Martin Suazo Runs for Block's PRC Seat

Martin Suazo

Martin Suazo, a longtime Democratic Party activist and chairman of the State Land Trust Advisory Board, announced today that he'll seek the Democratic nomination for the Public Regulation Commission seat currently held by Jerome Block, Jr.

Suazo, who just dropped by my office a few minutes ago, said his priority would be to create "green-collar" jobs. He also said he wants to help bring broadband internet to more rural New Mexico areas.

Suazo, 51, owns a wood-stove business in Las Vegas, N.M., the town where he was born.

Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza is the only other announced candidate in the PRC race. Block, who is under criminal indictment in a long-delayed election violation case, has not said whether he'll seek re-election.

Espinoza Offers Solution for Lawmakers Who Want to Go to Hawaii

I just spoke with Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza who said she enjoyed my column on the upcoming legislator confab in Hawaii,

Espinoza, who is running for a seat on the Public Regulation Commission next year had a radical idea for lawmakers who really want to go to the Council of State Governments meeting this summer:

Pay your own way.

Espinoza herself was in the same position a few years ago when county officials attended a conference for the National Association of Counties held in Honolulu.

My colleague, Julie Ann Grimm wrote about that for The New Mexican's July 12, 2005 issue:

Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza said she considered canceling her trip to the conference when she heard that officials in Bernalillo County and in other states were coming under fire for planning to attend.


But Espinoza found a good compromise, she's paying her own airfare to the five-day event, and is sharing a hotel room with Shirley Hooper-Garcia, deputy county clerk and former secretary of state.


The clerk, who took office about seven months ago, said the conference is an investment in her education and professional development.


"I don't abuse the process or the system or taxpayer dollars. I look forward to discussing important issues that affect our community, " Espinoza said. "It's about advancement, inclusion and research, " she said.

Valerie to Challenge Jerome?

Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza told me Tuesday she intends to run for the Public Regulation Commission seat held by Jerome Block Jr.

Espinoza is serving her second term as county clerk. She leaves that office at the end of 2012 and constitutionally isn't allowed to seek a third term.

Block, who is serving his first term on the PRC, couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday. Assuming he runs for another term, he would face Espinoza in the Democratic primary in June 2012.

Both have problems. Some Democrats are still mad at her for supporting a Republican -- Dianna Duran, who defeated incumbent Secretary of State Mary Herrera last year.

As for Block, well, he still faces felony charges stemming from his 2008 election.

My story in today's New Mexican can be found HERE

Herrera vs. Espinoza

In case you missed my story Saturday about the ethics investigation Secretary of State Mary Herrera's office is conducting concerning Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza, it's HERE.

Basically Herrera's office is checking into a citizen complaint (the citizen happens to be a Herrera contributor, but that never means anything, according to politicians) that Espinoza didn't file any campaign finance report for her short-lived campaign to challenge Herrera.

Espinoza's official response is that she collected less than the $2,500 minimum that would require a report.

I didn't reach Espinoza on Friday (called her wrong cell phone number). But she called me over the weekend.

First she said she believes the investigation is vindictiveness on the part of Herrera. Espinoza has been harshly critical of the SOS. which is why she was considering a run for office.

She also says that while she did open a bank account, she only deposited one token dollar. She says she never received any campaign contributions from others.

By the way, I did a double take when I saw that among the documents submitted with the complaint was a print-out of a post from this blog.

Valerie Not Running for SOS

Just last week Valerie Espinoza told me she was actively campaigning for Secretary of State and tha “I want it so bad, I can taste it.”

But she also said she'd commissioned a poll that showed her trailing incumbent Mary Herrera in the Democratic primary.

Espinoza just issued this statement:

Valerie Espinoza, Santa Fe County Clerk, announced today that she will not seek election to the office of Secretary of State in 2010.

