Gov. Bill Richardson is interviewing applicants today for a vacancy on the
The list of applicants includes many well-known politicos. Among them are former Sheriff Ray Storment, former Magistrate Judge Maria E. Rodriguez, former Las Cruces City Councilor Woodie Jenkins, Mesilla Town Judge Lionel Frietze, former magistrate candidate Steven Foldy, former undersheriff candidate Joel Cano and Sal Ceballos, a former staffer for Sen. Jeff Bingaman and wife of former county Clerk Ruben Ceballos.
The other applicants are Dolores Cadena, Linda Flores, Jesus Frietze, Edward Lerma, Carlos Preciado, Gerald Smith, Marlene Tate, Judy Vaughan and Kent Wingenroth.
Inside sources say the favorites are Cano and Wingenroth, who is a former state cop. Cano has been more active in the Democratic Party than Wingenroth, and many are betting he’ll get the job.
The vacancy was created when the New Mexico Supreme Court last month removed Carlos Garza after the Judicial Standards Commission found that he had used illegal drugs and improperly used his position to benefit a woman with whom he had a personal relationship.