This article has been updated.
Democrat Tim Jennings, the state Senate’s leader, has drawn the ire of the governor and other members of his party for denouncing in a robocall negative attacks against the Senate’s minority whip, Leonard Lee Rawson.
The robocall went out over the weekend and again today across Rawson’s district.
“While Sen. Rawson and I are from different parties and can disagree politically, I must take a stand against the incorrect character assassinations that are being launched against Sen. Rawson,” Jennings says in the recorded message, which you can hear by clicking here. “The accusations against him are untrue and unfair.”
Rawson, R-Las Cruces, is locked in what insiders call a close election battle against Democratic challenger Steve Fischmann, who Gov. Bill Richardson and other Democrats are working hard to elect. Rawson is one of Richardson’s most vocal critics in the Legislature.
“It is unfortunate and inappropriate that Sen. Jennings has chosen to interfere in a key Senate race against a strong Democratic candidate like Steve Fischmann,” Richardson said in a statement released by his office. “His actions contradict what he told the Democratic State Senate Campaign Committee and me. At the very least he could have stayed silent. Instead, he has injected himself into a race against his own party at a critically important time.”
This isn’t the first time Richardson and Jennings have tangled. Jennings and Rawson are among a bipartisan group of senators who have been highly critical of and stood up to the governor in recent years as the Senate has become the primary check on the governor’s power in Santa Fe.
Jennings said in an interview that he didn’t endorse Rawson in the robocall, and said he wishes Fischmann luck. He said his role as Senate president is to work with all members of the Senate, not just Democrats, and he believes Rawson is an honest man. He said the state Senate is unique because, unlike the state House and Washington, “we realize we can disagree and not be disagreeable.”
“Rawson’s not a crook, and we all know it,” Jennings said. “… I have a real problem personally with the idea that you have to tear someone down and that you can say whatever you want and it’s OK as long as you can beat them and win. I don’t subscribe to negative campaigning.”
Rawson and Fischmann could not immediately be reached for comment.
The leadership battle
Insiders say the defeat of Rawson and a couple of other senators Tuesday could lead to the overthrow of the Senate’s leadership and create a more governor-friendly climate in that chamber. Progressives toppled two Democratic senators in the June primary, leading progressives to set their sights on Rawson.
And Richardson has worked hard to knock off Rawson. He held a rally for Fischmann last month, and his gubernatorial campaign has contributed $8,500 to Fischmann’s campaign. A number of Jennings’ Democratic colleagues — most considered more progressive members of the party — have also contributed to Fischmann’s campaign.
Brian Colón, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and a close ally of the governor, referred to the Senate leadership situation in denouncing Jennings’ robocall, saying Jennings “is apparently more interested in holding on to his position of leadership in the Senate than he is in doing what is right for the people of New Mexico.”
“It is clear that he has made a deal with Rawson. Sen. Jennings’ false robocalls on behalf of a notoriously right-wing Republican are shameful,” Colón said. “He does not speak for Democratic leadership anywhere in New Mexico who look forward to working with new leaders from southern New Mexico — leaders like Steve Fischmann.”
House Speaker Ben Lujan also put out a statement denouncing Jennings’ actions.
The attacks
Jennings said the attack that pushed him to act came in a phone call from a conservation group, but he didn’t remember the exact name. The group called his Roswell home because his son, a registered voter in Las Cruces, uses his parents’ Roswell phone number.
Jennings characterized the call as a highly negative push poll that accused Rawson of being a “crook.” Fischmann and Democratic groups have hammered Rawson on several issues, including his use of $111,000 in taxpayer money to pave a road adjacent to a commercial development he owns that is located outside his Senate district.
Rawson sent out a mailer late last week responding that he “took the risk” and built the development because the city was trying to attract manufacturing and promised the paving of the road in exchange. The city didn’t uphold its end of the bargain, Rawson wrote in the mailer, so he used taxpayer money to pave the road in an attempt to save the 25 jobs the development created.
“It is a complicated community issue, not straight forward, and easy to warp and distort,” Rawson’s mailer states. “Lee did what he thought was right and his conscience is clear.”
Colón said no one has engaged in a “character assassination” of Rawson, who he claimed “has put self-interest ahead of the public interest” in the case of the road-paving issue and on other occasions.
In defending his decision to decry the attacks on Rawson, Jennings referred to former Senate President Manny Aragon, who is facing up to 67 months in prison after pleading guilty last month to several felony counts for his role in the Bernalillo County Metro Court scandal.
“I hope I’m not wrong. I never believed I would be so disappointed in Sen. Aragon, and it happened, but you cannot put Sen. Rawson in the same boat as Manny Aragon,” Jennings said. “… He’s a good man. I don’t agree with him politically, but he’s a good man, and his mother should not have to listen to that crap.”
Update, 10 p.m.
Fischmann sent this statement by e-mail:
“Obviously I am disappointed that Tim Jennings chose to insert himself into the district 37 Senate race without calling my campaign or checking into the facts. Senate leadership issues aside, the real issue in this race is that, in 22 years in the legislature, Mr. Rawson has done little or nothing to improve health care or education, has been silent when public lands around our precious Organ Mountains are threatened, and has repeatedly voted against commonsense consumer protections against predatory payday and mortgage lenders. We can improve people’s lives and be fiscally responsible at the same time. But it will never happen unless we replace ideologues like Mr. Rawson with commonsense problem solvers. I will listen to the concerns of all my constituents and focus on the issues that truly impact their lives.”
“It is unfortunate and inappropriate that Sen. Jennings has chosen to interfere in a key Senate race against a strong Democratic candidate like Steve Fischmann,” 