MLG paused a day before giving a full-throated endorsement of the presidential candidacy of VP Kamala Harris but it did come late Monday morning.
She posted her support on X, joining dozens of other Governors and congressional representatives and prompting renewed speculation that MLG could be out of New Mexico within a matter of months if Harris assumes the presidency.
Besides citing the VP's credentials, the Guv posted an intimate photo of Harris officiating at MLG's wedding to Manny Cordova at the VP's DC home in 2022.
That put an exclamation point on the rumors that this personal relationship could lead to a DC posting for MLG and a major change in state government.
Instead of posting her praises for Harris on her official gubernatorial account, MLG chose her campaign account on X:
I've known Vice President Harris since we served in Congress together. She is a smart, conscientiousness and highly experienced public servant who is uniquely qualified to defeat Donald Trump. A former prosecutor, Vice President Harris is best equipped to make the case against convicted felon Donald Trump.
She is our party's most effective voice in the fight to restore reproductive health care rights. I was honored to join her in 2022 when she visited Albuquerque to discuss strategies for protecting reproductive rights in the wake of the Dobbs decision,
With her record of leadership on health care, economic opportunity, gun violence prevention and voting rights Vice President Harris will quickly mobilize key constituencies of the Democratic coalition, including young voters, Black voters, Hispanic voters and women. I am confident that Vice President Harris will win New Mexico and will win the presidential election this November
The Governor pursued a cabinet post with President Biden but ran into opposition from his team and never made the cut. Now she could get a second chance--and perhaps a better one--if Harris takes the White House.
This potentially good news for her comes at the lowest point in her over six years as Governor, following a disastrous special session in which her relationship with the legislature appears to have been permanently damaged. She may still have public sympathy for fighting for her crime agenda but its failure shrunk her political standing.
One Dem lawmaker of longstanding came with this take:
In state Dem circles the thinking is Michelle will take any position offered her at this point. Her effectiveness as Governor has evaporated, The special session was the final nail after bombing of her hydrogen plan, pretrial presumptions for detention, and repeated court losses on guns and spending authority. Some are saying this is beginning of the end for MLG, but it's actually a resounding end to all effectiveness.
As we wrote Monday, MLG, whose term runs until the end of 2026, is one in a long line of governors to get waylaid in their second term, but that should not stop Harris from looking upon her favorably.
The Governor has been a national leader on gun rights and reproductive rights. She is the first Hispanic Democratic Governor, a former congresswoman, a onetime state cabinet secretary, co-owner of a private business and an attorney. Her credentials are more than enough to pass any congressional test that could arise for a high-ranking post.
A spot in DC could not look better to her at this point. The alternative is two and a half more grim years in Santa Fe dealing with recalcitrant legislators and sticky issues like crime and CYFD that have eluded solution.
To get to the promised political land the Governor and Harris must first jump over Donald Trump.
No one is saying it will be easy.
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