Thursday, September 28, 2023Our View: Pseudo-Drama Over Congressional Districts Kicks Off in Lovington Courtroom; Southern District Remains Winnable By GOP And The New Districts Will Stand, Plus: The Los Alamos Boom That is the fallacy of the pseudo-drama going on in a Lovington courtroom where the new congressional districts implemented in the 2022 election are being challenged as unfair by the GOP Where is the "dilution"of the Republican vote when the district is still acting as a swing district as it did before the redistricting--when Dem Xochitl Torres Small took the Second Congressional District seat in '18 and then lost it to Herrell in '20? And then you have every national pundit worth their crystal ball and with access to the nitty gritty precinct data rating the Vasquez-Herrell race a toss up--a rarity in congressional races. And then you have Vasquez only winning the seat in '22 by 1,350 votes. That's a gerrymander? Talk about gaslighting. Like we said, it is a fake drama--political theater--going on in Lovington this week. In fact the Dems are being criticized by their own for not being bolder in redistricting by guaranteeing a Dem congressman for the next ten years. They could have easily done it and might have if the then Speaker of the House hadn't mouthed off about how he was going to do just that. And dividing up Hobbs and Roswell is sacrilege? Hey, ABQ was split up three ways to form the three new congressional districts. Where's the outrage there? There is none because the time had come as the metro now so dominates the state. For those reasons and more we don't see the need for new districts to be ordered by the State Supreme Court when they review the results of the three-day bench trial that will end Friday in Lovington. Having a Republican in the congressional delegation is not a bad idea from a strategic point of view for our state, but the GOP has diminished itself and has not grown its ranks. They have to earn the seat--not get it by seeking a court-ordered gerrymander from a friendly Republican judge. DATELINE LOS ALAMOS  . . . Los Alamos National Laboratory takes part in the nation’s most ambitious nuclear weapons effort since World War II. The mission calls for modernizing the arsenal with droves of new workers producing plutonium cores — key components for nuclear weapons. Some 3,300 workers have been hired in the last two years, with the workforce now topping more than 17,270. Close to half of them commute to work from elsewhere in northern New Mexico and from as far away as Albuquerque, helping to nearly double Los Alamos’ population during the work week. The U.S. will spend more than $750 billion over the next decade to overhaul nearly every part of its nuclear defenses and replace systems that in some cases are more than 50 years old. . . 17,000. That's all-time high employment at the Labs and an uncomfortable fact for those opposed to the build-out of nuclear weapons. On the other hand, the stability the boom provides for the northern economy can't be denied. 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 2023 Wednesday, September 27, 2023Another Rural Broadband Rollout And More Questions About High Cost, Slow Pace And No Satellite Alternative, Plus: Rematch In ABQ Swing House Seat Taking Shape We've repeatedly noted the absence of satellite internet as an additional alternative but one not promoted by the Feds or the state Office of Broadband Access and Expansion. It's as if they've never heard of it--or don't want to--even though satellite can be hooked up quickly and at a fraction of the cost of fiber. And the speed would more than satisfy many rural residents who are waiting years for fiber to reach their remote areas. Jemez Pueblo is the latest recipient of a generous grant from the Feds and state totaling $15.4 million to wire 687 connections. That's an average $22,215 each. On the other hand a slower satellite connection has a cost of about $500 for equipment and a monthly fee. But the Feds and state are not willing to go there. It's all or nothing with fiber when they could be getting school kids and their laptops on line right now--not a decade from now, if then. The WSJ has more: Nebraska’s Winnebago Tribe has long been stuck with sluggish internet service. The federal government plans to fix that by crisscrossing the reservation with fiber-optic cable—at an average cost of $53,000 for each household and workplace connected.
That amount exceeds the assessed value of some of the homes getting hookups, property records show. . . The expense to reach some remote communities has triggered concerns over the ultimate price tag for ensuring every rural home, business, school and workplace in America has the same internet that city dwellers enjoy. Blair Levin, a senior communications policy official in the Clinton and Obama administrations, says: “If you’re spending $50,000 to connect a very remote location, you have to ask yourself, would we be better off spending that same amount of money to connect [more] families?” The U.S. has committed more than $60 billion for what the Biden administration calls the “Internet for All” program, the latest in a series of sometimes troubled efforts to bring high-speed internet to rural areas.
