Thursday, December 16, 2021Insurance Company Ponies Up $375,000 To Get Consultant McCleskey Off The Hook In Chandler Defamation Suit, Plus: More Details On Those New NM Congress Maps
In November McCleskey had said the suit was settled but Chandler balked saying he was not willing to agree with that until the check arrived. Further negotiations produced the sum of $375,000. The settlement comes after Chandler asked a court to include Gov. Susana Martinez as a defendant in the suit. That could have opened her up to a wide range of questioning under oath. The settlement avoids that potentially embarrassing event. In 2018 Chandler collected nearly $1 million from the state when he brought a defamation suit against Gov. Martinez and the State Police for a faulty investigation of the ranch he ran for abused children. Chandler's latest lawsuit sued McCleskey and his political action committee for defamation related to mailers that were sent out about his ranch during the 2016 Republican primary for the state House. Chandler lost the primary by 16 votes. Chandler came with this statement following the $375,000 settlement: In essence, law was made and precedent was set to provide a warning to those who chose to cross the line using "scorched earth" tactics to win. Our case will not only serve as a warning but, as a potential roadmap for others who find themselves, as we did in 2016, facing lies and unbelievable actions of unscrupulous individuals. Jay McCleskey, even in his own words, implicated a sitting Governor and their PAC acting as if they could operate above the law. In McCleskey's depostion he was asked who authorized him to say "on behalf of Advance New Mexico that it didn't consider Mr. Chandler to be a good candidate for the general election," Mr. McCleskey answered "{t}he governor."
Now McCleskey is back consulting former TV weatherman Mark Ronchetti who was his client in 2020 when Ronchetti lost the US Senate race to Ben Ray Lujan. Ronchetti is now running for the GOP nomination for Governor. Dems are bracing for more of the slash and burn tactics from McCleskey who came close to being ruined by Chandler for the use of those tactics. But Chandler and his attorney Pete Domenici Jr. appeared to back off from going in for a final kill of the consultant as well as Martinez. When it comes to McCleskey and the Republicans the story remains “to be continued.” Photo with this report: Jay McCleskey with Republican attorney Robert Aragon and City Councilor-elect Renee Grout on Election Night, December 2. NM CONGRESS AND PREZ Analysis of the new congressional maps for New Mexico continues to pour in. The experts at the Daily Kos are first with how the new districts stack up in presidential voting: Compared to the existing map used for the previous decade, the new boundaries dramatically reconfigure each district to transform the 2nd from a solidly Republican seat into a light-blue swing district. Under the old lines, the 2nd voted 55-43 for Donald Trump in 2020 and supported him 50-40 four years earlier; with the new border, it would have backed Joe Biden 52-46, according to Dave's Redistricting APP, and Hillary Clinton 48-42. This transformation is achieved by splitting up Albuquerque, about 95% of which was in the reliably blue 1st District under the old map. Now, about a quarter of the city—including its most heavily Latino southwestern quadrant—is in the 2nd. To compensate, the revamped 1st extends further into the suburbs north of the city as well as rural areas in the middle of the state. As a result, it drops from 60-37 Biden to 56-42 Biden. The 3rd undergoes a similar change, giving up some of those suburbs north of Albuquerque to the 1st while grabbing a swath of dark red territory in the state's southeast. Likewise, it falls from 58-40 Biden to 54-44 Biden (or about Biden +11 without rounding). Local politics might offer a keener lens, though: The 3rd now includes a large swath of the area known as "Little Texas," which is home to much of the state's oil industry. That in turn could pose new challenges for Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez. By the way, even as Leger Fernandez tends to potential trouble in her own backyard, she has joined Sen. Heinrich in endorsing former Las Cruces City Councilman Gabe Vasquez for the Dem nomination for the southern congressional seat held by GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell. BATTING FOR YVETTE Herrell has made no public comment on the congressional maps that are on their way to the Governor for her signature (or veto) but Doug Antoon, a Republican analyst, attorney and a longtime supporter of Herrell's, comes with this: In an upcoming wave year in which Republicans are expected to pick up seats that are rated 7, 8 or 9 points in favor of the Democrats, the objective analysis should be that Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernandez should be scared, not Yvette.
