{"id":3937,"date":"2008-11-03T18:45:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-04T00:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/11\/dems-rip-jennings-for-denouncing-attacks-on-rawson\/"},"modified":"2008-11-03T18:45:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-04T00:45:00","slug":"dems-rip-jennings-for-denouncing-attacks-on-rawson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/11\/dems-rip-jennings-for-denouncing-attacks-on-rawson\/","title":{"rendered":"Dems rip Jennings for denouncing attacks on Rawson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This article has been updated.<\/p>\n

Democrat Tim Jennings<\/a>, the state Senate\u2019s leader, has drawn the ire of the governor and other members of his party for denouncing in a robocall negative attacks against the Senate\u2019s minority whip, Leonard Lee Rawson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

The robocall went out over the weekend and again today across Rawson\u2019s district.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWhile Sen. Rawson and I are from different parties and can disagree politically, I must take a stand against the incorrect character assassinations that are being launched against Sen. Rawson,\u201d Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> says in the recorded message, which you can hear by clicking here<\/a>. \u201cThe accusations against him are untrue and unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Rawson, R-Las Cruces, is locked in what insiders call a close election battle against Democratic challenger Steve Fischmann<\/a>, who Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> and other Democrats are working hard to elect. Rawson is one of Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s most vocal critics in the Legislature.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIt is unfortunate and inappropriate that Sen. Jennings has chosen to interfere in a key Senate race against a strong Democratic candidate like Steve Fischmann,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said in a statement released by his office. \u201cHis actions contradict what he told the Democratic State Senate Campaign Committee and me. At the very least he could have stayed silent. Instead, he has injected himself into a race against his own party at a critically important time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

This isn\u2019t the first time Richardson<\/st1:city> and Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> have tangled. Jennings and Rawson are among a bipartisan group of senators who have been highly critical of and stood up to the governor in recent years as the Senate has become the primary check on the governor\u2019s power in Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said in an interview that he didn\u2019t endorse Rawson in the robocall, and said he wishes Fischmann luck. He said his role as Senate president is to work with all members of the Senate, not just Democrats, and he believes Rawson is an honest man. He said the state Senate is unique because, unlike the state House and Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, \u201cwe realize we can disagree and not be disagreeable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cRawson\u2019s not a crook, and we all know it,\u201d Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201c\u2026 I have a real problem personally with the idea that you have to tear someone down and that you can say whatever you want and it\u2019s OK as long as you can beat them and win. I don\u2019t subscribe to negative campaigning.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Rawson and Fischmann could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

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

The leadership battle<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Insiders say the defeat of Rawson and a couple of other senators Tuesday could lead to the overthrow of the Senate\u2019s leadership and create a more governor-friendly climate in that chamber. Progressives toppled two Democratic senators in the June primary, leading progressives to set their sights on Rawson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

And Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has worked hard to knock off Rawson. He held a rally for Fischmann last month, and his gubernatorial campaign has contributed $8,500 to Fischmann\u2019s campaign. A number of Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019 Democratic colleagues — most considered more progressive members of the party — have also contributed to Fischmann\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

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

\n

Brian Col\u00f3n, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico and a close ally of the governor, referred to the Senate leadership situation in denouncing Jennings<\/st1:city>\u2019 robocall, saying Jennings<\/st1:city> \u201cis apparently more interested in holding on to his position of leadership in the Senate than he is in doing what is right for the people of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt is clear that he has made a deal with Rawson. Sen. Jennings\u2019 false robocalls on behalf of a notoriously right-wing Republican are shameful,\u201d Col\u00f3n said. \u201cHe does not speak for Democratic leadership anywhere in New Mexico<\/st1:state> who look forward to working with new leaders from southern New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> — leaders like Steve Fischmann.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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

House Speaker Ben Lujan<\/a> also put out a statement denouncing Jennings<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>\u2019 actions.<\/p>\n

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

The attacks<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\n

Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said the attack that pushed him to act came in a phone call from a conservation group, but he didn\u2019t remember the exact name. The group called his Roswell<\/st1:city> home because his son, a registered voter in Las Cruces<\/st1:city>, uses his parents\u2019 Roswell<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> phone number.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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

Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> characterized the call as a highly negative push poll<\/a> that accused Rawson of being a \u201ccrook.\u201d Fischmann and Democratic groups have hammered Rawson on several issues, including his use of $111,000 in taxpayer money to pave a road adjacent to a commercial development he owns<\/a> that is located outside his Senate district.<\/p>\n

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

Rawson sent out a mailer late last week responding that he \u201ctook the risk\u201d and built the development because the city was trying to attract manufacturing and promised the paving of the road in exchange. The city didn\u2019t uphold its end of the bargain, Rawson wrote in the mailer, so he used taxpayer money to pave the road in an attempt to save the 25 jobs the development created.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt is a complicated community issue, not straight forward, and easy to warp and distort,\u201d Rawson\u2019s mailer states. \u201cLee did what he thought was right and his conscience is clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Col\u00f3n said no one has engaged in a \u201ccharacter assassination\u201d of Rawson, who he claimed \u201chas put self-interest ahead of the public interest\u201d in the case of the road-paving issue and on other occasions.<\/p>\n

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

In defending his decision to decry the attacks on Rawson, Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> referred to former Senate President Manny Aragon, who is facing up to 67 months in prison after pleading guilty last month to several felony counts for his role in the Bernalillo County Metro Court scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI hope I\u2019m not wrong. I never believed I would be so disappointed in Sen. Aragon, and it happened, but you cannot put Sen. Rawson in the same boat as Manny Aragon,\u201d Jennings<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201c\u2026 He\u2019s a good man. I don\u2019t agree with him politically, but he\u2019s a good man, and his mother should not have to listen to that crap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

Fischmann sent this statement by e-mail:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cObviously I am disappointed that Tim Jennings chose to insert himself into the district 37 Senate race without calling my campaign or checking into the facts. Senate leadership issues aside, the real issue in this race is that, in 22 years in the legislature, Mr. Rawson has done little or nothing to improve health care or education, has been silent when public lands around our precious Organ<\/st1:placename> Mountains<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> are threatened, and has repeatedly voted against commonsense consumer protections against predatory payday and mortgage lenders. We can improve people\u2019s lives and be fiscally responsible at the same time. But it will never happen unless we replace ideologues like Mr. Rawson with commonsense problem solvers. I will listen to the concerns of all my constituents and focus on the issues that truly impact their lives.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article has been updated. Democrat Tim Jennings, the state Senate\u2019s leader, has drawn the ire of the governor and other members of his party for denouncing in a robocall negative attacks against the Senate\u2019s minority whip, Leonard Lee Rawson. The robocall went out over the weekend and again today across Rawson\u2019s district. \u201cWhile Sen. […]<\/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-3937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3937","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=3937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3937\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}