Nominations are always open to fill additional categories. 

SOUTHERN STRATEGY

Will this race be the next to get a Heinrich endorsement?

Some Alligator follow-up to our blog this week pointing out that state Senator Siah Correa Hemphill and Las Cruces City Councilor Gabe Vasquez are two prominent Dems taking a look at running for Rep. Yvette's southern congressional seat next year. We get this:

Siah is the one who has had real discussions with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Gabe is just toying with it and even though he's a former Senator Heinrich staffer, she is also close to him.

Neither of the possible candidates has made an official announcement. Herrell will be seeking her second term. 

OLD SCHOOL

Herrell & Stansbury
Some old school bipartisanship this week caused a stir in La Politica. Polar opposites--Dem US Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Rep. Herrell joined together to visit Afghan refugees and their temporary housing at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo. That's in Herrell's district and some refugees will later make their way to ABQ so both lawmakers have an interest in the matter.

The visit was not open so there are no smiling photos of the pair happily working away. Don't expect Melanie and Yvette to become besties but publicly breaking the ice is a good start to bringing some longed for civility to the scene.

Meanwhile, there has been an outpouring of support for the refugees from the Alamogordo area. So many essential goods have been donated for the 5,000 refugees who will eventually arrive at the Base that officials had to stop accepting more. Good stuff. . . 

POSITIVITY CORNER

The ABQ mayoral election is about to hit full stride (if Manny Gonzales can get out of the courts and get campaigning) and with it will come a storm of criticism of how things are going around here and what's wrong with the place. Fair enough. But before that deluge of damnation begins let's pause for a note of appreciation for our town courtesy of Melanie Meleski Trujillo writing on the ABQ Memories Facebook page:  

 I love the mountains to the mesa skies. I love the city’s sense of community. I love that we can still see some stars at night. I love our undying loyalty to the UNM Lobos and our AAA baseball and newer United. I love being the balloon capital of the world with our unusual box winds. Of course I love the Sandias turning purple, pink, red, and gold in the course of a ten minute sunset. I love a full moon rise. I love that you can travel through history as easily as a drive through various neighborhoods. I love our devotion to luminarias. I love it when I explain to someone not from here that it does snow. I love it when the cotton flies and everyone is complaining about it. I love it when the Bosque cottonwoods show that faint green in early Spring and then give us their bright yellow show in the Fall. Geez, I could keep going, but I am late to a breakfast meeting at Duran’s.

Thanks, Melanie. We're going to need some more of that positivity before this campaign is over (and those comforting enchiladas from Duran's).

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Wednesday, September 08, 2021

Readers Ask: Who is Brent Eastwood? Man Who Scorched Ex-Gov. Martinez Over Board Appointment To Daniels Fund Explained, Plus: Inside The Fund: Diane Denish Throws Some Light 

Who is Brent Eastwood? That's the question we received from readers after Eastwood scorched Susan Martinez's performance as governor on the Aug. 26 blog in reaction to her appointment to the Board of Directors of the $1.6 billion charitable Daniels Fund. The fund, according to IRS filings, pays directors around $50,000 a year.

Brent Eastwood is not a Democrat, but a conservative Republican who ran afoul of the Martinez administration while supervising international trade in Martinez's Economic Development Department. He joined with another employee to file this whistleblower lawsuit in 2014:

A whistleblower lawsuit filed in state court makes a series of explosive allegations against appointees of Gov. Martinez, accusing high-ranking officials in her administration of public corruption, mismanagement, and intimidation. It claims that officials at the state’s economic development agency engaged in extramarital affairs that could expose the state to sexual harassment charges and that officials tried to silence employees who reported contracting violations and other wrongdoing. . .

Eastwood says the lawsuit was settled for an "undisclosed" amount of money,

Eastwood is a former Army infantry officer, RAND Corporation analyst and book author with a Ph.D in political science who now lives out of state. Eastwood’s wife, Melanie Sanchez-Eastwood, worked as a scheduler on Martinez’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

INSIDE THE FUND

So what about the Daniels Fund, the legacy of Colorado cable billionaire Bill Daniels, brother of prominent NM Democrat Jack Daniels who was the father of Diane Denish, the 2010 Dem Guv nominee defeated by Martinez. How did the fund become dominated by highly partisan Republicans, including Martinez and Hanna Skandera, who is now President of the Fund and who was the controversial Secretary of Public Education under Martinez.