Update: Herrell statement: The gerrymandered map New Mexico Democrats have proposed shows how desperate they are to try to save Nancy Pelosi’s majority. I look forward to running and winning in 2022 and providing New Mexico voters the conservative representation they deserve. 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 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 Wednesday, December 15, 2021Redistricting '21: Waiting On Senate Deal At Special; A Deep Dive On What's Holding Things Up; Plus: Spirited BernCo Commission Meeting Approves Redistricting Plan
There is no way to avoid going into the weeds in the complicated, often confusing and always combustible redistricting process when it breaks down, so here we go. . . The Senate Judiciary Committee voted out a plan that amended the original redistricting proposal that had two Valencia County GOP senators paired against one another. The Judiciary plan halts that move. Disagreement over that has been the media narrative for why things have grinded to a halt--that the Judiciary plan rescues Republicans, dilutes Indigenous representation and the original plan strengthens it. There's another narrative as well. But first longtime politics watcher, educator and Democrat Carolyn Abeyta of Valencia County--Ground Zero in the Senate stalemate--explains from her viewpoint what's happening: The Special Session to address redistricting began smoothly. Unfortunately, the greed of some legislators to redraw district maps to eliminate primary contenders by those of the same party has created havoc. In their efforts to try to retain their seats, these legislators created issues with Native Tribes who had worked tirelessly for the past 8 months to create a more equitable system that allows them to be better represented. A visible example is Senate District 29 held by Senate Republican Leader Gregory Baca and Senate District 30 held by Republican Joshua Sanchez. In an effort to avoid a primary between themselves, as would have been the case under the new, proposed maps, the Senators came up with a “new” version of a map. Not only did they redraw the lines to eliminate a run-off, they also redrew the lines to eliminate the Minority Leader's 2020 Democratic opponent, Paul A. Baca, who lost by less than 2%. It appears Senator Gregory Baca understood the stiff competition and deliberately redrew or had the lines re-drawn to move the boundary for District 29, 1 block north of Paul Baca’s home and literally behind his business, an attempt to eliminate any type of re-run against Minority Leader Baca. The new map to pull Senator Joshua Sanchez back into Senate District 30 eliminates the chance of the Minority Leader and Sanchez having to decide who would best serve the new District 29 by either a primary between them or one of them deciding not to run. It also eliminated the hopes of Paul Baca to again challenge Senator Gregory Baca. If the substitute for Sen. Bill 2 is adopted, the voice and input of many will be hindered. The concern is that 5 Democratic Senators voted for the substitute in committee. If they all vote with Republicans to adopt the legislation, it gives the D’s 20 votes, the R’s 21 and leaves the deciding vote in the hands of ABQ Sen. Jacob Candelaria, now an Independent. If Candelaria votes with the R’s the substitute legislation passes, if Candelaria votes with the D’s the decision would be left with Lt. Governor Morales who has the power to break tie votes. Hidden motives by the Senate Minority Leader and his party have created a mess and ignored months of citizens work and months of work by Native tribes to make certain they are fairly represented. All that to better the odds of Republicans like Senator Gregory Baca and Sanchez to hold onto their coveted seats. Well done, Carolyn. It doesn't get more inside than that. A SECOND LOOK Now here's a key player in the redistricting process with a slightly different take: The narrative that Senate Democratic leaders are protecting Republicans over Native Americans is inaccurate. The issue quite simply is how much of a role the Senate still has. As interest groups become increasingly powerful and legislators increasingly conflict averse, the Senate's role is much diminished. Senators advised Native American representatives to insist on a Senate district where there is no incumbent, a high percentage of Native American primary voters and a high Democratic turnout in the general election so there is no risk. Protecting incumbent R's? Not in this case--given the specific Republicans. I could see it for certain favored Republicans but not here. The Senate has scheduled a floor session for this afternoon. The House says it will next meet on Thursday. BERNCO PASSES PLAN  Absent a court ruling the new districts will be in effect for the next decade. The vote was 4 to 1 with only Quezada voting against. The commission meeting was conducted amid a swirl of accusations about the role of corporate giant Santolina and whether Quezada was carrying water for the group and wanted to have time to come up with a map that would be more favorable to getting pro-Santolina candidates elected. Santolina is planning a large community in far west BernCo that would have 90,000 residents. It has become hyper-controversial among progressives who fear more urban sprawl. Quezada has been supportive of Santolina. Last night he said: No matter what I do, it's about Santolina. It's not. Its about fair representation for the Westside. We've been under represented our entire life. We are looking at ways to make it an equal playing field. Quezada was referencing a plan to carve out a district that would be wholly on the westside, saying the area plays second fiddle to the other districts. Commissioner Debbie O'Malley, an opponent of Santolina, argued otherwise, saying that her Westside constituents are pleased and have urged her to support the initial redistricting plan which keeps her District One in the North Valley as well as the Westside. GOP Commissioner Walt Benson voted in favor of Quezada's failed motion to defer the plan but later voted in favor of the redistricting. Commissioner Charlene Pyskoty called the last minute machinations by Quezada "disrespectful to the process" which she said was lengthy, open and professionally conducted by longtime demographic group Research and Polling. She added that Santolina is a corporation--not a constituent--and doesn't have a say in the redistricting process. Vanessa Alarid, lobbyist for Santolina, said the company was not involved in the redistricting process, that she and others felt as Quezada did--that the Westside is best represented by uniting it in one district. As for the O'Malley district, we've confirmed that Barbara Baca from the Westside, a member of the Mid Rio Grande Conservancy Board of Directors, is seeking to replace O'Malley who is term limited. Baca will run for the Dem nomination for the commission seat. The Dem nominee is pretty much a lock to win the general election in the heavy Dem district. Also, Commissioner O'Malley says she is "seriously considering" a run for Bernalillo County Assessor to replace Dem Tanya Giddings who is term limited. Again, whoever gets the June Dem nomination is pretty much a lock to take the post in the general election next November. THE BOTTOM LINES We have some pretty cool redistricting data on the new congressional maps, but they're dragging us off the blogging stage, saying no monster blogging is allowed this time of year so that new stuff will have to wait until tomorrow. Look forward to seeing you then.
