Two weekend newspaper articles painted an interesting picture of Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, but neither had the power to change the minds of a significant number of caucus members, and the outcome of today’s vote on who will be the next speaker is still impossible to predict.
In addition, Gov. Bill Richardson didn’t fill the House District 68 vacancy, raising questions about whether 41 or 42 members will vote today.
The Albuquerque Journal’s Sunday article explored Lujan’s relationship with his friend Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos, a lobbyist, former legislator and the man who ran the state’s housing authorities when they crumbled in scandal earlier this year.
Much of the information had already been disclosed publicly, but there were a couple of new revelations. One was that, just three months before the housing authority system collapsed earlier this year, Lujan sponsored legislation that would have created a statewide regional housing council with a $5 million appropriation.
The system fell apart after Region III defaulted in $5 million in bonds it owed the state, but Lujan told the Journal that, “under no circumstances, unequivocally” was his proposal an attempt to stop that from happening and bail out his friend.
The bill, which would have appropriated the money for housing authority projects, died in a committee.
In an interview with the Journal, Lujan at first said he sponsored the bill at the request of
The governor’s office and MFA said they had no involvement in the legislation.
One legislator told me that caught his attention.
“When a member carries a bill, they remember who was there to support it and who asked for it to be carried,” the legislator told me.
Another interesting point in the Journal’s article: Lujan never denounced Gallegos.
“It seems to me we all agree that there was mismanagement that was done,” Lujan told the Journal while noting that Gallegos hadn’t been charged with a crime. “I’ve always been the type of individual that when a person stumbles… I’m not the type that’s going to step over him.”
He had this to say about the attacks on his character:
“My opponents are trying to destroy my reputation by these innuendos,” the Journal quoted him as saying. “There was never any intention for me to do anything unethical whatsoever.”
The Santa Fe New Mexican’s article was a look at Lujan’s career at a time when he faces what is likely his most serious political challenge yet. The article included a sidebar that profiled Lujan’s rise to power. Like the Journal article, these are worth a read.
In the article, some House Democrats praised Lujan but others – who were not named because of fear of retribution – criticized him.
“He’s done a very good job passing important legislation. There’s lots of bills the governor wouldn’t have been able to pass without Ben Lujan,” Rep. Jim Trujillo of
Another refused to speak on the record because of Lujan’s heavy-handedness.
“Not only could I get screwed on committee assignments, but my bills and my capital outlay would suffer too, and in the end, it’s my constituents who would pay,” the anonymous House Democrat told the newspaper.
Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela of
Ethics is a common theme among Democratic legislators. Though some have asserted that this afternoon’s vote on keeping Lujan as speaker or replacing him with Ken Martinez is about power, not ethics, it’s really about both. Some House Democrats have spent the last few weeks playing both sides to see who offers the best committee assignments or other deals. Others are supporting
Many are torn. More than one legislator has told me he is concerned about Lujan’s leadership but also aware that Lujan and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee gave him a lot of money during the election cycle.
Some Republicans are waiting for the Democrats to keep Lujan so they can pounce on the ethical questions to secure more financing and weaken House Democrats before the 2008 elections.
Many House Democrats and other sources were surprised that
One thing is certain: With the amount of power the speaker wields, today’s vote of 42 (or 41, if the appointment isn’t filled) members could change the political landscape in New Mexico, as could the majority leader race between Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces and Mimi Stewart of Albuquerque.
Even if Lujan wins, many caucus members have made it clear that they want the House to exercise more independence from the governor, and Lujan will face a lot of pressure to oblige.