{"id":1642,"date":"2007-04-26T15:23:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-26T21:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/04\/three-in-running-to-replace-wertheim-as-dem-chair\/"},"modified":"2007-04-26T15:23:00","modified_gmt":"2007-04-26T21:23:00","slug":"three-in-running-to-replace-wertheim-as-dem-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/04\/three-in-running-to-replace-wertheim-as-dem-chair\/","title":{"rendered":"Three in running to replace Wertheim as Dem chair"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>John Wertheim, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico<\/a>, is about to give up that position. <\/p>\n

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

He\u2019ll be replaced when the party picks a new chair Saturday at its annual convention in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. at Las Cruces High School<\/a>. Registration begins at 8 a.m.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI 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<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s working families and hold the Republicans accountable for their reckless policies,\u201d Wertheim said in a news release.<\/p>\n

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

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<\/a> of Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, who runs the liberal blog New Mexico Matters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

As Steve Terrell<\/a> reported today, there\u2019s been a lot of controversy about Olguin\u2019s role as a lobbyist and a dispute over what Colon<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> does.<\/p>\n

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

Olguin represents a large payday-loan company as a lobbyist. Olguin, Terrell reports, claims Colon<\/st1:city> might also be a lobbyist, though Colon<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> says it isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

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

Therein lies the nastiness.<\/p>\n

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

Olguin also used to represent the company that runs many of the state\u2019s prisons. Colon<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> attacked a couple of weeks ago in the Santa Fe Reporter<\/a>, saying Olguin\u2019s clients \u201care fundamentally in opposition to the tenets of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and its platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Olguin responded by sending a letter to delegates alleging that Colon has been \u201cinvolved in lobbying activities\u201d even though he\u2019s not a registered lobbyist. He claims the law firm Colon<\/st1:city> works for represented Silver<\/st1:placename> City<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> on water issues during this year\u2019s legislative session.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI bring this to your attention not because I object to Mr. Colon pursuing a career as a lobbyist but he has raised the issue of my lobbying activities, which I have fully disclosed,\u201d Olguin wrote. \u201cThis raises a serious ethical question and if indeed his law firm represented Silver<\/st1:placename> City<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> before the Legislature and did not file with the Secretary of State.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Colon<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> told Terrell that his firm was hired by the town to assist in a federal legal case, but said he didn\u2019t lobby the Legislature.<\/p>\n

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

Elliot told Terrell he thought it was \u201ca sad day in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> when we have candidates bickering over who has the most conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Colon<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has the backing of three union groups that don\u2019t normally take stands in inner-party battles. Saturday should be interesting.<\/p>\n

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

Expect a lot of politicking<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Expect a number of high-profile Democrats to spend the weekend politicking in Las Cruces, including Bill McCamley<\/a> and Al Kissling<\/a>, who are vying to take on U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a> next year, Martin Heinrich<\/a>, who plans to take on U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a> next year, and potential 2010 gubernatorial candidates Diane Denish<\/a> and Martin Chavez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Expect a number of politicos who are candidates for something, but haven\u2019t decided what yet, to be working the group just as hard, including State Rep. Joseph Cervantes<\/a> and Geno Zamora<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Zamora<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> is one to watch because he has been mentioned lately as a possible candidate to take on U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n

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

But Zamora<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, who lost the primary for attorney general last year, said he isn\u2019t currently a candidate for any office.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI\u2019ve been asked to consider both federal and statewide offices the next time around,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really too early to include or exclude any of those offices.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Zamora<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said he\u2019s enjoying time with his family.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cAt the right time in the right office, you\u2019ll see me again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

Click here<\/a> for more information on the activities in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

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

Since it\u2019s in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, I\u2019ll be covering Saturday\u2019s Democratic convention. Check back here over the weekend for the news from the Las Cruces<\/st1:city> convention and the GOP convention in Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Wertheim, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, is about to give up that position. He\u2019ll 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. \u201cI trust that whoever […]<\/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-1642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642","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=1642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}