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Vote for anyone other than me

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© 2007 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. For the life of me I do not understand how people can stand to run for local elective office and then, even more amazingly, serve. Besides campaigning being such hard and often lonely and thankless work, the campaigning and serving presents an opportunity to be criticized in ways not otherwise available to local citizens since they were in junior high school. Anonymously in the local paper the office holders and candidates are slurred without regard to truth and without the ability to confront their accusers. Even the most thick-skinned citizens have to be bothered by the liberties anonymously taken with their good name. More troubling to me is that, if candidates win, there are the long, tedious meetings that are important but long and tedious. Continue Reading

Denish decides against running for U.S. Senate

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Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has decided to forgo a 2008 U.S. Senate run and instead run for governor in 2010 as she originally planned. A knowledgeable source confirmed on Thursday that Denish had decided against running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. The news came the same day the public learned that U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., had decided to reconsider whether to run for Senate and that he is trying to put together the pieces necessary for a Senate run. Many Washington insiders had spent weeks pushing Denish or Udall to run for the seat. But Denish told me months before Domenici announced his coming retirement that she had no interest in leaving New Mexico. Continue Reading

Udall is trying to put pieces in place for Senate run

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A number of sources are confirming that U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., has moved beyond simply reconsidering whether he should run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. He’s now trying to put the pieces in place for a Senate run. That’s sort of obvious, even without the confirmation from sources. Udall considered a Senate run once and decided against it. To reconsider now – and confirm it publicly – means he must be very serious. Continue Reading

National restaurant group pushes Tinsley to run

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The National Restaurant Association is pushing GOP restaurant chain owner Ed Tinsley to run for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by Steve Pearce. Tinsley owns the K-Bob’s chain of restaurants and, after he lost to Pearce in the 2002 primary, he became heavily involved in the influential group, serving last year as the chairman of its board.Tinsley is expected to announce as early as next week whether he’ll run for the congressional seat. “Throughout his many years of service on the National Restaurant Association board and during his term as chairman, Ed has demonstrated that he is not only a talented leader, but that he has a keen understanding of the issues that small businesses face,” Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the association, said in a news release. “As chairman, Ed had a tremendous impact, representing the industry at White House meetings and on Capitol Hill. We encourage Ed to consider a run for Congress. Continue Reading

Trowbridge fed up with council’s focus on downtown

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One of the central questions in Tuesday’s Las Cruces municipal election is whether the city’s growth is out of control. This article is the second in a two-part series that explores that question. Wednesday’s article looked at growth in a new area, while today’s article considers infrastructure needs in older neighborhoods. By Vicki Nisbett Streets that need paving, water mains that break and sidewalks built in the 1930s are just some of the items on the outgoing District 4 Las Cruces city councilor’s list that need to be fixed, and he’s frustrated it’s not happening. In fact, that’s why Steven Trowbridge isn’t seeking re-election. Continue Reading

Udall will reconsider running for Senate

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U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., is reconsidering running for U.S. Senate, a knowledgeable source confirmed today. Udall’s entrance into the race would further shake up the New Mexico political landscape that is being reshaped by the coming retirement of U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici. Udall announced recently that he would not run for the Senate seat, and would instead seek re-election to his House seat, in part because he has a coveted spot on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Udall is now reconsidering both options, the source confirmed today. He already has more than $800,000 in the bank for a House run and has no announced opponent. Continue Reading

Mayoral candidates to debate on radio Friday morning

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The only debate between the two candidates vying to be Las Cruces’ mayor will be held Friday morning. You won’t be able to attend in person, but will be able to listen on KSNM-AM 570 from 7-9 a.m. The debate is part of The Morning Show with Alan Riehl. Though there have been some public forums, this will be the only true debate between the two candidates – incumbent Bill Mattiace and District 6 Councilor Ken Miyagishima – in advance of Tuesday’s election. A portion of the debate will be dedicated to questions from listeners. In addition to calling in, listeners will be able to submit questions during the debate via e-mail. Continue Reading

Pearce campaign tour includes ten stops

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has released the schedule for his weekend tour to announce that he’s running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. It begins Friday at noon at the Teen Center in Hobbs, 620 West Alto. Pearce will be at the Embassy Suites, 1000 Woodward Place NE in Albuquerque at 4 p.m. to try to make the evening newscasts. On Saturday, he begins the day at 8:30 a.m. at TJ’s Downtown Diner, 119 East Main in Farmington. At 10:30 a.m., he’ll be at the municipal airport in Santa Fe, and at 1 p.m. he’ll be at the municipal airport in Clovis. Continue Reading

Teague to formally announce congressional run Nov. 8

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Former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague plans to formally announce on Nov. 8 that he’s running for the Second Congressional District seat being vacated by GOP U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce. Teague plans to make the announcement at 5 p.m. on that day at the Democratic Party headquarters in Hobbs, located at 604 West Broadway, according to a news release. “The issues our country is facing – ending the war in Iraq, health care coverage for all, immigration reform and access to a high quality education – are too important to ignore,” Teague said. “The needs of the people of this district have been neglected for years, and we must have a strong voice who can fight for us on these issues and who can work with members of both parties to get things done for New Mexico and our nation. Continue Reading

Chávez reaches out to progressives through bloggers

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Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., is attempting to reach out to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party through its bloggers. There are quite a few progressive bloggers in New Mexico, and Chávez had a dialogue with several of them on a conference call on Tuesday evening that he said he hoped was “part of an ongoing conversation.” Chávez isn’t well liked, to put it mildly, by many progressives, who recently worked with Republicans to defeat candidates and referenda backed by Chávez, or at least some of his top staffers, in the Albuquerque municipal election. In a recent interview with me, Chávez said he gets “a bad rap” from progressives that isn’t deserved, and cited his work on combating climate change and other issues he says should earn him the support of progressives. In the same conversation, however, Chávez said he wasn’t afraid of the possibility that U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, a favorite among progressive Democrats, might enter the race, saying Udall is “so far to the left.” That comment was one of the points Chávez was asked about during Tuesday’s call. It upset many progressives as it circulated on state and national blogs last week. Continue Reading

Guv defends Clinton, others attack her at debate

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Gov. Bill Richardson stood alone during Tuesday’s Democratic presidential candidate debate as Hillary Clinton’s only defender from the constant attacks of other candidates, and it came back to bite him at the end. That’s because Clinton made a huge mistake at the conclusion of the debate that gave credibility to the tenacious attacks of Barack Obama, John Edwards and Chris Dodd. The three – and Obama and Edwards in particular – spent most of the debate criticizing Clinton as a Washington insider, someone who won’t bring the change she promises and someone who has been spewing doubletalk throughout the campaign. Clinton spent the night attempt to deflect the criticism and, at least for awhile, was successful. But the turn began near the end of the debate, when she was asked about Social Security. Continue Reading

New growth rule doesn’t help Dos Sueños residents

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One of the central questions in Tuesday’s Las Cruces municipal election is whether the city’s growth is out of control. This article is the first in a two-part series that explores that question. Today’s article looks at growth in a new area, while Thursday’s article will consider infrastructure needs in older neighborhoods. By Vicki Nisbett People who moved into homes in an East Mesa subdivision as long as 18 months ago are still waiting for the completion of drainage systems and landscaping and are experiencing problems with weed control and trash accumulation. Residents of Dos Sueños, which is located north of U.S. Highway 70 on both sides of Jornada Road, have phoned numerous times and met with officials from the city and Logos Development, the Philip Philippou-owned corporation that built the subdivision, but many of their concerns haven’t been resolved. Continue Reading

Pearce Senate campaign tour to hit Mesilla on Sunday

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U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., will be in Mesilla on Sunday to formally tell voters in Doña Ana County that he’s running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici. Pearce will make the announcement at noon on the Mesilla plaza, according to an e-mail from the Doña Ana County Republican Party. Pearce plans to make his campaign official on Friday with an announcement in Hobbs, and stop in other cities around New Mexico during the weekend, but he hasn’t yet released other details about the trip. Pearce will face U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson in next year’s GOP primary. The Democrats who have announced they are running are Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez and three lesser-known candidates, Don Wiviott, Jim Hannan and Leland Lehrman. Continue Reading

Ethics reform, Part Dos

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By Carter Bundy A few weeks ago I wrote about limiting gifts to legislators but also giving them a decent salary for the massive job they do. This week, I’m going to take on lobbyist regulations and sunshine laws. Coming clean: lobbyist disclosure Let’s tackle the simplest reforms first: There’s no question that we need more transparency so that legislators, voters and other lobbyists can all know who is doing what for whom. The Governor’s Task Force on Ethics Reform had three great suggestions: First, with computers being nearly ubiquitous in New Mexico (or at least access to free computer time, like at libraries), there’s no reason to not have a state-of-the-art, web-based filing and reporting system. A second proposal is far lower-tech: lobbyist badges. Continue Reading

Teacher needs 16,000 signatures to run for Senate

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A Santa Fe High School teacher has decided to try to gather the signatures necessary to run as an independent for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici, the Santa Fe New Mexican is reporting. Zach Boatman, 41, joins some lesser-known Democrats and giants in the Democratic and Republican parties in vying for the seat, which is open for the first time in about three decades. Boatman told the newspaper he decided to run after a recent conversation in one of the English courses he teaches turned to politics, and the students complained about the process. “There’s nobody to vote for,” Boatman told the newspaper. “They’re all the same.” As an independent, he’ll need more than 16,000 signatures to get on the ballot. Continue Reading