Bill Daniels was a Republican (not a conservative Dem as we labeled him in our initial blog) but as Diane Denish explains he never meant for the fund to veer to the right: 

 Joe, It is an independent and not a family foundation. The original Board members were all designated by Bill--my dad and I were two of them and my dad was chairman until shortly before his death. I left in 2010 as I began my run for Governor. Today, there are only 4 of the original Board members on the 13 member Board that knew Bill. (One of those is Jim Nicholson who is former national RNC Chair). 

The fund has been steering away from Bill's mission for at least 10 years with some Board members steering to the far right and frankly not caring about or adhering to best practices for philanthropy. Highly paid Board members in philanthropy are a glaring example. (I got board fees too and donated all of them to non-profits in NM). 

Bill intentionally created a balance of his Republican and Democratic friends (and relatives) in the original board. In my conversations with him the day before his death in March 2000, he said he didn't intend it to be "political" in nature. At the same time he told me he didn't plan for the money to be used to buy "any damn symphony tickets."

Linda Childears who preceded Skandera as CEO for 15 years left abruptly in March of 2020 after high profile criticism in Colorado and New Mexico of a politically slanted Scholarship Application. Skandera, then a board member, appeared to be waiting in the wings to grab the CEO spot. I wrote about the debacle in the New Mexican. 

The bottom line is not about Martinez -- the bottom line is about continued drift from Bill's original intent and legacy. He was generous, he was kind, he was the epitome of drive by giving. He was a Republican in the sense of the old GOP. Some past and current Board members have steered grants to multiple Catholic causes (Bill was not a Catholic) and the Boy Scouts -- their pet projects along with others. One member had even suggested they partner with (far right radio host) Glen Beck. You get the drift. 

Martinez and Denish 2010
The lesson is this to anyone who has enough money to make a difference: give it away before you go. Don't leave it in the hands of others and hope that they will follow your directive. Sooner rather than later, the money becomes their money not the donor/founder's money. They will try to put a square peg in a round hole and disguise it as donor intent. This is what has happened at Daniels Fund - allowing Skandera to put Martinez on the Board -someone who knows little about philanthropy and needs the Board fees. Am I disappointed? Embarassed for the fund? Yes, but confident I can carry on Uncle Bill's standard of giving and caring without worrying about the dancing duo of Martinez/Skandera. 

Diane Daniels Denish  

Denish was Lt. Governor from 2003-2011. 

CANDELARIA RESPONDS

ABQ Dem Senator Jacob Candelaria, who came under criticism on the Tuesday blog, came with this response to the reference that he received profanity-laced phone calls at his home and criticism of his job performance by Dem Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino:

 . .The state police were called to my home for a death threat. . .You have published. . . that my family received "profanity laden" phone calls with respect to this incident, or other factual allegations to that effect. This factual allegation is demonstrably false. I attach for your reference a copy of the District Court order granting a three year injunction against the white supremicist that made one of the death threats against my husband and I in October/November of last year. . .You have a right to have your own opinions which lead you to dismiss and mimimize a death threat, motivated by racial and homophobic hate, against my family. You do not however have the right to publish false or deliberately misleading factual allegations about the events of that evening. 

It sounds like the senator’s problem is with the New Mexico Human Rights Act which prohibits Senator Stewart from taking any retaliatory action against me or anyone else who has demanded that she be held accountable for her mismanagement of the Rachel Gudgel situation. If Senator Ortiz y Pino does not think that Senator Stewart’s actions to further institutionalize racism and homophobia at the Legislature in that case are acceptable that is fine, but they are not acceptable to me. Way to be a progressive champion, Jerry. 

The ABQ Journal reported that Candelaria received "profanity-laced threatening" phone calls. A link to the court order Candelaria mentions is here

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Tuesday, September 07, 2021

Potential Herrell Foes Emerge As Redistricting Draws Near; Two Dems Eye Southern Challenge, Plus: Questioning Candelaria; State Senate's Elder Statesman Goes Public Over Colleague’s Repeated Disruptions 

Sen. Hemphill
Just how the southern congressional district will look following redistricting may have held back possible Dem contenders vying for the right to go up against GOP Congresswoman Yvette Herrell next year. But that appears ready to change with about three months before the legislature draws new district lines. 

Two progressive Dems are emerging as possible candidates as the Dems prepare for another battle with  first term Rep. Herrell in a race that will have significant national consequences. The Dems US House majority is a mere 8 seats so keeping the southern NM district--one of the few swing seats--is a major priority for both parties. 

Two years ago when freshman Dem Rep. Xochitl Torres Small lost to Herrell the fight for the district was the most expensive battle in the nation. Really. An incredible $37.3 million was spent when the district flipped back to the R's, much of that in "dark money" going to both sides. 