Providing fiber-optic cable is the industry standard, but alternative options such as satellite service are cheaper, if less reliable.
Congress has left it up to state and federal officials implementing the program to decide how much is too much in hard-to-reach areas. In Montana, laying fiber-optic cable to some remote locations could cost more than $300,000 per connection. At a minimum a legislative committee could spend a day questioning the state's broadband plans and how they might weave into the mix satellite and even wireless home internet from the phone companies which is becoming more common. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, chairman of the Communications and Broadband Subcommittee, remains sanguine about the all-fiber broadband build-out but as Blair Levin told the WSJ "money is not infinite." What is Lujan's's plan if that post-pandemic generosity reverses? Fiber is best but why not act now with some imaginative positioning of satellite and other alternatives? As for Jemez Pueblo, they've established their own company to install the fiber as have other Pueblos. STATE HOUSE REMATCH
Greg Cunningham announced that he will seek the Republican nomination to take on incumbent Representative Joy Garratt for District 29. “It was Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham’s recent unconstitutional open and concealed carry ban that fired me up to re-run," Cunningham said. Cunningham, a native of ABQ and a Marine Corp veteran, has 22 years in law enforcement. He says: Albuquerque is in decay, and it is not due to bad policing but bad policy. Our elected officials do not prioritize public safety which has weakened our police force and exacerbated criminal behavior. Rep. Garratt could argue with Cunningham, the owner of private security firm, over whether public safety is prioritized. The fiscal 2024 city of ABQ General Fund budget is $825 million. Public safety is allocated $428 million, well over half the budget--not to mention the large public safety increases approved in recent years by the Legislature. (The city budget totals over $1 billion when various enterprise funds are included.) Garratt, an educator, is seeking her fourth two year term. In '22 she won re-election against Cunningham 53 to 47 so this is a race to watch. 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 2023 Tuesday, September 26, 2023Heinrich's Possible Guv Run Plans Could Be Preempted By Something Hard For Him To Resist; The Inside Scoop From DC, Plus: Loretta's PERA Loss, And: The Year Was 2008
Heinrich, 51, is currently fifth in Democratic seniority on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, usually a far cry from the chairmanship but circumstances have arisen that make Heinrich's ascension to that plum spot more reasonable than usual. Let's dive in. . . . Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin is wrestling with his political future and reporting indicates the conservative Democrat from West Virginia may soon be through with his party: Manchin and his family said. . . the senator was considering three options: running for reelection in West Virginia as an independent, running for president as a No Labels candidate or retiring from politics. Manchin has not decided what path to pursue, but it seemed clear to those he met with that he is likely to leave the Democratic Party if he chooses to stay in politics. . . That is potentially major news for New Mexico politics as well as for billions in federal funding for the state's national labs and other installations operated by the Dept. of Energy. BREAKING IT DOWN It breaks down this way: Manchin leaves the Democrats and his committee chairmanship. The Dems remain in the majority after next year's election. Under seniority the chairmanship would fall to Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, but Wyden is already chairman of the powerful Committee on Finance. He could not also chair Energy. The betting is he would keep Finance.
If Wyden and Cantwell turn it down next up is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The 82 year old has not announced his reelection. He can be expected to run and win but if he doesn't he would be off of Energy and bumping UP Heinrich in seniority behind Wyden and Cantwell. Like Wyden and Cantwell Sanders also has a plum chairmanship. His is the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. If he stays in the Senate, that's not a position the independent Senator who caucuses with the Democrats is giving up, given his long interest and support of American Labor. If all those dominoes fall then Sen. Heinrich would finally be in line for the chairmanship of a major standing committee of the US Senate. It's difficult to imagine how he could turn down what would be a dream job helping lead national energy policy--a subject that has always animated him, along with the environment. And those are priority issues for this new generation of New Mexico Democrats who are repeatedly supporting Heinrich. Apart from the massive changes occurring with fossil fuels, renewable energy and climate change, the Energy Committee is important to New Mexico because of those national labs--Sandia and Los Alamos. Former Senator Jeff Bingaman was a longtime chairman of the committee as was GOP Senator Pete Domenici. DISMAL OR JOYFUL?
