{"id":10516,"date":"2009-12-21T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2009-12-21T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=10516"},"modified":"2009-12-21T22:06:01","modified_gmt":"2009-12-22T05:06:01","slug":"ortiz-y-pino-progressives-need-to-assert-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/12\/ortiz-y-pino-progressives-need-to-assert-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Ortiz y Pino: Progressives need to assert themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jerry

Jerry Ortiz y Pino (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Democrats have used progressive activists for a long time, lieutenant governor candidate says — but electing him would help change that<\/h4>\n

Jerry Ortiz y Pino<\/a> says progressives have been \u201cused\u201d by the Democratic Party in New Mexico for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do the work. We lick the stamps\u2026 and do the rest of the grunt work,\u201d he said, adding that, after Democrats win elections, they \u201cturn to the business at hand, which is imitating the Republican Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many times do we have to have the ball kicked out from under us before we realize this team isn\u2019t for us?\u201d asked Ortiz y Pino, a Democrat who\u2019s running for lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s banking his entire candidacy on motivating the party\u2019s progressive base to support him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great opportunity for the progressive wing of the party to assert itself,\u201d he said during a recent interview in Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

There are six Democrats in the race. The others are former state Democratic Party Chairman Brian Col\u00f3n<\/a>, State Rep.\u00a0Jose Campos<\/a> of Santa Rosa, state Sen.\u00a0Linda Lopez<\/a> of Albuquerque, former Mid-Region Council of Governments Executive Director\u00a0Lawrence Rael<\/a> and Santa Fe County Sheriff\u00a0Greg Solano<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Col\u00f3n and Rael established themselves as formidable candidates in October by posting impressive fundraising reports, and Campos put in $50,000 of his own money to keep himself a contender. Ortiz y Pino said he hopes Campos also attracts significant support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the three of them are busy cutting up the centrist wing of the party and split that vote, I have a chance to win,\u201d Ortiz y Pino said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s raised between $50,000 and $60,000 thus far, and is making a strong fundraising push before the legislative session begins in mid-January \u2013 when he\u2019ll be barred from raising funds for 30 days. Ortiz y Pino said he hopes raise about $200,000 for his race.<\/p>\n

That would put him at only about 40 percent of the $500,000 he expects Col\u00f3n and Rael to raise.<\/p>\n

Ortiz y Pino doesn\u2019t plan television ads, saying he\u2019s instead focusing on a ground game and motivating new voters who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 to come out again in 2010. Ortiz y Pino noted that those same voters didn\u2019t turn out in the October municipal election in Albuquerque, but said there wasn\u2019t an obvious progressive candidate in that race.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to give them a reason to come out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Focusing on six issues<\/h3>\n

With motivating progressives in mind, Ortiz y Pino is focusing on six issues:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ethics reform \u2013 Ortiz y Pino said he supports Think New Mexico\u2019s proposal<\/a> to ban campaign contributions from state contractors and lobbyists. He also supports the creation of a 5-7 member ethics commission, whose members would be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. And he favors the enactment of a whistleblower protection law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Democratic Party has somehow gotten itself into this pay-to-play culture,\u201d Ortiz y Pino said. \u201c\u2026 We\u2019ve got to change it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Education \u2013 Ortiz y Pino wants to return the focus to a \u201cvaried curriculum\u201d that includes more vocational education. Such education, he said, \u201chas largely disappeared from our curriculum, and that was a huge mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need No Child Left Behind testing to tell us education isn\u2019t working when 50 percent of our students are dropping out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also wants to expand pre-Kindergarten and afterschool programs.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Environment — Ortiz y Pino said the state must protect itself from the \u201cassault\u201d from the oil and gas, dairy and uranium industries on the state\u2019s ability to enforce environmental regulations.<\/p>\n