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 Tuesday, December 14, 2021Special Session Logjam: Native Leaders At Odds Over Future Boundaries For Senate; Talks Intensify, Plus BernCo Redistricting Encounters Late Move By Developer; Santolina Supporters Pitch An All Westside District
Maybe that master negotiator Big Bill can help? Our Alligators were at the iconic Santa Fe Bull Ring Monday night and snapped quite the pic posted here, showing the former Governor deep in conversation with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Cervantes and Senate Finance Committee Chair George Munoz who represents Indian Country in McKinley County. Richardson is fresh back from a successful negotiating journey to Mynammar where he freed a jailed America journalist so why not try to free the hostage state senate? Cervantes is a key redistricting player who veered away from a plan favored by the tribes and pueblos, an important Democratic Party constituency. Instead his committee came with a substitute bill that would spare GOP Senators Greg Baca and Joshua Sanchez from being paired in the same district. It's quite a sight to see Dem Senate heavies Cervantes and Mimi Stewart trying to saving the necks of Republicans while the Native leaders claim its being done at their expense. Senator Majority Leader Peter Wirth met all day Monday with tribal leaders hoping to break the impasse. But noone sells short the power of a bull session at the Bull Ring to craft a deal. Something should break the impasse soon. (The House has already approved a redistricting of that chamber and now waits on the Senate.) BERNCO MOVIDA? A last minute move to alter the proposed redistricting maps for the five Bernalillo County Commission seats has progressive Dems up in arms and working to head off a revision as the commission meets later today to take a vote. Progressives see the long arm of westside developer Santolina at work. They report Santolina reps have been lobbying the Westside Coalition of Neighborhoods to go along with a map change that would make the commission more friendly to the company whose plan to build a development of 90,000 on the county's far westside has stalled out in recent years. The development has drawn fire from enviro Dems. Alarm grew when word spread that former GOP state senator and demographer Rod Adair of Roswell/Santa Fe was apparently called in to rework the maps. Adair's work on the Sandoval County Commission redistricting has already caused an uproar from Native American groups who say they are being pushed aside in favor of Republicans. The proposed BernCo Commission maps make little change to the districts. What the "Santolina" map would do is make an entire Westside district, west of the Rio Grande. That would cut out the liberal North Valley from District One, the seat of outgoing Dem Commissioner Debbie O'Malley. That seat is up for election next year and a sole Westside district would be more to the developer's liking. O'Malley has been a hardcore Santolina foe. Santolina has a long record of involvement in local politics, including opposing Mayor Tim Keller when he first sought election in 2017. The commission meets at 5 p.m. today. BACK IN SANTA FE. . .
Former Dem and now Independent ABQ Senator Jacob Candelaria has already announced he will not seek re-election. One question hanging is whether the Candelaria district will include the home of westside Dem State Rep. Moe Maestas who has his eye on that senate seat. One of the Alligators tracking the northern congressional action doesn't think Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez would have a problem if former state Rep. Joseph Sanchez challenged her for the Dem nomination in the new district: Sanchez ran a lousy campaign when he ran against her in 2020. Leger Fernandez does well with Navajos, Progressives in Los Alamos and Santa Fe. That’s pretty much enough to win the Democratic primary in the new district. Unfortunately for her, the Legislature doesn’t show much consideration for freshman congresspersons and they gave her a new district she is less than pleased with.
