{"id":927,"date":"2006-11-28T17:27:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-28T23:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/11\/breaking-news-senate-finance-chair-retires\/"},"modified":"2006-11-28T17:27:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-28T23:27:00","slug":"breaking-news-senate-finance-chair-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/11\/breaking-news-senate-finance-chair-retires\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS: Senate finance chair retires"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Sen. Joseph Fidel<\/a>, D-Grants and chair of the finance committee, has retired.<\/p>\n

The move puts into play the most powerful committee chairmanship in the Senate at a time when there\u2019s also turmoil in the House over who will be the next speaker.<\/p>\n

Sen. John Arthur Smith<\/a>, D-Deming and vice chair of the finance committee, called Fidel \u201ca fine gentleman\u201d who \u201cbrought a lot of wisdom to the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish he\u2019d been able to fulfill his term,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Fidel was 84 and, though he had chaired the committee for the last two years, Smith did much of the chairmanship work. Fidel was the second-longest serving member of the Senate.<\/p>\n

Fidel had two years left on his current term, which will be filled by Gov. Bill Richardson. The governor\u2019s office said a statement would be made shortly.<\/p>\n

Sen. Leonard \u201cLee\u201d Rawson<\/a>, R-Las Cruces and a member of the finance committee, said Fidel has done a good job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think most people would praise Joe as a gentleman, and I would echo that,\u201d Rawson said.<\/p>\n

Smith is a possible replacement as finance chair. So is Sen. Tim Jennings<\/a>, D-Roswell, who has seniority over Smith. He and Smith both sought the chairmanship the last time it came open.<\/p>\n

Sources told me Fidel has been planning this for months but wanted to wait until after the election. They also said this could lead to a reorganization of leadership in the Senate.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t been able to reach Fidel for comment.<\/p>\n

Update, 7:30 p.m.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gov. Bill Richardson released this statement about Fidel:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Legislature will lose one of its most knowledgeable and respected members. Joe was a Senator for 34 years \u2013 the second longest sitting member of the Senate. He retires as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, one of the most powerful and called-upon legislative committees. For my part, I am losing a trusted colleague and a man I turned to for advice as both a politician and a friend. It\u2019s safe to say that while his seat will be refilled in the Senate; there will never be another Joe Fidel.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe was \u2013 is \u2013 a man of extraordinary personal integrity, a man of great kindness, clarity and fairness who has never been anything but a straight shooter and a gentleman. If Joe had a gripe with you he\u2019d let you know about it, but in a way that not only made you consider his words carefully, it would also increase his respect in your eyes. That is a rare quality in any person and Joe has it in spades. It\u2019s no wonder his family wants him back to spend more time with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly wish Joe every happiness going forward. He can be sure he\u2019ll still be getting calls from me for advice and guidance. And I won\u2019t be the only one calling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Joseph Fidel, D-Grants and chair of the finance committee, has retired. The move puts into play the most powerful committee chairmanship in the Senate at a time when there\u2019s also turmoil in the House over who will be the next speaker. Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming and vice chair of the finance committee, called […]<\/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-927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927","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=927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}