Ethics probe, guv’s future keep Senate race uncertain

The dynamics of the 2008 race for the Senate seat held by GOP giant Pete Domenici remain uncertain as an ethics probe heats up and Gov. Bill Richardson’s comments don’t entirely rule out his entrance into the race.

The Senate ethics committee has stepped up its probe of Domenici’s involvement in the U.S. attorney scandal, Truthout.org is reporting. In the past two weeks, the committee has interviewed potential witnesses, including staffers from the U.S. attorney’s office in New Mexico, about Domenici’s October 2006 call to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.

Iglesias alleges Domenici pressured him to speed indictments in a case involving high-ranking Democrats to sway voters in the November 2006 election. Iglesias was fired weeks later, he claims as a result of refusing the pressure.

Truthout.org is reporting, citing unnamed senior staffers who work for lawmakers who sit on the ethics committee, that the six-month preliminary investigation has found enough evidence to result in a “formal, public investigation” into Domenici’s actions. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be such an investigation.

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House have a longstanding agreement to not file ethics complaints against each other that would trigger formal investigations.

Guv’s entrance ‘wishful thinking?’

The news of the continuing probe comes as Richardson told the Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday that he is running for president, not another office.

A number of Washington insiders have been encouraging the governor to get out of the presidential race to run against Domenici or, if he fails to win the Democratic presidential nomination, to get into the senate race at that point.

Richardson had this to say:

“That’s wishful thinking by a lot of people,” he told the news service. “I’m running for president.”

That’s not a “no,” you’ll notice. Richardson also said what he has said repeatedly: that he is “not interested in being vice president.” Still, at other times, Richardson has said he would not rule out being vice president.

In the same interview, Richardson told the news service, in comments published in a separate article, that he is “going to win this (presidential) nomination. You watch.”

Strong words. Of course he has to say he’s not running for anything else. Right now, he’s not. But Domenici’s poll numbers have his popularity hovering at just above 50 percent, while Richardson’s numbers are in the mid-60s in New Mexico. Richardson’s presidential campaign is currently stagnant. Unless he turns it around, he’s going to have to decide in the next few months what he wants to do next.

He has said he will remain governor, but he can only do that for a few more years. Would Richardson really turn down a chance to take out Domenici when he’s at his weakest and win an influential job he could potentially hold for the rest of his life?

The ongoing investigation and the Richardson factor might end up having no effect on Domenici’s re-election chances. Or, either or both could become keys to the race.

All that makes the next few months very interesting.

A race to watch

Domenici has three lesser-known Democratic challengers thus far: Don Wiviott, Jim Hannan and Leland Lehrman. Lehrman has done little to indicate he’s running an active campaign. Hannan has been consistently running ads attacking Domenici in newspapers in Las Cruces, Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

And people are starting to talk about Wiviott. Many who have seen the Santa Fe developer speak publicly are walking away with a surprisingly favorable impression and higher hopes that Domenici might be beaten in 2008.

Regardless of whether Richardson gets into the race, this remains one to watch.