ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Psychological Warfare Endorsements, Wiccan Politics and More

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
October 23, 2011

A wise editor recently pointed out that political endorsements don’t really mean anything. Few if any voters, he said, actually vote for any politician because some other politician endorsed him.

That’s true. But like any political junkie, I find it fascinating to check out the ducks that candidates try to get in a row.

For months, the candidates for U.S. Senate in both parties have been flooding reporters’ email inboxes with endorsement announcements. This especially is true for Republican Heather Wilson, who started out her latest campaign with a long list of endorsements from various past and present Republican leaders.

A recent Wilson email caught my eye. The former congresswoman has picked up the support of two Republican state senators, Rod Adair of Roswell and Caroll Leavell of Jal. This means 14 of the 15 Republican state senators are supporting her. (Sen. Bill Sharer of Farmington is the lone holdout. At least so far.)

Conventional wisdom is that Wilson is employing the bandwagon effect, making it look like everyone is on board, so you should be, too. But I wonder, in the case of the state senators, whether there’s a little psychological warfare going on here.

When her main opponent, Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, is presiding over the state Senate, he has to look out at a crowd of Democrats and Republicans supporting his opponent.

Casting his spell: Like failed Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, Gary Johnson is not a witch. But he did take the time last week to talk to a group of Pagan journalists at an online Google+ “Hangout” for nearly an hour and a half in his long-shot presidential bid.

Johnson talks with Wiccans

That’s right, while some of his GOP rivals at Tuesday night’s CNN debate talked about tolerating Mormons, Johnson was talking politics with the Wiccans — and one Hindu who joined in the questioning.

This group seemed to be concerned about the same kinds of things non-Pagan Americans are worried about.

Among the topics they had in mind for the former New Mexico governor were witchy, spooky, exotic topics such as taxes, campaign-finance reporting, Social Security, education funding, gay rights and corporate influence in government.

OK, there were some questions that might seem as though they came out of left field — the federal prohibition against selling raw milk across state lines and teaching yoga in public schools. (Johnson used that question as an opportunity to plug his support for “school choice” or government vouchers for private schools.)

Libertarian Johnson also talked about the separation of church and state and his own religious views, which he summed up as “Doing unto others as you would have others do unto you.” Johnson added, “I’m just going to go out on a limb here and guess you espouse that same feeling.”

The video interview is available HERE .

Keeping Occupied: Johnson also dropped in last week on another constituency that’s not traditionally Republican — the Occupy Wall Street demonstration.

Johnson said he doesn’t agree with all the points of all the protesters. “I, for one, believe everyone deserves to be heard, whether I agree with them or not. In that sense, it is a mistake to dismiss these protests, and I wanted to at least take the time to see what they are about,” he said in a news release Wednesday.

“I found one thing to be clear ... these protests are one more symptom of the anger Americans, including me, feel about an outrageous jobless rate, a government that bails out people who don’t deserve to be bailed out, and policies that have us spending billions on wars we shouldn’t be fighting, especially when we have real needs right here at home.”

(See my story on Saturday's Occupy Santa Fe rally HERE.)

The U.S.Senate Money Race

Democrat Martin Heinrich and Republican Heather Wilson are looking more like frontrunners in the U.S. Senate primaries with the release of their latest fundraising figures.

According emails and news released from the campaigns, Heinrich, currently a Congressman representing Albuquerque, raised more than $650,000 in the third quarter of the year. That’s better than twice that raised by his primary opponent, State Auditor Hector Balderas, who reported raising $250,000. Heinrich’s campaign says he has more than $1.1 million cash on hand. Balderas has $465,000, a campaign spokeswomen said.

In the GOP primary, Wilson, who held the Albuquerque Congressional seat before Heinrich, raised $530,000 between July and the end of September. She has nearly $1 million cash on hand, her campaign reported.

Wilson’s main opponent John Sanchez’s campaign just reported that Sanchez took in $164,000 in the last quarter, leaving him nearly $250,000 cash in hand.

