Pearce may run for state GOP chairman

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Former U.S. Senate candidate also considering running for governor or another seat in 2010 Fresh off his loss in the U.S. Senate race, Rep. Steve Pearce is seriously considering running in January for the position of chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico. Though a Pearce spokesman would not confirm it, a number of Republican sources said Pearce talked with several county Republican Party chairs about the possibility during a conference call earlier this week. Word of the call has spread quickly, and the possibility of Pearce attempting to lead the GOP back to prominence is being widely discussed in Republican circles today. “There are several folks who are thinking about running for state chairman. The possibility of Steve Pearce taking up that mantle would be a very exciting one,” said Mark Van Dyke, chairman of the Republican Party of Doña Ana County. Continue Reading

Richardson supports Election Day voter registration

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Gov. Bill Richardson announced today his support for letting people register to vote on Election Day, but his office isn’t saying whether he will propose legislation to allow it in the upcoming legislative session.Richardson made the announcement in a news release as the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee discussed the issue this morning. Currently, the deadline to vote is weeks before Election Day. “We need to make sure that everyone who is eligible to vote has the best opportunity to vote,” Richardson said in the release. “New Mexico has seen great success — in both increased voter confidence and participation — with those election reforms we’ve already enacted, particularly paper ballots. Election Day registration will further strengthen voting in New Mexico by making it easier and more accessible to our citizens.” Several states already allow Election Day registration. Continue Reading

The economic crisis: How bad will it get?

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Government budgetary woes in New Mexico and elsewhere threaten to make things much worse The headlines are everywhere. The state of New Mexico has frozen hiring and taken other measures to cut $200 million from the current fiscal-year budget to avoid a deficit. The Albuquerque mayor is leaving 140 jobs unfilled to trim $20 million from the city’s budget. The Gadsden Independent School District in southern New Mexico is shifting its use of $3.9 million in state funds as a stopgap measure to avoid having to immediately fire 98 people and make other cuts. But Gadsden still has to figure out how to make cuts to next fiscal year’s budget that begins July 1, and layoffs appear likely. Continue Reading

Report: Talk of Secretary of State Clinton premature

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As I’ve already reported, there have been a number of media reports indicating that Hillary Clinton becoming secretary of state was likely or even a done deal. But The Politico says such talk is premature: Clinton isn’t certain she would accept the job even if Barack Obama offered it.If true, that could be good news for Gov. Bill Richardson, who is angling to become the nation’s top diplomat. The Politico quoted a “Clinton insider” who said media reports that portray Clinton as willing to accept the job — one went so far as to state that she had accepted — are inaccurate and “out ahead of the facts.” Clinton, the source was quoted as saying, is “torn” between the possibility of joining the Obama administration and working on health care and other policy issues in the Senate. The media outlet said that matched with what “others close to Clinton” have been saying: that she “is conflicted and the deal far from done.” Continue Reading

Thanks to too much spending, the rainy day is here

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By Dan Foley Now that the election is over and attention can once again focus on our great state of New Mexico, I would like to bring attention to the impending doom facing all of us. After six years of growing government, expanding programs and investing in things like a spaceport, the bill is coming due. We are beginning to hear reports of deficits reaching as high as $1 billion, all this in a state that has a budget of a little over $6 billion. The first question we have to ask is: How did this happen? Of course I already alluded to the “how.” Over these past six years, we successfully did away with the surplus we inherited from Gov. Gary Johnson. Continue Reading

NMSU regents suspend presidential search

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The New Mexico State University Board of Regents on Monday suspended its search for a new president, and plans to start the process over next year when as many as three new regents join the board.Waded Cruzado will remain interim president throughout that time and, though she wasn’t allowed to this time, she may get to apply for the permanent position if she’s interested when the search starts up again next year. Joseph Pfeiffer, a computer science professor and member of the regents’ presidential search committee, explained the situation on Monday in an e-mail to faculty. He said each of the eight candidates invited to off-campus interviews for the job had withdrawn their applications. The search committee had selected five of the eight candidates to invite for on-campus interviews and designated the other three as alternates. The committee, Pfeiffer wrote, planned to publicly name the finalists in late October and “invite them for on-campus interviews by, well, now.” But some dropped out because of a state law that requires that the five finalists be publicly identified, Pfeiffer wrote. Continue Reading

Guv watch: Did he meet with Obama or not?

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Where was Bill Richardson on Friday? That’s a good question.Roughly two weeks ago, sources said the governor had a Friday meeting scheduled with Barack Obama in Chicago to discuss job options. But Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley told me at the time that no such meeting existed. Then the Washington Post reported Friday evening that Richardson met with Obama that day in Chicago. At the time, Richardson emerged as one of two most-discussed candidates for secretary of state, along with Hillary Clinton. Continue Reading

Transportation secretary announces her retirement

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Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught has announced that she’s retiring at the end of the year, ending a 21-year career in state government.“Rhonda has been an invaluable member of my cabinet for the past six years,” Gov. Bill Richardson said in a news release announcing her retirement. “Since taking over the helm of New Mexico Department of Transportation, Rhonda has transformed the agency into a true multimodal department with emphasis on all modes of transportation.” Faught first told the New Mexico Independent in mid-October that she might retire. In Friday’s news release announcing her decision, she had high praise for Richardson. “Thanks to his infectious enthusiasm and bold leadership, we have been able to make giant strides toward improving transportation in New Mexico,” she said. By retiring now, Faught, who was heavily involved in bringing the Rail Runner to central and northern New Mexico, will continue to make 75 percent of the more than $100,000 she is currently paid annually. Continue Reading

Clinton added to list of secretary of state candidates

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Gov. Bill Richardson has emerged as one of the two most-mentioned candidates for secretary of state, but the other is Hillary Clinton, and she may have already been offered the job.As was first reported Friday by the Washington Post, Richardson met with Barack Obama on Friday in Chicago about a potential role in the president-elect’s administration. Obama met with Clinton Thursday, and the Post reported that sources say she is a “top contender” for the job. The Huffington Post went so far as to report that Obama offered Clinton the job. A Richardson spokesman declined to comment Friday on the meeting. The Washington Post reported that Obama’s short list for secretary of state also includes John Kerry. Continue Reading

Gardner replaces Foley as House minority whip

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Republicans in the state House of Representatives picked Keith Gardner to be their new minority whip this weekend.With that move, they replaced one Roswell politico — Dan Foley, who lost his primary race in June — with another. The Roswell Daily Record reported that Gardner beat another House Republican to win the two-year term as the caucus’ whip, but the opponent’s name and the vote tally was not disclosed. During the Saturday meeting in Albuquerque, the GOP caucus decided to keep Tom Taylor of Farmington as its minority leader and Anna Crook of Clovis as its caucus chair. House Republicans are turning their focus to the economy, announcing in a news release about the election of the leaders that they are preparing for what Taylor called “serious budgeting challenges” in the coming session. Gardner, who has held his seat since 2004, said in the release that, “during these difficult times, I am honored and humbled to have earned the support of my colleagues for this leadership position.” “Like most families and small businesses across New Mexico, we at the Legislature are going to have to focus on cost-cutting to pull through this,” he said. Continue Reading

Most voters in poll say Richardson is headed to D.C.

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The vast majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said Bill Richardson will be working in the Obama administration next year. Of 186 voters, 153, or 82 percent, said he would leave New Mexico to work in Washington for the president, while 33, or 18 percent, said he would remain the state’s governor. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s non-scientific poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Garcia to challenge Stapleton for House majority whip

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Two years ago, House Democrats battled over who would be speaker and majority leader. This year, it appears that no one has stepped up to challenge Speaker Ben Lujan and Majority Leader Ken Martinez. But there is one other leadership fight brewing. Rep. Thomas Garcia of Ocate is challenging Sheryl Williams Stapleton of Albuquerque for the position of House majority whip. Though Garcia said it would not be appropriate to comment for this article, and Stapleton could not immediately be reached for comment, several people with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Garcia has been calling and e-mailing House Democrats to lobby for the position. Continue Reading

State GOP must embrace change

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By Allen McCulloch On Nov. 4, the Republican Party of New Mexico suffered its worst electoral setback in modern times — quite possibly since statehood. Republicans in our state are on the verge of complete and total irrelevancy, and it’s time for a dramatic change in the leadership and direction of our party. In an editorial on Nov. 7, the Albuquerque Journal expressed concern over the loss of several key Republican legislators in this year’s election — including Sens. Continue Reading

NM Independent lays off four in restructuring

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You may have already noticed this week that some bylines have disappeared from the news Web site the New Mexico Independent. Four seasoned journalists who were part-time writers for the site — Barbara Armijo, Tim McGivern, Kate Nelson and Denise Tessier — are no longer writing for the site. That leaves seven employees at the Independent. (By way of disclosure, I’m one of them.) The move was part of a larger wave of layoffs at each of the state sites owned by the nonprofit Center for Independent Media (CIM). In addition to New Mexico, the center has sites in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota. Continue Reading