Ms. Espinoza said, “It will be my continued joy to work for the citizens of Santa Fe County as their County Clerk, and to advise and support other County Clerks in the State of New Mexico. I will continue with my practice of openness to the media and voters, because I believe, as do the citizens of New Mexico, that all public officials should be accountable and available to the public. To that end, I hope to collaborate with policy makers, legislators, and the Secretary of State to achieve both Ethics and Election Reform within New Mexico.”

In thanking her supporters, she said: “My profound thanks go to the myriad of individuals who, because of their faith and trust in me, have urged me to seek the Office of Secretary of State. I want to complete the tasks and goals that I have started at the Santa Fe County Clerks Office.

Roundhouse Roundup: Candidate School

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 17, 2009

Attention candidates and potential candidates of any party: The Secretary of State’s Office is hosting “candidacy seminars” at the Roundhouse next week in an effort to teach budding politicians the basics of filing for public office and convey some general understanding of election laws and regulations.

The free three-hour workshops — scheduled for 9 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. Wednesday — will cover such topics as opening a campaign account, campaign finance reporting laws, withdrawal dates, hardship exceptions for online reporting, financial disclosure requirements, in-kind contributions, etc.

Anyone covered under the Campaign Reporting Act is eligible to attend. That basically means candidates for state and county offices.

This is a good idea. The campaign laws constantly are changing. For instance, this year is the first nonelection year in which not one but two campaign finance reports are required. The next one is due Oct. 13. I wonder how many bozos are going to miss that deadline, pleading ignorance.

But there’s a few items not listed in the news release that really ought to be included in any candidacy seminars. Here’s a few of those:

* Stand on your record. If you’ve got a drunken-driving arrest or a domestic-violence charge in your past, either be willing to come forward about that right away, or drop out before those questions start being asked. Don’t count on bad record keeping by some local courts to protect you. These things have a way of surfacing.

* Don’t report expenditures not actually spent. Call this the “Jerome Block Jr. Rule.” No matter how his criminal case turns out, you can bet the public regulation commissioner wishes now that he hadn’t reported paying that band that never played at that campaign rally that never happened last year.

* Don’t make accusations or insinuations against your opponent that you can’t prove. You’ll only hurt yourself and make your opponent sympathetic. In last year’s 3rd Congressional District primary race, candidate Benny Shendo said front-runner Ben Ray Luján wasn’t being honest about his “lifestyle.” Luján’s now a congressman, and nobody’s talking about Shendo running for any office.

* Always return reporters’ phone calls. I know that seems self-serving. But it’s not, really. It’s actually much easier for us to just type “couldn’t be reached for comment” or “refused to return phone calls” after your name. But people do start to notice after awhile, and they’ll only think you’re hiding something.

To attend the candidacy seminar, call Tessa Jo Mascarenas or Tracy Littrell at the Secretary of State’s Office, 827-3600. Reservations must be made by Tuesday.

“Actively running” for now: One potential candidate who said she doesn’t know whether she’ll attend the candidacy seminar is Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza, who every day is seeming more and more like a challenger to incumbent and fellow Democrat Secretary of State Mary Herrera.

“I’m actively running,” Espinoza said in an interview Wednesday, although she said she’s yet to make a final decision about taking the plunge. She’s opened a campaign account and is seeking contributions. And she’s agreed to appear at a Santa Fe County Democratic Party forum for secretary of state candidates next month.

Espinoza also has commissioned a poll, which, she said shows Herrera with an early lead — although Espinoza said her Washington, D.C., pollster says she has potential for “a strong finish.”

Not surprising, Espinoza said, Herrera, a former Bernalillo County clerk, leads in Albuquerque, while Espinoza leads in the North.

Herrera’s actively running herself. She’s got one of her old 2006 primary rivals, Letitia Montoya, managing her campaign in the north. And there was a fundraiser for Herrera planned in Santa Fe on Wednesday night.

Before she makes her final decision and officially declares, Espinoza said she has to take a hard look at those numbers and start raising real money.

“I want it so bad, I can taste it,” said Espinoza, who worked under former Secretaries of State Shirley Hooper and Clara Jones. “But I have to evaluate the cost.”