READER TAKE Reader George Mozurkewich had this redistricting take: Joe, I disagree with your assessment that Senator Cervantes and Representative Louis's redistricting plan "hits just the right notes." While redistricting is a fraught and inherently political activity, there is one principle which can be clearly identified and implemented; namely, redistricting boundaries should follow county and municipal lines whenever possible. Unnecessarily breaking up Albuquerque violates that principle to satisfy a crass political objective. One might say it 'crosses a line.' Furthermore, it is not an argument in favor of the new plan that it makes "three districts that each are very much like New Mexico as a whole," as stated by Senator Ortiz y Pino. If that were a legitimate goal, we should vote for our three representatives at large. Districts should reflect the diversity of New Mexico. 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 Monday, December 13, 2021Redistricting Aftermath; Stansbury Safe In ABQ; Dems Still Sorting Out Southern Impact; Northern Rep. Leger Fernandez Reportedly "Shocked" By Outcome; The News And Expert Analysis Is Up Next Will the southern congressional district (CD#2) now be an easy take for the Democrats with the new district encompassing a large portion of ABQ's Westside, South Valley and Barelas neighborhood? The district will indeed be a much easier race for the Dems--it now has a 6 percent Dem lean--but already some are expressing concern about the candidacy of former Las Cruces City Councilor Gabe Vasquez, a progressive Dem who has the blessing of Sen. Martin Heinrich but who, according to the skeptics, may be too liberal for even the new Dem friendly district held by first term Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell. There is a hunt on for a more moderate Dem who they believe could make the transition easier for the district's electorate but the hunt is thwarted by a lack of obvious top level talent. One name touted is longtime ABQ City Councilor Klarissa Pena. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity that the moderate ABQ Valley Councilor will have to weigh. That opportunity may also lure others into the race for the 2022 southern CD nomination. As for Vasquez, his campaign slogan is "Son of Southern NM." He might want to modify that now that the big city is plugged into the district. Heinrich pushed state Senator Siah Correa Hemphill out of the race but now that the new map is a reality can the ambitions of others be quelled? That's doubtful, especially now that Vasquez may be seen as more shaky in an upcoming Republican leaning year. TLF "SHOCKED"
Joe, Teresa was shocked by the outcome. She is telling supporters that 80 percent of the oil and gas industry in the SE is now in her district. She does not take money from them and is at odds with them on climate change. She believes the district is now competitive for the R's and is furiously fund-raising. I wonder if the national Dems even consulted her? The new district does not appear to be as competitive as TLF may think. It gives the Dems a big 12 point edge over the R's--47--30--but it's the only map of the three districts where R's see hope as explained by Sen. Cliff Pirtle: It’s a risk that is being taken,” in that Democrats may think they can make inroads in the traditionally Republican part of the state, he said. Despite the Democratic advantage, “with the right candidate who really speaks to the independents and people frustrated with the Democratic Party, we could pull off a win even in the next election.” TLF is hearing opposition to the new map for the sprawling district from Hispanic forces, including the NM Acequia Association. Being paired with the cowboys and oil boys does not settle well in the history rich north that is heavy on Hispanic and Native American voters. But it will take a court ruling now to undo the districts. The pros say that is not likely. TLF POLL NUMBERS TLF has already been listed as a target of the national R's for '22. She has to scurry to douse the growing flames. A poll conducted in August by a DC group (using landlines and cellphones) that crossed our blogging desk and that delved into CD 3 Democratic views gave the first termer a favorable rating of 55 percent, but a full 35 percent of the over 500 Dem voters surveyed did not know who she was. That alone is enough for R's to salivate. That poll raises the specter of not only Republican wolves baying at her door but could invite a Dem primary challenge from a less progressive Dem. Perhaps someone like former state Rep. Joseph Sanchez who came in third in a seven way Dem primary in 2020 and lost to TLF. He could also be invigorated by the new map that could be more friendly to his political persuasion than TLF's. Leger Fernandez has to show some financial muscle to scare off the pack. She reports only $226,00 in cash on hand at September's end. Another possible reason for her slow start: Since its inception in '82 the district has been spoiled by big names representing them, including Big Bill Richardson, Tom Udall and Ben Ray Luján. Also TLF assumed the office with no elective experience and the learning curve has been lengthy. As for the R's, if Pirtle's hope for '22 is to come true they need a strong name. One floating in the early going is Claire Chase, she of the gazillionaire Chase oil family of Artesia who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP congressional nomination in 2020 against Herrell and who lives in Roswell. That '20 race did not hurt Chase who has been on the Pence side of the GOP fence, not the Trumpers. That complicates a primary but not the general election. She can be expected to take a look. STANSBURY STABLE
Stansbury appears solid. She won her special election in a 60 percent plus landslide in June and has taken easily to her new job. She already had experience as a congressional aide and is a natural policy nerd. The new district, however, could soften her progressive politics. She takes in more conservative rural counties such as DeBaca and Lincoln. The saving grace for her is that those are very low population areas. Still, Rio Rancho, (the state's third largest city) has plenty of R's and with the conservative dragon breathing fire headed into '22 we may see a slightly more accommodating Stansbury when it comes to views that don't align with the progressive universe. Final note: The new congressional maps appear to present opportunity for less progressive Dems. It's not coincidental the father of the maps is moderate Dem state Sen Joe Cervantes of Las Cruces. And there you have it, Gators. Welcome to the next ten years. 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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