The 2022 battle probably won't see quite that tsunami of cash pouring in but it certainly won't be cheap and the purveyors of 30 second TV spots won't have to worry about going broke. 

As for what D's might challenge Herrell, insiders watching the action point to state Senator Siah Correa Hemphill, a special education teacher and psychologist from Silver City who was only elected to the Senate in 2020 but is said to be busy gathering data on the congressional seat. 

Another possible is Las Cruces City Councilor Gabe Vasquez, a communications specialist and a former aide to Sen. Martin Heinrich, who after one term on the council decided not to seek reelection, signaling that he may be eyeing a congressional run.

Herrell is taking the threats seriously and had nearly $700,000 in her campaign account at the end of June.  That has now probably hit $1 million. She can count on more as her support of former President Trump pays off on the fundraising circuit. 

A primary between Hemphill and Vasquez is difficult to handicap until the new district is approved but both are seen as strong contenders. (Herrell is not expected to draw a primary challenge.)

Councilor Vasquez
Hemphill crushed appointed conservative Dem state Senator Gabe Ramos in the June 2020 primary by 68 to 32 percent. She went on to win a cliffhanger--51 to 49%--against her Republican rival in the swing seat. 

Hemphill's defeat of Ramos was a major score for state progressives and she was rewarded with a seat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee. 

Dem women have led the charge in reshaping the state’s politics to a more progressive bent and Hemphill fits the mold for the congressional seat. 

Vazquez, 36, is an ardent environmentalist like his patron, Senator Heinrich. An El Paso native, who is a Spanish speaker, Vazsquez used his council term to reach out to his district's sizable low income and Hispanic population. He finishes his term popular and with a base in Las Cruces from which he can launch a congressional candidacy. 

The redistricting session is expected in early December. With two solid possible nominees the pressure on the majority Dems in the legislature to make the district more favorable for them can only grow. 

QUESTIONING CANDELARIA

The antics of Dem state Senator Jacob Candelaria, have jarred the normally staid Senate and its leadership has been unable to curb his enthusiasm for disruption. Dem State Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, 79, goes on the record in chastising his much younger colleague: 

OMG! This young man has lost all perspective. He has filed a formal charge of discrimination because Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart changed his seat in the Senate chamber! And he refuses mediation. His sense of entitlement knows no bounds. In context, Mimi isn't retaliating, she is simply recognizing that because he voluntarily resigned from the Democratic caucus, it makes no sense to be sitting in the very middle of that caucus. He needs to realize his actions have consequences.

Sen. Ortiz y Pino
And ABQ attorney Jeff Baker comes with this:

What’s up with Candelaria? He seems to be self-sabotaging. Does he have any influence in the Senate? Given the D majority, does his vote even matter? Threatening to sue Secretary of Health Tracie Collins, his on-camera meltdown with the State Police and removing himself as a voting member of interim committees – does he have a friend/mentor in the Roundhouse who can organize an intervention? Watching someone melt down in public is not entertaining. Perhaps the Senate leadership is willing to step back and watch him implode. But the problem is if he hurts someone other than himself.

Candelaria apologized for his behavior when state police were sent to his ABQ westside home to investigate his complaint that he had been receiving profanity laced phone calls. 

In addition to the Senate leadership Candelaria has also turned on MLG who he now regularly criticizes after having a warm relationship with her. And he called Sen. Joe Cervantes a liar on social media over a legislative disagreement between the pair. 

A Princeton graduate and ABQ attorney, Candelaria has intellectual firepower but his aim is off. La Politica has a way of straightening out such misfires.

Candelaria came with this response Tuesday:

CANDELARIA RESPONDS 

Candelaria Tuesday came with this response to the reference that he received profanity laced phone calls at his home: 

The state police were called to my home for a death threat. . .You have published. . . that my family received "profanity laden" phone calls with respect to this incident, or other factual allegations to that effect. This factual allegation is demonstrably false. I attach for your reference a copy of the District Court order granting a three year injunction against the white supremicist that made one of the death threats against my husband and I in October/November of last year. . .You have a right to have your own opinions which lead you to dismiss and mimimize a death threat, motivated by racial and homophobic hate, against my family. You do not however have the right to publish false or deliberately misleading factual allegations about the events of that evening. 

The ABQ Journal reported that Candelaria received "profanity laced threatening" phone calls. A link to the court order Candelaria mentions is here

 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 2021
                   
 
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