Most voters in poll don’t want Espinosa to run in 2010

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In what was one of the most responded-to non-scientific polls in the history of this site, the majority of voters in last week’s poll said Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinosa should not challenge Secretary of State Mary Herrera in next year’s Democratic primary. Of 568 voters, 421, or 74 percent, said Espinosa should not challenge Herrera, while 135, or 24 percent, said Espinosa should challenge Herrera. Twelve, or 2 percent, said they don’t know. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Owner of LC Bulletin buys Rio Rancho newspaper

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I’ve written a lot lately about the struggles daily newspapers are facing, including the layoffs and furloughs that have hit the Las Cruces Sun-News, which is undergoing a major restructuring. Meanwhile, the other major Las Cruces newspaper — the weekly Las Cruces Bulletin — appears to be doing just fine. Not only has the Bulletin added several positions in the last few months, but the company that owns the Bulletin, the locally based FIG Publications, is in the process of purchasing the weekly Rio Rancho Observer, according to an article on the Rio Rancho paper’s Web site. That’s quite an investment for a small, Las Cruces-based company that previously didn’t own any publications other than the Bulletin. In addition to taking over the Observer, FIG Publications will take over the Kirtland Air Force Base Nucleus, the newspaper for the military base, the Observer reported. Continue Reading

Lawsuit seeks release of GRIPgate subpoenas

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My business, Haussamen Publications, is trying to force the release of subpoenas received by state agency in pay-to-play probe I’m a passionate believer in open government. That’s why my business, Haussamen Publications, filed a petition today seeking a court order to force the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) to release copies of subpoenas it has received in the federal probe of allegations of pay to play in the Richardson administration. In January, I requested copies of subpoenas received by the governor’s office and NMFA in the investigation. While the governor’s office provided a copy of the subpoena it received, the NMFA denied my request. The petition contends that any subpoenas NMFA has received in the federal probe should be public and notes that the governor’s office released such a document in response to an identical request. Continue Reading

A connection between Richardson, CDR and Blago?

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Bloomberg article reveals that top fundraiser for former Illinois governor represented CDR in that state, and also helped Richardson raise campaign cash The media has already reported on one connection between N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson and the scandal-plagued former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich: Richardson’s re-election campaign gave $20,000 to the campaign of Blagojevich in 2006. Now Bloomberg has found another link. And it relates to GRIPgate. Blagojevich’s top fundraiser and his lobbying firm donated $20,000 to Richardson’s 2006 re-election campaign and political action committees, according to an article the news organization published today. That lobbyist, Milan Petrovic, also represented, in Illinois, CDR Financial Products, the firm at the center of the federal pay-to-play grand jury investigation in New Mexico. Continue Reading

FBI asking questions about embattled investment firm

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State agencies have already suspended their deals with Aldus Equity pending internal reviewsThe FBI has questioned officials from two state investment agencies about Aldus Equity, a firm that does business with the state and is involved in a pay-to-play scandal in New York, The Associated Press is reporting. The federal agents met earlier this month with officials from the State Investment Council (SIC) and Educational Retirement Board (ERB) about the firm, the news service reported. Last week, both agencies suspended their deals with Aldus, which has advised both on billions of dollars in private equity investments. Both suspensions are pending internal reviews. The AP quoted Charles Wollmann, spokesman for the SIC, as saying that the FBI met with the agency’s lawyer and director of private equity, who were “fully responsive and cooperative.” ERB Executive Director Jan Goodwin wouldn’t answer the AP’s questions about the FBI, but the news service quoted a source with knowledge about the situation as confirming a meeting between the FBI and ERB officials. Continue Reading

Zanetti talks with the Clovis News Journal

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Republican Greg Zanetti, who announced last week that he will run for governor in 2010, gave an interview earlier this week to the Clovis News Journal about his views on a number of issues. You can check out his stances on water, education, the economy and energy by clicking here. Zanetti, an Albuquerque financial adviser and New Mexico National Guard brigadier general, formed a gubernatorial exploratory committee in February. The only other announced candidate in the 2010 race is Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, a Democrat. Several others, including Republicans Steve Pearce, Allen Weh and Heather Wilson and Democrat (and actor) Val Kilmer are considering running. Continue Reading

Guv keeps raising, spending campaign cash. Why?

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Unless he opts to seek a lesser office or sit out a few years and then run for governor again in 2014 or beyond — and neither is likely — Gov. Bill Richardson will never run in another state-level race in New Mexico. So why did his 2006 gubernatorial campaign raise $30,000 last year? And why did it spend $26,000 on consultants? These are questions probed in an article by reporter Steve Terrell that is published today in The Santa Fe New Mexican. And they’re questions to which Terrell couldn’t get an answer. Continue Reading

‘Pay to sue,’ or supporting Democratic ‘activist’ AGs?

