“Expect the death penalty to become an issue in the next two months.”
That’s what one insider told me this week after the capture of alleged cop killer Michael Astorga in Mexico. For anyone who doesn’t know, he’s charged with the fatal shooting of a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputy two weeks ago.
His capture has the governor and attorney general calling for the death penalty.
That’s interesting, one source tells me, since Gov. Bill Richardson worked a deal to dodge this issue the last time it came to a vote in the legislature. The House voted to repeal the death penalty, but the Senate Judiciary Committee killed the proposal. The deal, the source told me, allegedly involved one member of that committee who agreed to change his vote and kill the legislation. Richardson didn’t want the issue on his desk, the source said, because he would have to choose between alienating the liberal base in the north by opposing the repeal or looking like a liberal in a national field of presidential candidates who will likely all support the death penalty.
It appears Republican mudslinging at Richardson for not building new prisons and because he appoints the parole board that let Astorga out pushed the governor to take a position.
“In rare situations, the death penalty is the appropriate penalty,” he said in a news release earlier this week. “This is one of those cases.”
Attorney General Patricia Madrid agreed.
“I believe it is not only appropriate to seek the death penalty in this case but it is important to do so,” she said in a news release.
Which brings up the candidates to replace Madrid. Where do they stand on the death penalty? In a tight, three-way race for the Democratic nomination, the candidate who opposes the death penalty gains among the party base, one insider told me. “But taking that position for June could spell doom in November,” the insider said.
That’s right. If there’s one candidate the Republicans are excited about this year, it’s Jim Bibb. They believe he can take the attorney general’s office, and with so few interesting statewide races, Republicans are pouring a lot of resources into this contest.
That’s not to say the Democrats should all jump on the death penalty bandwagon. Many up north oppose the death penalty.
“Add the Catholic lobby to the picture and then it really gets interesting,” one source said. “With Bill’s call for death in this recent case, will the Catholic Church respond? What’s a candidate to do? Hope nobody asks or pins them down.”
Well, I’m asking. Let’s hear from you Geno Zamora, Gary King and Lem Martinez. Bibb, let’s get you on the record too.
Bibb is the son-in-law of former Gov. Toney Anaya who, as one source put it, “achieved fame for his opposition to the death penalty and for commuting all of death row on his way out of the mansion.”
And it gets even more interesting. The last time the repeal came up for a legislative vote, Rep. Justine Fox-Young, R-Albuquerque, voted to repeal the death penalty. The fallout was harsh, as she had apparently answered a questionnaire before her election supporting the death penalty, a source tells me. Now she has a primary opponent who could use this issue against her.
***
New Mexico continues to be a payday lending battleground. The Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that the Democratic Governors Association, chaired by Richardson, took nearly $17,000 in free travel last year from the nation’s largest payday loan company, Advance America.
“With a dozen locations in New Mexico, Advance America has a keen interest in any legislation or regulations involving the booming business in the state,” The Journal article stated. “The 2,600-store industry giant is one of several payday-loan companies that sued Attorney General Patricia Madrid earlier this year in a successful attempt to stall her plan to impose strict new rules on lenders.”
Madrid backed a proposal the industry hated. Richardson backed legislation he said would help consumers, but that was strongly opposed by advocates who said it was friendly to industry.
Richardson’s people would not comment to the Journal on whether the money to the governors association was used to fly Richardson around, and refused a Journal request to interview the governor.
Legislators killed Richardson’s proposal on the last morning of this year’s session.
The issue adds to criticism that the governor “is not pressing what is important for the state or its citizens,” but rather using the “pay-for-play” system, one source told me. “The treasurer (former Treasurer Robert Vigil) had it right when he said this is the way we do business in New Mexico,” the source said.
Ouch.
Something the Journal article didn’t mention is that one key lobbyist for payday lenders is former Speaker of the House Raymond Sanchez, brother of current Sen. Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.
He has an inside with the Senate through his brother, and many connections in the House, which he ran for a long time, one source told me.
That’s true, but it apparently wasn’t enough, since the legislation died.
Expect this issue to be back next year.
“There were so many lobbyists up there, it was unbelievable,” one insider told me about payday lending companies and this year’s session. “There must be so much money in that industry.”
***
In case you all missed it yesterday, I wrote in the Las Cruces Sun-News about several candidates for office in Doña Ana County who are quitting their jobs or withdrawing from races because of the federal Hatch Act. Click here to read the article.
I have an interesting political link to show you tomorrow. Come back and check it out.