He said, regardless of what the oil and gas industry claims, that drilling is dropping in New Mexico not because of regulations, but because of \u201cthe glut of oil and gas drilling\u201d around the nation.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Economy – Instead of giving in to industries\u2019 demands for less regulation, Ortiz y Pino said the state should focus its economic development efforts on building the renewable energy industry by investing perhaps as much as 20 percent of the state\u2019s severance tax funds \u2013 roughly $3 billion \u2013 to build transmissions lines and storage facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can become a leader nationally in alternative energy,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to think forward with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ortiz y Pino also favors raising taxes on the wealthiest New Mexicans and enacting some \u201csin taxes.\u201d He said fixing the state\u2019s budget crisis next year will probably involve a mix of $300 million or more in tax increases and perhaps $300 million in budget cuts, though he\u2019s hoping for more federal stimulus money to reduce the amount that must be cut.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Universal health care \u2013 Ortiz y Pino wants the state to enact the N.M. Health Security Act<\/a> \u2013 a proposal 15 years in the making that\u2019s never had a hearing on the floor of the House or Senate.<\/p>\n

The act would replace private insurance as the primary insurance for New Mexicans with a cooperative system in which people could choose their own doctors and benefits packages. Ortiz y Pino said the state would save billions of dollars over 10 years if it implemented the act. Insurance companies could still sell supplemental insurance.<\/p>\n

The health-insurance industry opposes the act, but Ortiz y Pino said it\u2019s time to tell the industry, \u201cYou guys have dropped the ball. You had your chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ortiz y Pino said he hopes pending federal reform will leave states with the ability to enact such a system.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Gay marriage \u2013 Ortiz y Pino favors legalizing gay marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just discriminatory to say you can\u2019t get married,\u201d Ortiz y Pino said.<\/p>\n

Winning the progressive vote isn\u2019t a given<\/h3>\n

Winning the progressive vote isn\u2019t a given for Ortiz y Pino. Though he appears to be the favorite candidate of many die-hard progressives, Col\u00f3n also enjoys a great deal of support from progressive activists.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrian is one of the most likeable persons in the world,\u201d Ortiz y Pino said, but added that he\u2019s \u201cclearly Bill Richardson\u2019s<\/a> candidate in this race.\u201d Ortiz y Pino said that \u201cscares me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, though Richardson has been good on some issues like the death penalty and domestic partner benefits, he has also reduced taxes on the wealthy \u201cso that we\u2019re now upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think this has been a progressive administration,\u201d said Ortiz y Pino, who has also taken Richardson to task recently over his proposal to end double dipping but exempt current double dippers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Brian, what you get is the Bill Richardson machinery for eight more years (as lieutenant governor), and then eight more years as governor,\u201d Ortiz y Pino said.<\/p>\n

Ortiz y Pino, by contrast, said he\u2019ll be 76 when the 2018 election comes around, and won\u2019t be running for governor. He said he\u2019s not looking to the office of lieutenant governor as a stepping stone.<\/p>\n

Ortiz y Pino had kind words for Rael, who he once worked for at the City of Albuquerque, but said the job of lieutenant governor isn\u2019t the right fit for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cLawrence is very good at what he does,\u201d Ortiz y Pino said. \u201cMy concern is that he doesn\u2019t have much vision about what he would do as lieutenant governor. He\u2019ll get done what the governor wants done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the wrong job for his talent,\u201d Ortiz y Pino said. \u201cHe probably would make a good governor, because it\u2019s more of a management position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ortiz y Pino said Rael also might make a good chief of staff for the next governor.<\/p>\n

The only Democrat in the race for governor, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a>, is nearly certain to win in November, Ortiz y Pino said, so the Democratic lieutenant governor primary is the real battle over what type of administration the next will be. And while Denish is good on some progressive issues, Ortiz y Pino said she has more of a \u201clow-key, moderate style.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the safest thing for her is to have a running mate who\u2019s not a clone of herself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jerry Ortiz y Pino says progressives have been \u201cused\u201d by the Democratic Party in New Mexico for a long time. He says his candidacy for lieutenant governor is \u201ca great opportunity for the progressive wing of the party to assert itself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,107],"class_list":["post-10516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10516\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}