{"id":1596,"date":"2007-04-17T15:38:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-17T21:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/04\/abq-mayor-makes-gubernatorial-campaign-stop-in-lc\/"},"modified":"2007-04-17T15:38:00","modified_gmt":"2007-04-17T21:38:00","slug":"abq-mayor-makes-gubernatorial-campaign-stop-in-lc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/04\/abq-mayor-makes-gubernatorial-campaign-stop-in-lc\/","title":{"rendered":"ABQ mayor makes gubernatorial campaign stop in LC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Albuquerque Mayor Martin Ch\u00e1vez<\/a> wants people to know Lt. Gov. Diane Denish\u2019s<\/a> bid to be the next governor isn\u2019t a done deal. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The mayor was in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> today to campaign for the 2010 gubernatorial race. He\u2019s not saying he\u2019s officially running, but Denish declared her intent to run shortly after the November 2006 election, which forced Ch\u00e1vez to form a committee and begin raising funds to keep up.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

With Denish as his running mate, Ch\u00e1vez ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1998.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have so much to offer now, and I\u2019m a very different candidate than I was a decade ago,\u201d the 55-year-old Ch\u00e1vez said in an interview that went back and forth between serious conversation and jokes. \u201cI have less hair and thicker skin.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>He was accompanied by state Rep. Joni Gutierrez<\/a>, D-Las Cruces, who has already announced her support for Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s potential gubernatorial bid and is his point person in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the eye candy,\u201d she told me.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Ch\u00e1vez was on the second of four visits to Las Cruces<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> he\u2019ll make this month. He attended a private reception at Gutierrez\u2019s home Monday evening and spoke to the rotary club today.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He was in town on April 5 to speak at a meeting of the county<\/st1:placetype> Democratic Party<\/a>. He\u2019ll be back on Saturday to speak to the League of United Latin American Citizens<\/a> and again on April 28 to attend the annual convention of the state Democratic Party<\/a>.<\/st1:place><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Ch\u00e1vez said he isn\u2019t any closer to deciding whether he\u2019ll actually run for governor in 2010. With the 2008 general election still 19 months away, there is a lot of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But, Ch\u00e1vez said, there are only three jobs he\u2019s interested in: Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> mayor, governor or U.S. Senator. He told me he won\u2019t run against U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a>, R-N.M., in 2008. He recently had a poll done and, despite the scandal surrounding the senator\u2019s involvement in the firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, his support is still greater than 50 percent among Democrats.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not going to be defeated,\u201d Ch\u00e1vez said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He said won\u2019t run against U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a>, R-N.M., because the House has become a \u201cvile place\u201d and he\u2019s not interested in \u201cgetting beaten up every two years.\u201d But he suggested that Denish would be a strong candidate for the position in 2008.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Focusing on being a good mayor<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Ch\u00e1vez said that, at this point, he\u2019s focused on doing a good job as mayor and remaining a viable candidate for future offices. He also plans to travel around the state to meet with people about his potential candidacy. During our interview, he met briefly with the chair of the Sierra County Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI intend to visit every county,\u201d Ch\u00e1vez told me. \u201cI\u2019ve already done it before.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Since his last run for governor, Ch\u00e1vez said, he has become a stronger candidate by turning Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> into a vibrant city.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on the right end of all the lists right now, and that\u2019s not by accident,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Ch\u00e1vez had a lot of praise for Gutierrez and suggested she might make the move to Santa Fe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> to hold a statewide office. Gutierrez said she\u2019s not interested, though she\u2019s been approached about land commissioner.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019d make a great lieutenant governor,\u201d Ch\u00e1vez said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Gutierrez shook her head.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d look too much like Diane and Bill Richardson<\/a>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Even though it\u2019s early in the race, Gutierrez said she has no problem announcing her support for Ch\u00e1vez.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not wishy-washy,\u201d she said. \u201cI think he\u2019s the best candidate. I have watched him with Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and I\u2019m just so amazed at what a great city can be. This mayor is doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Ch\u00e1vez wants people to know Lt. Gov. Diane Denish\u2019s bid to be the next governor isn\u2019t a done deal. The mayor was in Las Cruces today to campaign for the 2010 gubernatorial race. He\u2019s not saying he\u2019s officially running, but Denish declared her intent to run shortly after the November 2006 election, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596","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=1596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}