I also haven’t heard yet from long-shot Republican candidate Greg Sowards, but Hotline this week reported that Sowards had raised more $231,000 in the third quarter, of which $185,000 was a loan from himself. Sowards, Hotline said, will report more than $496,000 in the bank.

The eventual winner of the Senate race will replace longtime Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat, who is retiring.

UPDATE: 405 p.m. The John Sanchez campaign emailed his figures right when I was writing this blog post. The post has been updated to reflect those figures.

More Senate Endorsements

There's little argument that Heather Wilson is winning the endorsement battle in the Republican U.S. Senate primary.

But two of her opponents have just received some high profile endorsements this week.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky

Let's start with Lt. Gov. John Sanchez. Today his campaign announced that he's been endorsed by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. The son of libertarian GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, Rand is a Tea Party candidate who upset the establishment favorite in last year's Republican primary.

“I’ve watched the race unfold in New Mexico and it has become clear to me that there is only one rock-solid, Constitutional conservative in the race committed to standing up every day to fight higher taxes, increased spending and unrestrained government growth and that candidate is Lt. Governor John Sanchez,” said Senator Paul. “If the voters of New Mexico want more of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi they have plenty of choices, but if they want a true conservative to look out for the taxpayer, I hope they’ll join me in supporting John Sanchez.”

Sharron Angle

Speaking of Harry Reid, Sharron Angle, the Tea Party Republican who surprised the Nevada establishment last year by winning the GOP Senate primary -- but then lost to Reid in the general election -- has endorsed darkhorse candidate Greg Sowards.

The Hill quote an Angle e-mail saying, "Greg Sowards is our only opportunity to advance conservatism."

Still waiting to see who Christine O'Donnell endorses.

Roundhouse Roundup: Keeping Families Together

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 8, 2011


I doubt Gov. Susana Martinez would use this in a campaign ad, but she could rightfully claim that her administration has helped bring families together.

This column reported a couple of months ago that the Governor’s Office had hired Alexis Valdez Darnell for the position of operations director. She’s the wife of Scott Darnell, Martinez’s communications director.

Keith Gardner

Now, the state Public Education Department has hired Stephanie Gardner as its National Assessment of Educational Progress coordinator.

She’s a teacher from Roswell. She’s also the wife of Keith Gardner, Martinez’s chief of staff.

Larry Behrens, spokesman for the department, confirmed the hire, which was first reported Wednesday on the website of Independent Source PAC, a liberal political-action committee dedicated to opposition research.

“She was hired after a competitive process where the position was posted publicly,” Behrens said in an email. “There were about 20 applicants for the job, of which PED staff interviewed five. Each interviewee received a score from at least two PED staff members, which resulted in a final score. After that process, Stephanie was clearly the most qualified applicant for the job with her extensive teaching experience in Roswell.”

Behrens said neither Keith Gardner nor Secretary of Education Designate Hanna Skandera was a part of the scoring, interview or selection process.

“On top of that, she does not report to either of them directly as part of her current role,” Behrens said.

Stephanie Gardner is a classified employee with a $67,000 a year salary, which, Behrens said, is less than her predecessor earned.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as The Nation’s Report Card, collects information and statistics related to academic achievement of students.

As pointed out here previously, the Martinez administration isn’t the first to hire relatives of those who work for the governor.

Bill Richardson employed both Eric Witt as his legislative liaison and point man on film industry issues and Lee Witt, Eric’s mother, as an aide to first lady Barbara Richardson. Meanwhile, Gary Johnson’s chief of staff, the late Lou Gallegos, worked in the Governor’s Office at the same time his wife, Rita Nuñez, did.

Hello, Heather: In his role as the president of the Senate, Lt. Gov. John Sanchez has the unofficial duty of giving a warm greeting to guests of legislators who visit during floor sessions. On Tuesday, the opening day of the current special session, Sanchez did that job well — even with former Congresswoman Heather Wilson, a guest of Sen. Clint Harden, R-Clovis.

