Progressive victories create hope for ethics reform

In 2007, the New Mexico Senate voted down a proposal to open legislative conference committees to the public. It was the third time in two years the proposal died. This time, it failed by one vote.

The proposal had already passed the House and was supported by the governor. One more vote in the Senate and legislative conference committees would now be open to the public.

As a result of a strong showing by progressive legislative candidates in Tuesday’s primary election, there’s a good chance the Senate will succumb in 2009 to transparency and accountability and vote to open legislative conference committees. In fact, Tuesday’s election went a long way toward rekindling hope of ethics reform in Santa Fe.

I’m not a Democrat and don’t consider myself a “progressive” in the left-wing-of-the-Democratic-Party sense of the word, but one area where I do agree with this growing force in New Mexico politics is on the need for ethics reform. I’ve written repeatedly about the need for reforms in Santa Fe that include paying lawmakers, instituting campaign contribution limits, creating a state ethics commission and opening conference committees to the public.

The 2007 Legislature was the best chance for reform in recent memory. Lobbyists pushing reform were organized. A strong coalition of House Democrats and Republicans agreed to several proposals. Gov. Bill Richardson actively pushed reform.

Despite all that, little of any significance was accomplished, largely because the Senate killed most proposals.

This year, there was no movement on ethics reform. The governor gave only lip service to it and the House approved a couple of proposals knowing they were dead on arrival in the Senate.

Reform has been killed by a group of senators who are more interested in their power struggle with the governor than the fact that polls have repeatedly shown that the vast majority of New Mexicans want ethics reform.

Voters send clear message to lawmakers

On Tuesday, Democratic voters in Albuquerque proved that they want reform and they’re willing to vote against candidates who stand in its way. In the process, they knocked out two opponents of reform and changed the landscape in the state Senate.

Progressive challenger Eric Griego secured 63 percent of the vote in knocking off Sen. James Taylor. Progressive Tim Keller secured 66 percent of the vote in ousting Shannon Robinson, a 20-year senator and one of the most ethically challenged lawmakers in the state.

Ethics reform wasn’t the only reason the incumbents lost. Progressives have become a well-organized force in New Mexico, primarily in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe, and their issues include growth and development, alternative energy, caring for the environment and health-care reform. But in New Mexico, ethics reform is a big part of their platform.

Another progressive candidate in Albuquerque, Eleanor Chavez, secured 54 percent of the vote in toppling state Rep. Dan Silva, the Democratic chairman of the House transportation committee. In addition, in conservative Roswell, the House minority whip was defeated by a Republican challenger. In Grants, another Democratic senator who hasn’t been a champion of ethics reform won by one vote, and a recount is under way. Another Albuquerque senator who hasn’t supported many reform proposals narrowly won re-election by about 200 votes.

In this year of change, voters in New Mexico sent a clear message to the state Legislature: They’re not just fed up with Republicans and Washington’s inability to function. They’re also sick of repeated scandals that have rocked the Democratic-controlled state government, and their votes on Tuesday will force change.

“It’s going to be different next year,” Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia told me on Wednesday. “There’s going to be a much stronger progressive force to deal with in the Senate.”

Legislators should take reform more seriously

In 2007, Robinson and Taylor joined 18 other senators in voting against the bill to open conference committees to the public, narrowly defeating the proposal that had the support of 19 senators. It’s likely that Griego and Keller, who have no general-election opponents and will take office in January, will support shining light on legislative conference committees. Perhaps we can finally get that bill passed in 2009.

In addition, the victories by Griego and Keller, and the defeats and near-defeats of other lawmakers on Tuesday, should cause all legislators who value their political careers to take ethics reform more seriously in the future.

Maybe the results of Tuesday’s primary election will create the momentum needed to clean up Santa Fe.