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Colón to lead Dems, Weh keeps top GOP position

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Brian Colón was elected chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and Allen Weh was re-elected chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico in separate committee meetings held today. At a meeting held in Las Cruces, Democrats overwhelming picked the Albuquerque lawyer to lead them for the next two years. Colón received 295 votes, while Michael Olguin of Socorro, a former House majority leader, received 68 votes, and Gideon Elliot of Santa Fe, who runs the liberal blog New Mexico Matters, received 21 votes. Colón said he was honored that Democrats wanted him to be their leader. During his nomination speech, he spoke about growing up poor and said some types of government aid, including the free lunch system in the schools, helped him overcome poverty and become successful so that, today, his son has more than he did. Continue Reading

UP Aerospace rocket successfully reaches space

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Today marked a huge milestone for Spaceport America as an UP Aerospace rocket successfully reached space carrying the ashes of about 200 people. The success comes after a series of delays and a September launch that failed to reach space. Since then, company officials have been working to correct a flaw in the rocket’s design by adding another tail fin. “This launch has christened Spaceport America,” said Economic Development Rick Homans, who will begin his new position as executive director of Spaceport Authority on Tuesday. “Today is all about entrepreneurs blazing a commercial path into space. Continue Reading

Proposal shifts GOP power to east and rural areas

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A challenge to Allen Weh’s leadership of the Republican Party of New Mexico isn’t the only thing happening at Saturday’s GOP convention. Delegates plan to vote on two proposals that would shift more power in the Republican Party to rural counties and the eastern side of the state. The changes would increase the number of delegates and central committee members to the state party, but award Republican strongholds with an increased share of overall membership. The proposals, made by State Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, would increase the number of delegates from moderate counties such as Bernalillo and Doña Ana only slightly, but Republican strongholds would gain a significant number of members. Democratic strongholds such as Santa Fe County wouldn’t gain any delegates. Continue Reading

X Prize Cup to expand, move to Holloman AFB

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Officials announced Thursday an expanded X Prize Cup this year that is expected to draw more than 100,000 people. To allow for the larger crowds and bigger events, the bulk of the annual showcase of the developing commercial space industry will be held at Holloman Air Force Base outside Alamogordo. The first two years, the event was held at Las Cruces International Airport. This year, the International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight, put on by New Mexico State University, will be held Oct. 24 and 25 at the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. Continue Reading

Richardson’s performance didn’t impress pundits

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The consensus today generally seems to be that Gov. Bill Richardson’s performance at Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate was mediocre. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough wrote after the debate that Richardson is “underperforming” and also “fighting his tongue as well as his Nixonian flop sweat.” Blogger Joe Monahan called Richardson’s “a pedestrian, but not a damaging performance.” The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Steve Terrell wrote that Richardson “looked uncomfortable, both when he was answering questions and when the camera caught him in random moments. He was sweating. He never smiled.” Even a Richardson supporter, on the site America for Richardson, wrote that the governor “showed his substance on the issues, but we didn’t see as much of his energetic and confident persona as one might have wished.” “The good news is that none of the other candidates really dazzled either,” the Richardson supporter wrote. “The most important thing, in my view, is that many more people got exposed to Bill Richardson, and heard his views,” the supporter concluded. Continue Reading

Liveblogging the first 2008 presidential debate

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I’m going to be watching tonight’s debate between the eight Democratic presidential candidates and blogging live. I’m not going to report the entire event word-for-word, but I’ll periodically update this site throughout the 90-minute event with observations and quotes. The newest updates will be at the end of this posting. Then, later, I’ll have an analysis of Gov. Bill Richardson’s performance. You can watch the debate live on MSNBC or the network’s Web site. Continue Reading

Three in running to replace Wertheim as Dem chair

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John Wertheim, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, is about to give up that position. He’ll be replaced when the party picks a new chair Saturday at its annual convention in Las Cruces. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. at Las Cruces High School. Registration begins at 8 a.m. “I trust that whoever is elected as chairperson will continue to build our party from the ground up, highlight Democratic values, fight for the priorities of America’s working families and hold the Republicans accountable for their reckless policies,” Wertheim said in a news release. In the running to replace him are Michael Olguin of Socorro, a former House majority leader, Brian Colon of Albuquerque, a lawyer, and Gideon Elliot of Santa Fe, who runs the liberal blog New Mexico Matters. Continue Reading

