What do Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential run, the
The attention on the
10. Standing up to the speaker
He may have defeated a challenge to his leadership in December 2006, but that doesn’t mean House Speaker Ben Lujan emerged more powerful.
In fact, there was proof during this year’s legislative session that some things had changed. The speaker called a closed-door meeting to bring House Democrats in line with his plan to kill a bill that would reform the state’s scandal-plagued housing authority system. Instead, there was enough dissention that the speaker had to allow a compromise that took the firsts steps toward serious reform.
And when House Republicans revealed that the speaker was dishing out more capital outlay to Democrats than Republicans after promising to distribute it evenly, Rep. Andy Nuñez, D-Hatch, offered his capital outlay money to Republicans to even things out. The simple, public gesture led to an agreement to evenly distribute the money that hopefully sets a precedent for the future.
That isn’t to say the speaker isn’t still the second most powerful person in state government and doesn’t rule most of the time with an iron fist. But there is a bipartisan group of House members that, when they can agree on an issue, have the votes to successfully defy the speaker and aren’t afraid to do it. That’s worth a top-10 mention.
9. Cockfighting ban
Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia choked up when she spoke with me shortly after
“I can’t believe that this is finally happening,” the Democratic senator from Doña Ana told me. “I’m so excited, and I’m shaking.”
What made 2007 the year
8.
In October, all candidates and referenda backed by Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez were soundly defeated by voters in the municipal election. The story was quickly overshadowed by news of Domenici’s coming retirement, and it wasn’t until after Chávez entered, and later dropped out of, the race to replace Domenici that the impact became clear.
Progressive Democrats in
Having ditched the gubernatorial and Senate races, and having refused to enter the First Congressional District race, Chávez has turned his focus back to being mayor. He has a lot of bridges to rebuild if he has any hope of regaining his power. But the divide with progressives is wide.
7. Courthouse scandal
The most notable aspect of the indictments of former Senate President Manny Aragon and others in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse scandal is that they didn’t shock the state. He and four others are charged with bilking taxpayers out of $4.2 million by falsifying and inflating invoices related to construction of the facility.
When Aragon and three others were indicted in March and plea bargains with two others were announced, the shock that had accompanied the state treasurer’s scandal several years before was missing. When a fifth person was indicted in October, there was even less shock.
The reality is that New Mexicans have become used to scandal. They’ve been inundated with Democratic corruption on the state level and Republican corruption on the national level for years. The courthouse cases are pending.
6. Senate takes control from governor
After four years of losing to
Senators held Richardson’s proposals until he gave them what they wanted, approving one of his renewable energy bills only after he signed the bill restoring last year’s capital outlay cuts, and holding his coveted minimum wage bill until he signed the budget and capital outlay bills.
5. Spaceport moves forward, but slowly
Spaceport
But there were signs even then that all was not well. The Legislature’s approval was only begrudgingly given. And approval of the tax in
In July, an accident at the
The plan is still moving forward. The state hired an architect to design the main terminal and Virgin Galactic’s facility in August, and, earlier this month, hired a new spaceport director.
4. Citizens stand up to area growth policies
The first sign that not all
Then in May, when the Las Cruces City Council was ready to quickly approve a massive East Mesa annexation that could double the city’s size, residents protested in force, arguing that there wasn’t enough public input and complaining about what they viewed as insider deals between the developer and public officials. The council approved the annexation and master plan for the development.
Opponents calling for “smart growth” organized. In November, they unleashed a well-funded and organized campaign and kicked Mayor Bill Mattiace and Councilor Jose Frietze out of office. A candidate they backed also picked up an open seat being vacated by Steve Trowbridge. Only Councilor Dolores Connor survived the onslaught.
The battle isn’t over. Ken Miyagishima’s mayoral victory means his council seat is up for grabs on Jan. 15. Those who backed Miyagishima are working hard to elect their candidate, but supporters of those who were kicked out of office in November got a big wake-up call and are working equally hard to elect the candidate they like. This will be another hotly contested race.
3.
When fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias’ e-mail to a friend stating that he was “fragged” was leaked to the media in February, it set off a firestorm that eventually led to congressional hearings into whether the firings of eight
The deeper question was whether the Bush Administration had allowed politics to influence investigations and indictments at the Justice Department. According to one scholarly analysis, six times as many Democratic public officials have been investigated and indicted during Bush’s tenure as Republicans.
The scandal helped contribute to the resignation of then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Iglesias says he was fired for refusing pressure applied by Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson to issue indictments in a public corruption probe involving high-ranking Democrats in time to sway voters in the November 2006 election. They say they didn’t pressure him. We may never know for certain.
2.
Support in the polls for the first serious presidential candidate from
Still, it’s too early to count
If he loses, the question will be whether he will he remain governor of
1. Domenici’s retirement
What else could top this list? A degenerative brain disease forced Domenici to announce in October that he will retire in 2008 after 36 years in office. That one decision set off a domino effect that is reshaping
But the effect filters down far beyond that. Politicos seeking the U.S. House seats are leaving other elected positions, and the reshuffling filters all the way down to the local level.
Domenici, a giant in state and national politics who has helped shape national energy policy and brought lots of cash to
There is no way to overstate the effect of this one man’s retirement.