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Ellins’ disclosure is an example others should follow

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Transparency is always the best policy. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised on Tuesday to get a call from Lynn Ellins, Doña Ana County’s elections supervisor, to tell me about his November 2006 drunken-driving arrest and ask me to write about it. He’s running for county clerk and said he wants his candidacy to be transparent. Way to get ahead of the situation so it doesn’t become a scandal. It’s similar to what New York’s new governor, David Patterson, has done in the last several days by disclosing past adultery and drug use. Continue Reading

Homans replaces Goodwin at Tax and Revenue

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Former Economic Development Secretary and Spaceport Authority Director Rick Homans returned to state government today when Gov. Bill Richardson appointed him to lead the Taxation and Revenue Department. The move comes a day after Jan Goodwin, the previous secretary of the department, was named executive director of the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board. “I want to welcome Rick Homans back to state government, where I will count on his expertise at the Taxation and Revenue Department,” Richardson said in a news release. “Jan Goodwin did a great job of making the Taxation and Revenue Department more efficient and responsive to taxpayers, and I look forward to continuing that progress under Rick Homans’ leadership.” Homans was economic development secretary from 2003 to 2007. His primary focus became Spaceport America, and he left the secretary position in May to run the spaceport. Continue Reading

RNC to hold chairmen’s meeting in N.M. next week

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The Republican National Committee will hold its 2008 state chairmen’s meeting next week in New Mexico, and speakers will include John McCain’s presidential campaign manager. The meeting will be held Tuesday through Friday at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort at the Santa Ana Pueblo near Bernalillo. “New Mexico will be an important state for Republicans to carry this year, and one in which John McCain’s message of smaller and less intrusive government, lower taxes and a strong national defense has obvious appeal,” RNC spokeswoman Liz Mair said in explaining why the RNC picked New Mexico for its meeting. A 1 p.m. session on Thursday will include speakers Robert M. “Mike” Duncan, the RNC chairman, and Carly Fiorina, the RNC Victory chairwoman. On Friday at noon, the speaker during the chairmen’s luncheon will be Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager. Continue Reading

This site recognized by Washington Post blogger

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The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, one of the top politics bloggers around, has named Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics as one of the best state-based politics blogs. Cillizza is in the process of compiling a reader-generated list of the best state politics blogs on his own blog, The Fix. In his post soliciting the names of the best blogs, he listed three of his favorites – this site, Burnt Orange Report in Texas and GreenMountainPolitics1 in New Hampshire. You can read Cillizza’s post by clicking here. Continue Reading

Another independent candidate jumps into CD3 race

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A second independent candidate is making a bid to replace Tom Udall in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ron Simmons, 62, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that he’s in the race. And he has set up a campaign Web site. “I know I’m unknown, but I’m serious,” he told the newspaper. Simmons, of Santa Fe, said he was a lifelong Democrat until he left the party earlier this year because he was upset with the superdelegate system in the presidential race. Continue Reading

Nader says N.M. will be first state with him on ballot

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Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader expects New Mexico to be the first state where he qualifies for the ballot. Nader said this week in an interview with 770 KKOB’s political reporter Peter St. Cyr that he expects that to happen, and the campaign is also focused on making Arizona the second state where it qualifies for the ballot. Nader raised more than $12,000 in a couple of days earlier this month to send campaign workers to New Mexico to gather signatures and get him on the ballot. Nader needs some 7,000 signatures from registered voters in New Mexico to appear on the ballot in November. Continue Reading

High court suspends embattled Sunland Park judge

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The New Mexico Supreme Court finally acted today in the case of newly elected Sunland Park Municipal Judge Horacio Favela by suspending him without pay pending the outcome of his voter-fraud case. The action wasn’t designed to be punitive. Judicial Standards Commission Director Jim Noel told the Las Cruces Sun-News that the action is simply designed to protect the integrity of the judiciary. After all, can you imagine this judge actually ruling in cases while he’s facing a charge of voter fraud? The Sunland Park judge hears some 3,000 cases per year. Continue Reading

America can’t continue to spend beyond its means

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I’ve been watching news about the nation’s sinking economy with increased interest in recent months, and I’ve gradually become less and less optimistic about the situation. It’s not the increases in the prices of gas and food that worry me most. It’s the systemic problems that are leading to such symptoms. Instead of addressing the root causes of such problems, I fear that our nation’s leaders are making only superficial attempts to ease the symptoms. The current crisis began with home mortgages. But the problems run much deeper than that. We are a nation whose federal government has led Americans by its own example into a culture of reckless spending. Continue Reading

