Richardson Senate petition is bogus, campaign says

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Someone is circulating petitions around Santa Fe seeking signatures for Gov. Bill Richardson to run for U.S. Senate, but Richardson’s presidential campaign says the petitions are bogus and the governor isn’t running for Senate. Still, the petitions have rekindled speculation that if or when Richardson loses the presidential race he will jump into the Senate race. It’s a scenario Richardson insists won’t happen, but some refuse to believe him. The petitions began floating around Santa Fe on Monday, and have been circulated in public places including at least one restaurant. “There is apparently some kind of petition floating around. Continue Reading

Time to change election code to increase democracy

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By Carol Miller The leadership of the New Mexico Legislature has finally caught itself in its web of changes to the election code, each designed to take choices away from the voters of the state. Every year at the Legislature, ballot access advocates have watched these changes with horror, observing New Mexico’s slide into the group of states with the worst ballot access and fewest voter choices. Now that Speaker Ben Lujan finds his son caught in this web, we might get some change, but let’s go for real change that increases democracy. Last year, the 2007 Legislature passed House Bill 1156, which states among its purposes, right at the top of the bill, “eliminating provisions allowing candidates who fail to receive preprimary convention designation to become a candidate.” The section lawmakers repealed used to allow a candidate to get on the ballot by going directly to voters, getting their signatures and submitting nominating petitions to the secretary of state. If candidates asked at the preprimary convention for a ballot spot but did not receive the votes of 20 percent of delegates, they could go back to the voters, collect additional signatures and submit the additional nominating petitions to the secretary of state. Continue Reading

Carraro to challenge White in U.S. House primary

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State Sen. Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque, will formally announce Thursday that he is running for the First Congressional District seat being vacated by Heather Wilson. He informed supporters in an e-mail sent Monday evening that he will run, and that he will make the announcement at 4 p.m. Thursday at George O. Breace VFW Post 401 in Albuquerque. Carraro’s decision comes despite significant pressure from Washington GOP insiders to clear the way for Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White to become the party’s nominee for the seat. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio has sent White a $5,000 contribution – the maximum allowed – from his political action committee, The Freedom Project, to be used specifically in the primary. And the retiring U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici plans to host an event for White in Washington next week. Continue Reading

Talk to focus on expectations for female candidates

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An expert on the different expectations women face when running for office will be the final speaker tonight at New Mexico State University’s “Women, Politics and the Media” course and a subsequent public symposium. Dan Kully, founder of the West Coast office of Laguens Hamburger Kully Klose in Seattle, will speak at 7 p.m. in the Creative Media Institute’s Digital Media Theatre in Milton Hall. His talk, “Television: Different Expectations for Women Candidates,” is open to the public. Kully, a producer, director, editor and cinematographer, has achieved renown for developing one of the most compelling and effective media consulting operations outside of Washington, D.C. In 2006, he was the lead partner on the team that helped elect Jon Tester to the U.S. Senate in Montana and Gov. Bill Ritter in Colorado and helped defeat the so-called property rights measures in Washington and Idaho. “I’ve worked with Dan and admire his expertise in helping candidates get their message across,” said Lt. Governor Diane Denish, co-teacher of the NMSU class. Continue Reading

County to consider precedent-setting subsidy today

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By Dr. James “Jim” Kadlecek The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners has on its agenda for today’s meeting a momentous decision. It has to do with a scheme proposed by an El Paso developer who owns most of the prime land in the Santa Teresa area. I first wrote about this situation a couple of weeks ago. If approved, the proposal would dedicate future county and state gross-receipts-tax revenue from this area to pay for the development of a large residential-commercial subdivision and two industrial parks. In essence, the developer would get a subsidy of $113 million to cover development costs, many of which should be part of the normal price of doing business. Continue Reading

Wilson to stop in Las Cruces on Tuesday

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U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson is kicking off her Senate campaign with a tour of the state that will bring her to Las Cruces on Tuesday. She will be holding a public forum from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road in Las Cruces, on Tuesday. The GOP representative’s “statewide listening tour” follows a similar tour by GOP U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, who is also running for Senate. New Mexico’s third representative, Democrat Tom Udall, is also running for the Senate seat and plans a similar tour in the near future. Wilson’s tour began Sunday in Santa Rosa. Continue Reading

Lawmaker seeks AG opinion on spaceport tax delay

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A state representative has asked the attorney general to weigh in on whether Doña Ana County can delay collection of a 1/4 percent gross receipts tax to help fund construction of Spaceport America. The county commission has voted to delay collection, currently scheduled to start on Jan. 1, until at least July because voters in Sierra and Otero counties haven’t yet decided whether to implement the tax. The move is backed by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, but the state’s Taxation and Revenue Department says the county’s vote to delay the tax isn’t valid because it can only be delayed by amending or repealing the ordinance that allowed the April tax election. There’s not time to do that before the tax takes effect. Continue Reading