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On Aug. 3, 2006, then-N.M. Attorney General Patricia Madrid signed a contract granting a Houston law firm the right to sue a big pharmaceutical company on behalf of the State of New Mexico. Approximately seven weeks later, on Sept. 27 of that year, the law firm, now called Bailey Perrin Bailey, gave $25,000 to the campaign of the man who would replace Madrid in that office at the beginning of 2007, current AG Gary King. And about three weeks after the first contribution — on Oct. Continue Reading

Richardson raised almost $200,000 from brokers

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Gov. Bill Richardson raised almost $200,000 for his campaigns and political action committees from people doing business with state investment funds, Bloomberg is reporting. The news organization analyzed Richardson’s fundraising reports and found that he “received at least $102,300 from brokers hired by money managers seeking to handle $11.7 billion of state trust funds.”He also “received at least $95,000 from the state trusts’ outside money managers.” The second includes $20,000 from former Quadrangle Group managing partner Steven Rattner, who I’ve already written about. The state opted to invest $20 million with Quadrangle. And it also includes, according to Bloomberg, $50,381 from Leo Hindery, founder of InterMedia Advisors LLC. The state opted to invest $30 million with InterMedia. Continue Reading

Bingaman says he wasn’t involved in Quadrangle deal

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Senator’s office says article wrongly implies that Steven Rattner forged ties in New Mexico through Bingaman and his son Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s office takes issue with a New York Times article published today that claims a man at the center of controversial investment deals in New Mexico and New York forged “close personal ties” in the Land of Enchantment through Bingaman and his son. Citing “a person with knowledge of the meeting,” the Times article states that Bingaman met on at least one occasion with Steven Rattner, who has been linked to a New York pension scandal that has tentacles in New Mexico. A company Rattner was involved with until recently, Quadrangle Group LLC, won a lucrative contract in 2005 with the State Investment Council (SIC), which Gov. Bill Richardson heads. Rattner gave a total of $20,000 in contributions to Richardson’s 2002 and 2006 campaigns. The Times article also reports that Quadrangle employed Bingaman’s son John until earlier this year. Continue Reading

Former land commissioner will run again in 2010

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Ray Powell, who was the New Mexico land commissioner from 1993 to 2002, says he will run for the office once again next year. The Democrat wrote this in response to an e-mail asking if he will enter the race: “The short answer to your question is an enthusiastic YES in 2010!” Powell was term-limited from running again in 2002, but after sitting out four years, he ran again in 2006. He narrowly lost the Democratic primary that year to Jim Baca, another former state land commissioner, but has kept his 2006 campaign Web site online. The current land commissioner, Republican Pat Lyons, is prevented by term limits from running again next year. At this point, Powell is the only announced candidate in next year’s land commissioner race. Continue Reading

Gary Johnson might run for president in 2012

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Former N.M. Gov. Gary Johnson is considering running for president in 2012, according to a writer for The American Conservative. In an article published Monday, Bill Kauffman starts with a conversation he had with Johnson at Ron Paul’s Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis last year, an event that coincided with the GOP nominating convention. From Kauffman’s article: “At breakfast the morn of the rally, I sat across the table from a friendly dude wearing a peace-sign T-shirt and looking like an affable old surfer. He introduced himself as Gary Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico. Over the next day, I spent a fair amount of time chatting with Governor Johnson: mountain-climber, triathlete, vetoer of 750 bills. Continue Reading

Article details ABQ mayor’s ‘elephant in the room’

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“There’s an elephant in the room, folks. Nobody’s bringing it up, but we all have an idea of what it is. The day that government exists just for politics and how it can benefit the principals of our municipalities is the day we’re all in trouble. And thank God we have three branches of government.” That’s the money quote in an article published in the Albuquerque Journal this morning detailing allegations that Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez retaliated against a city airport operator because the company refused to provide free or discounted air service for travel to Mexico and during Chávez’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2007, and also because the company raised questions about how public money was being spent. The quote came from District Judge Geraldine Rivera, who in August ordered the city to sign lease agreements it had negotiated with Bode Aero Services Inc., an operator at Double Eagle II airport on the city’s west side. Continue Reading

Embattled Obama Exec. Rattner gave $20K to guv

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Man tied to NY pension scandal gave big to Richardson’s campaigns. Meanwhile, his company was doing business with the State Investment Council, which the governor heads. Steven Rattner, the head of President Barack Obama’s auto-bailout program and a man who has been linked to a New York pension scandal that has tentacles in New Mexico, gave $5,000 to Gov. Bill Richardson’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign and $15,000 to Richardson’s 2006 re-election bid. That’s according to the money-in-politics Web site followthemoney.org. Richardson heads the State Investment Council (SIC), which manages the state’s investments. Continue Reading

More on NM connection to NY investment scandal

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I wrote on Friday about the State Investment Council (SIC) suspending a contract with a financial adviser because of questions about a third-party marketer the company employed who has been indicted in a corruption scandal in New York. Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal have more details. Most interesting is, according to Bloomberg, that the financial adviser and politico under indictment in New York for shaking down companies that wanted to do business with the state, Hank Morris, helped Quadrangle Group LLC win the contract it has in New Mexico with the SIC. Quadrangle is the firm tied to Steven Rattner, who heads the Obama administrations’ restructuring of the auto industry. Rattner has been described in court documents as having arranged for Quadrangle to pay $1.1 million in exchange for business with the state of New York, with most of that going to Morris. Continue Reading