While he faces an easy 2024 reelection bid, his feelers for the '26 Governor's race have been greeted tentatively by some top Dems. One reason is the possible Guv ambitions of former ABQ US Rep and now Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland. At last word from solid sources she remains "highly interested" in the position. Heinrich's 14 year DC career (he was first elected to the House in 2008) has been workmanlike but has not sparkled. His deep interest in energy matters accompanied with the chairmanship of a powerful standing committee of the Senate would drastically change his status and also get New Mexico back into the power circle. Readers may be surprised to hear that Heinrich is currently a chairman of a committee--the Joint Economic Committee--but it is an advisory panel that monitors the economy and does not legislate. Heinrich rarely comments on the committee's work. He may agree with those who call economics the "dismal science." If the cards fall his way next year the state's senior Senator could finally be in a much more joyful position. SPEAKING OF. . . Jeff Bingaman. He turns 80 in a couple of days and recently authored a book on his Senate career--Breakdown: Lessons for a Congress in Crisis. . . LORETTA'S LOSS Here's an eyebrow raiser. Loretta Naranjo Lopez, a longtime member of the Public Employee Retirement Board (PERA) and who is seeking the ABQ City Council District 2 seat at the November 7 election, has been voted off the board. In unofficial results she lost to Stephen Astorga, 59 to 41 percent. Naranjo Lopez served on the PERA board since 2005. She was censured several times by fellow board members. We blogged her history August 21. The year could get even tougher for Loretta, head of the Santa Barbara Martinez Town Neighborhood Association. The front-runner for the council position is Joaquin Baca, a member of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. The other candidate in the race is retired teacher Moises Gonzalez. Here's a 90 minute District 2 debate sponsored by the Old Town and Sawmill neighborhoods. THE YEAR WAS 2008
(The Democrats) most satisfying win and the one they showcased for the 10 p.m. news audience was the historic win of Democrat Martin Heinrich for the ABQ congressional seat. After decades of heart breakers often led by high-profile candidates, it was the unheralded Heinrich, a former one term ABQ city councilor, who finally ended the GOP's 40 year old stranglehold on the seat.
What was supposed to be a cliffhanger quickly turned into a rout. When the early and absentee vote was released Heinrich took a nearly 30,000 vote lead in Bernalillo County. You could see the white flags go up at the ABQ Marriott where state Republicans gathered. Into the early morning hours Heinrich held to a 31,000 vote lead--161,551 to 130,101 with 55% of the vote to Darren White's 45%. The champagne poured at the ABQ Convention Center where the Dems rejoiced, but the liquor turned to embalming fluid at the mournful gathering of R's. "The liquor turned to embalming fluid." Yeah, we were really hoppin' that night. The year was 2008. 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 2023 Monday, September 25, 2023State Shrugs At GOP Calls For MLG Impeachment; GOP Reps Sign On But Not A Single Dem; Odds Of Impeachment Seen As Slim To None, Plus: Readers Rebut Criticism of Rep. Vasquez New Mexico has largely shrugged off Republican calls for the impeachment of Gov. Lujan Grisham in the wake of her controversial order banning the carrying of of firearms in Albuquerque (an order since stayed by a federal court and then amended by the Governor). That's probably because the public perceives impeachment as a tool reserved for overt criminals act. While disagreeing with the order they don't see her gun ban rising anywhere near that level. Here's what the NM Constitution says about impeachment via a memo from the Legislative Council Service: The Constitution of New Mexico provides that elected state officers may be impeached for "crimes, misdemeanors and malfeasance in office." The sole power to impeach rests with the New Mexico House of Representatives. The "concurrence of a majority of all members elected" to the House is required to impeach. The dictionary definition of malfeasance is "wrongdoing or misconduct by public officials" so impeachment can be a political decision. Lawmakers under intense scrutiny could be expected to follow criminal law but it's not required. Technically a majority of the state House could impeach MLG because they did not like the color of her hair and send the matter to the state Senate for a trial. MLG impeachment advocates maintain she violated her oath of office to uphold the Constitution with the gun ban. In addition to a public not backing the radical remedy of impeachment there are the numbers. Given the partisan breakdown of the current Legislature and the shaky grounds impeachment rests on, it's a near impossibility for MLG to be impeached by a majority of the state House. Here's why with the help of a social media commentator: Under the NM Constitution, to call themselves into an extraordinary session to consider impeachment the Legislature needs approval of 3/5 of the members of each chamber. The House has 70 members, the Senate has 42. So 3/5 is 42 Representatives and 25 Senators who would need to sign on to a session for impeachment. And this is all over a 30-day executive order by the Governor that has already been amended and will have expired long before a session could be held. The House has 45 Democrats and 25 Republicans; the Senate has 27 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Assuming all Republicans are on board, they would need 17 Democrats in the House to impeach and 11 Democrats in the Senate to convict her. How likely is that? All the legislators calling for impeachment know (or should know) all this. But that's not the point, is it? R'S ON THEIR OWN It's notable that not one Democrat has signed on to impeach the Governor. At last count 15 of the 25 Republican Reps and four of the 15 GOP Senators had signed a "certification petition" being circulated to get an extraordinary session for impeachment. Neither GOP Senate leader Greg Baca or House leader Ryan Lane have signed. Even if the impeachment advocates fail to get the extraordinary session they seek--and they will fail--trying to impeach the Governor at the regular 30 day session of the Legislature is also a doomed effort to be nipped in the bud by the majority Democrats. Republicans might be better off talking about what they can do to reduce the gun violence but the emotions set off in their party by the issue of gun control is driving their agenda. INTEGRITY MATTERS If the House somehow impeached MLG the Senate would proceed to a trial and Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Cervantes of Las Cruces would be a key player. He's made clear his position: OK. I now have 1,000 emails to impeach the Governor. Of you who wrote, please let me know which of you also promoted impeachment of the last President for an unconstitutional coup. Integrity matters. DEBATING VASQUEZ
Joe,
I am a big fan of you and your blog, but I think you missed it regarding Gabe Vasquez and his vote on MLG's gun order. I think he did the right thing. First the order was widely condemned as a stunt which would not lower the murder rate in Albuquerque and is probably unconstitutional. Support, even lukewarm, would make him look foolish. Second, his district is a bright purple with a lot of pro Second Amendment voters. His vote burnishes his street cred among the admittedly few moderate Republicans and independents who might vote for him, but every vote counts. He only won by 1350 votes in 2022. And third, for those same voters, it shows that he has the courage to buck his own party for what he thinks is right, and is not a tool of the Democratic machine. For all those reasons, I think it was a smart move. Thanks, Ralph. We should point out that we did not not urge Rep. Vasquez to endorse the gun ban in any way--not even "likewarm--but to go ahead and firmly oppose the ban but also oppose the House Republicans move to condemn the Governor. David Baake Las Cruces came with this: Joe, It is irresponsible to cover the Vazquez-Herrell race without mentioning, in every single article, that Herrell tried to overturn the 2020 election and install a President opposed by 55% of New Mexicans.
And bringing up Gabe’s comments about police funding, without mentioning that Herrell maintained close ties with Cowboys for Trump founder Cuoy Griffin until after he was arrested and sentenced to prison for his role in the January 6 insurrection? Fortunately, those of us in the 2nd District haven’t forgotten Herrell’s role in aiding and abetting the attack on our democracy. But you and your readers might benefit from a refresher: In September 2019, days before President Donald Trump held a rally in Rio Rancho, Herrell had posted on her campaign Facebook page that “Cowboys For Trump is truly one of the endorsements I am most proud of! Keep up the great work, Couy!” She did not denounce him after he stormed the Capitol on January 6. She did not denounce him when, the day after the Capitol Riot, he called for a "2nd Amendment rally" on the steps of the Capitol that would see "blood running out of that building." It took a federal criminal conviction for her to finally distance herself from him.
Herrell aided and abetted an attack on our democracy. Thanks, David. We agree that Herrell's election denialism should be a campaign issue. However, it's not incumbent upon us to mention it "in every single article" we write about the race. Just as we would not mention Vasquez's past call for defunding the police each time we covered the campaign. 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 2023 |
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