Guv names interim economic development secretary

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Gov. Bill Richardson today named Kelly O’Donnell acting secretary of economic development. She’ll replace Rick Homans on an interim basis when he officially becomes director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority next week. She’ll serve until Richardson names a permanent replacement. O’Donnell is currently the deputy secretary of the Economic Development Department. Continue Reading

Check out article on developer’s gifts to Lyons

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I wrote a week ago about a couple of large gifts the developer of The Vistas at Presidio gave last year to a political action committee that, in turn, gave a lot of money to the re-election campaign of state Land Commissioner Pat Lyons. The development is the 6,000-acre project proposed by Las Cruces builder Philip Philippou. He’s leasing 3,200 acres of the land from the state under an agreement you can read here, and gave $20,500 last year to Blue & Red PAC, a committee set up by Democratic lobbyist Domonic Silva and Republican Lobbyist David Kimble. The committee, in turn, gave almost $18,000 to Lyons. The Albuquerque Journal reported on the donations today, and picked up on a couple of details I missed. Continue Reading

Richardson must shine during tonight’s debate

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It’s common for candidates to downplay their own abilities and raise expectations for opponents in advance of political debates. That allows them to declare victory when they show well. For tonight’s 2008 presidential Democratic primary debate at South Carolina State University, a number of candidates are doing just that. “I’ve just got to make sure I don’t trip walking on the stage,” Delaware Sen. Joe Biden told the Associated Press. “It takes me 60 seconds to clear my throat,” Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said, referring to the amount of time each candidate has to respond to questions. Continue Reading

Pro-spaceport tax group raised more than $141K

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People for Aerospace, the group formed earlier this year to promote approval of a 1/4 percent gross receipts tax in Doña Ana County to help fund Spaceport America, raised more than $141,000 and spent about $140,000 on its successful campaign. The group provided its final financial figures to me Wednesday afternoon. They will be formally filed with the secretary of state’s office in mid-May, as required by law. The group had contributions of $10,000 each from Citizen’s Bank, El Paso Electric, First Community Bank, Memorial Medical Center, MountainView Regional Medical Center and Verde Realty, the company that plans to create a new city in Santa Teresa, west of Sunland Park. There were 10 contributions of $5,000 each and a number of smaller contributions from, primarily, businesses and business owners. Continue Reading

Greer to challenge Weh for GOP state party chair

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C. Earl Greer of T or C said today he will challenge Allen Weh of Albuquerque to become chair of the Republican Party of New Mexico. Delegates will pick a new chair when they meet at 10 a.m. Saturday in Albuquerque. Rumors have circulated for weeks that Greer and Bernalillo County Republican Party Chairman Fernando C de Baca might challenge Weh. I was unable to reach C de Baca for comment. Continue Reading

Probe looks at Rove’s involvement in Iglesias firing

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Karl Rove, political adviser to President Bush, is coming under increasing scrutiny for actions that include his role in the firing of David Iglesias, New Mexico’s former U.S. attorney. The Office of Special Counsel, a federal investigative unit, has begun a far-ranging probe into the firing of Iglesias, White House e-mails and efforts to keep Bush appointees on message, according to the Los Angeles Times. None of that is, necessarily, improper. It’s how it was done that matters. Iglesias has alleged that he was fired for refusing pressure from two members of Congress to speed indictments in a public corruption probe to sway voters in the November 2006 election. Continue Reading

If anyone can make the spaceport work, it’s Homans

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I’m writing a political column for the Albuquerque Tribune that will run every other Wednesday beginning today. I’ll also publish the columns on this site on the days they run in the Tribune. Here’s the first: New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans stood on a street corner in Las Cruces on April 3 and held a sign encouraging passing motorists to vote for a tax increase to help fund Spaceport America. That was the same day I first heard he might run for Congress next year, and I wondered what would happen to the spaceport if Homans left his job. He is the glue that has held together a fragile project with no certainty of success. Continue Reading