Tinsley, Cornelius make congressional runs official

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Republicans Ed Tinsley and Bob Cornelius both made official last week their candidacies for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce. They’re the first Republicans to enter the race. On the Democratic side, state Rep. Joseph Cervantes, retired Presbyterian minister Al Kissling, Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley, Roswell businessman and retired teacher Frank McKinnon and former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague are all running. Tinsley, a rancher and restaurant-chain owner, ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2002. He said in a news release last week that he has “waited for the right time and circumstances to make a run for this congressional seat,” and the time is now. Continue Reading

Chávez hits Udall over proposed lab funding cuts

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Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez is hitting U.S. Rep. Tom Udall hard as the two battle for the Democratic Party nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. In a weekend news release, Chávez announced that he is meeting in Los Alamos today with employees of the national lab located there. A pending and controversial bill that Udall supported would cut about $400 million from the budget for the state’s two labs compared to the previous fiscal year. “Numerous members of the LANL community have been in touch with us about this devastating blow,” Chávez said in the release. “(Today) I’ll be taking the message up to the hill to Los Alamos that New Mexicans must send a senator to Washington who will stand up for them, not someone who supports job cuts at our state’s national laboratories.” Then the attack, from Chávez campaign manager Mark Fleisher: “Tom Udall now has the dubious distinction of being the only member of Congress from New Mexico in history to vote in favor of decreased funding and cutting jobs at LANL and Sandia,” he said. Continue Reading

Wiviott files paperwork to run for Udall’s House seat

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Santa Fe green builder Don Wiviott made official last week his run for the Third Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, and he pledged to spend at least $325,000 of his own money to win. Wiviott was already running for Senate when Pete Domenici announced his coming retirement in October. After Udall said he would vacate his House seat to run for Senate, Wiviott said he would instead run for Udall’s seat. Last week, he filed the paperwork to make his House run official. “This summer, I announced my intention to run for the U.S. Senate because I believed that New Mexico needed another strong, progressive voice representing us,” Wiviott said last week in a news release. Continue Reading

Grant county commissioner appointed to Legislature

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Gov. Bill Richardson on Wednesday appointed Grant County Commission Chairman and Bayard Mayor Rodolpho “Rudy” Martinez to replace Manuel Herrera as the District 39 representative in the New Mexico House. “Rodolpho Martinez is a proven and trusted leader, I am confident that he will serve the constituents of Grant and Hidalgo counties well,” Richardson said in a news release. “His legislative experience will be a valuable asset to the New Mexico House of Representatives.” Herrera died in October following a long battle with cancer. Martinez is the facility services manager for GEO Care, Inc. and a volunteer firefighter. He also worked for Chino Mines for more than 30 years. Continue Reading

Obama, Clinton, Edwards top guv in non-scientific poll

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More voters in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site picked Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards to win the Iowa Caucus on Jan. 3 than those who picked Bill Richardson. Of 193 voters, 63, or 33 percent, said Obama will win the contest, while 57, or 30 percent, said Clinton will win. Twenty-nine, or 15 percent, said Edwards will win, and 26, or 13 percent, said Richardson will win. Thirteen, or 7 percent, said Joe Biden will win; five, or 2 percent, said Dennis Kucinich will win; and none picked Chris Dodd to win. Continue Reading

Legislative bodies need greater accountability

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A bipartisan task force is proposing the creation of a new congressional office that would have the power to initiate ethics complaints against members of the U.S. House of Representatives. While the proposal may create the appearance that Congress is getting tough on misdeeds, it has little chance of actually doing anything to discourage unethical behavior.Under the proposal, complaints initiated by the new Office of Congressional Ethics would be considered by the House ethics committee. The office would be staffed by six people – three appointed by the speaker and three appointed by the minority leader – who would be paid to serve part-time, four-year terms.Outside groups and citizens would not have the power to file complaints against House members, and the office wouldn’t have subpoena power. Essentially, the task force wants to create an office whose staffers work for the people it’s charged with investigating without giving them insulation from political pressure and the power to do the job.The power would come with the threat of a subpoena. The insulation would come with a standard procedure for outside groups, not the office itself, to initiate complaints.As it stands, the proposal is no better than the current system, which only allows House members to initiate complaints. Continue Reading

Most voters in non-scientific poll pick Udall

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said U.S. Rep. Tom Udall will win the Democratic primary in the Senate race.Of 452 voters, 310, or 68 percent, said Udall will win, while 134, or 30 percent, said Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez will win, and eight, or 2 percent, said alternative media publisher and editor Leland Lehrman will win.Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located near the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading