Heath Haussamen
Many Democrats I’ve been talking with lately are discouraged. They think Diane Denish is going to lose the governor’s race. They’re worried that the 2nd Congressional District seat may slip out of Harry Teague’s hands. They see polls that have the state’s other congressional races pretty close.
Some of them are discouraged because they think Mary Herrera is going to lose the secretary of state’s race. Others are discouraged because they want Herrera to lose but worry she’s going to drag down the rest of the ticket.
In short, many Democrats I’ve been talking with expect Nov. 2 to be a bloodbath for their party.
Some reform-minded Democrats I’ve been speaking with are starting to think about how to rebuild after an expected slaughter they blame largely on their own party. One of the Democrats I hear about frequently in the context of rebuilding the party is State Auditor Hector Balderas.
Balderas got a nice boost on Monday when he was named is this year’s recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award given out by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. It’s the first time anyone from the Rocky Mountain States has received the award.
The award is given to two people each year who are under the age of 40 and deemed to be changing their communities. Balderas was given the award for being an elected official whose work demonstrates the impact elected officials can have in addressing public challenges.
Taking on Santa Fe
Hector Balderas
There’s a good reason Balderas won the Kennedy award. He has restructured an underfunded office during his first term, hiring criminal investigators, developing a fraud hotline, utilizing the office’s subpoena power and going after governments that submit late audits.
Balderas has taken on the powers-that-be in both parties. That has earned him the respect of many Democrats and even the praise of some high-profile Republicans.
In the face of political pressure from within his own party, his office released a damning audit of the scandal-plagued housing authorities. In the face of political pressure from within the Republican Party, his office is about to complete an audit related to controversy in the State Land Office.
Balderas also has some strong political senses. He was named as a potential lieutenant governor in 2008 when Bill Richardson appeared headed for Washington and Denish was going to get to appoint her replacement as she became governor. When that didn’t happen, Balderas thought about running for lieutenant governor this year. But, perhaps sensing the shifting mood of voters, he had the sense to stay right where he is, in an office in which he can make a difference with another four-year term – and in a position he would be able to keep through the slaughter of 2010.
Balderas has a challenger this year, Republican Errol Chavez, but few believe Chavez has made the race one to watch.
If the expected bloodbath forces change…
Assuming Balderas does win re-election this year, he will have another choice in four years: Does he want to be governor? If Martinez wins, will he challenge her? Will he run for lieutenant governor? Will he run for attorney general? Or U.S. Senate?
It’s way too soon to know what the political map will look like.
But reform-minded Democrats I’ve been speaking with say Balderas and others like him need to be at the center of the Democratic Party of the future. Otherwise, they fear, Republicans who are successfully hammering Democrats over corruption in Santa Fe could continue to make significant gains in state government in 2012 and beyond.
One note of caution to Balderas: Don’t get a big head. Reform-minded politicians who successfully take on the system sometimes get used to the praise that’s heaped on them and come to expect it. In the end, those who let their pride take over, or decide to value their political careers more than the public good, are no longer the reform-minded forces they once were.
Many Democrats are voting for Martinez in the governor’s race even though they disagree with her on some policy issues because they are tired of the way things are in Santa Fe. Imagine if the Democratic Party rebuilt around politicians like Balderas who have shaken up Santa Fe and are more closely aligned with the state’s majority party on policy issues.
If the expected Nov. 2 bloodbath forces the Democratic Party to change, some have told me, maybe it won’t be so bad for the party after all.