Sowards explains decision to stay in CD2 race

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Though he secured the votes of only two delegates, or about 1 percent, at the Republican Party’s March 15 preprimary nominating convention, Greg Sowards said he’s staying in the Second Congressional District race because he’s different than the other candidates. “I’m running on a platform of conservative core principles and not party politics,” Sowards said in a news release. Sowards filed on Tuesday additional signatures in an attempt to stay in the race. The Secretary of State’s Office has until next Tuesday to certify his candidacy. The release states that the “fiercely independent” Sowards is in a race that is “crowded with party regulars” and is running on “the strength of fellow citizens who share his vision for the future.” “In the past, we have sent decent people to Washington only to be disappointed when they trade their allegiance to their constituents for that of other members of Congress,” Sowards said. Continue Reading

Clerk candidate discloses drunken-driving arrest

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Doña Ana County Elections Supervisor Lynn Ellins, one of five people running for county clerk this year, was arrested for drunken driving in November 2006. Ellins’ blood-alcohol level was 0.14 at the time of his arrest in Santa Fe – well above the legal limit of 0.08. He pleaded no contest to the charge of drunken driving and received a deferred sentence. After paying a fine, having an ignition interlock device installed in his vehicle for a year and completing the other terms of the deferred sentence, the charge against Ellins is on its way to being dismissed, he said in an interview. Assuming that happens, that means the incident won’t appear on his permanent record. Continue Reading

Mirror, mirror

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By Carter Bundy It’s said in politics that the extreme right and left often are very similar. With all respect to conventional wisdom, that’s patently false when it comes to substance. For example, the far right’s unwavering support for military action is hardly the same as a pacifist’s position. Likewise, the far right’s insistence on slashing billionaires’ taxes is a far cry from the far left’s insistence on investing billionaires’ taxes in programs for the poor. But in an important sense, political polar opposites frequently share something in common: a certainty of their positions that leads them to tear down – by any means – anyone with whom they disagree. Continue Reading

Poll gives McCamley a ‘commanding’ lead over Teague

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Bill McCamley has a nearly two-to-one lead over Harry Teague in the Second Congressional District Democratic primary, according to a poll released by McCamley’s campaign this evening. The poll, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, has McCamley ahead by 21 points, 43 percent to 22 percent. With 70 days until the June 3 primary, that is a “commanding” lead for McCamley, the company’s poll memo states. A large percentage of those surveyed – 35 percent – were undecided. The survey of 403 likely Democratic voters was conducted between March 17 and 19 and has a margin of error of 4.9 percent. Continue Reading

Guv’s endorsement of Obama sparks controversy

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Gov. Bill Richardson’s endorsement last week of Barack Obama has sparked quite a controversy. Richardson is being accused of disloyalty and hypocrisy. Some of the criticism is fair and some is not. Several people have e-mailed me to express anger because of this quote Richardson gave the New York Times in February when discussing how superdelegates like him should vote: “It should reflect the vote of my state, it should represent the vote of my constituency,” he said. “It shouldn’t be because you’re a fund-raiser or a big-shot delegate. Continue Reading

Congressional candidates try to stay on ballot

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Nine congressional candidates who failed to secure 20 percent of the vote at preprimary nominating conventions 10 days ago filed signatures today to try to stay in the races. Only three candidates who failed to received 20 percent – Second Congressional District candidates Terry Marquardt, a Republican, and Democrats Al Kissling and Frank McKinnon – aren’t trying to stay in the races. James Flores, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office, said the office doesn’t have to certify the signatures that were submitted today until Tuesday, but here are the candidates who filed signatures to try to stay in the races: • In the Second Congressional District, Republicans Monty Newman and Greg Sowards. • In the First Congressional District, Democrats Robert Pidcock and Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Republican Joe Carraro. • In the Third Congressional District, Democrats Jon Adams, Rudy Martin, Harry Montoya and Benny Shendo Jr. For my list of the 2008 candidates for federal offices, click here. Continue Reading

Kissling drops congressional bid

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Al Kissling has decided to drop out of the race to replace Steve Pearce in Congress. “I’ve sent out a letter to my supporters indicating that I’m dropping out of the race,” the Democrat said today in a brief phone interview. Kissling won 13 percent of delegates at the recent Democratic preprimary nominating convention, while Bill McCamley won 49 percent and Harry Teague won 36 percent. Candidates had to secure at least 20 percent to win a spot on the ballot. To stay in the race, Kissling would have had to submit the signatures of 1,184 registered Democrats living in the Second Congressional District by today. Continue Reading