Sanchez’s tone was friendly and sincere as he welcomed Wilson. And he didn’t mention once the fact that he and Wilson are running against each other in next year’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate. And he didn’t even allude to the fact that he and Wilson have said some pretty harsh things about each other in recent months.

Wilson was in friendly territory, at least on the Republican side of the Senate. At least 12 of the 15 sitting GOP senators have endorsed her Senate bid.

Out of the doghouse?: Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, got some chuckles Tuesday when he noted on the floor that Sanchez was sometimes “in the doghouse” with Gov. Martinez.

When Sanchez announced he was running for Senate this year, Martinez released a statement saying, “To prevent this race from becoming a distraction, Lt. Governor Sanchez will not be given responsibilities in my administration beyond the select few provided for in the state Constitution.”

But no one who heard Sanchez speak Monday at a tea party rally outside the Capitol would have suspected that he’d ever even seen the inside of the doghouse.

Sanchez in his speech enthusiastically endorsed every one of Martinez’s issues she wants considered in the special session. “I do support Gov. Martinez’s efforts to reform New Mexico,” he said. “For the governor to have a robust agenda is good for New Mexico.”

Heather Gets it From All Sides

Former Congresswoman Heather Wilson is getting it from all sides concerning her refusal to take a clear position on the Paul Ryan budget proposal.

That's a situation she's used to being in. But if that recent PPP poll is anywhere near correct -- that she's got a wide lead among Republicans to win the GOP primary -- it might not be concerning her all that much.

Her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, just issued a statement saying she "hasn’t changed much from the liberal member of Congress she used to be."

That's referring to a statement Wilson recently made in Politco: "I don’t agree with some of the things in his budget plan. There are a lot of things in there that cause some concern.”

That's similar to what she told me in May. "I don't agree with everything in the Ryan plan, but I give him a lot of credit for trying to have a serious debate about saving Medicare. Democrats have not offered one single idea to save Medicare."

Sanchez in his statement today, said, "A genuine conservative should have no trouble supporting Rep. Ryan’s budget proposal. It is not perfect by any means, but it is a bold step toward truly reforming how our federal government does business. It protects our seniors, pays down our national debt, puts us on a responsible path to prosperity and repeals ObamaCare. I would vote for Rep. Ryan’s plan. ... For Mrs. Wilson to punt on such an important issue is disappointing, and unfortunately consistent with her record.”

Sanchez's statement is far more definite than the answer he gave me in May. Then he said Ryan's plan was a "good start," but declined to say whether he'd vote for it.

Meanwhile, the national Democrats are beating the same drum. A news release yesterday from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee points out that Wilson signed powerful small-government advocate Grover Norquist's no-new-taxes pledge earlier this year. The DSCC referred to a recent story in The Wall Street Journal that says Norquist has a "new set of marching orders" for the GOP -- enact the Ryan budget.

“Heather Wilson has a long history of kowtowing to Norquist’s demands, but she refuses to say whether she will follow his latest marching orders." a DSCC spokesman said. "... Will Wilson follow Norquist per usual? "

Wilson, Heinrich Leading in PPP Senate Poll

If the New Mexico primary was held this week, Republican Heather Wilson would beat Lt. Gov. John Sanchez by better than a 2 to 1 margin. And Democrat Martin Heinrich would beat state Auditor Hector Balderas by nearly 2-to-1.

This is according to a statewide survey conducted this week by a national polling company, PPP. It's the first public poll done on the Senate race since U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman announced he's not seeking re-election.

According to PPP's poll memo, Heinrich, a second-term ccngressman from Albuquerque, is helped by greater name recognition. He leads Balderas in the Democratic Primary, 47 percent to 24 percent.

The poll found 73 percent recognized Heinrich's name enough to have an opinion of him. Fifty three percent had a positive opinion while 20 percent had a negative opinion. More than half the Democratic respondents had no opinion of Balderas.

"Although Heinrich is weaker among Hispanics, who make up 46 percent of the Democratic primary electorate, he still leads Balderas 39 percent to 36 percent among Hispanics," the poll memo says. "However, since a majority of Democratic voters are still unwilling to give an opinion of Balderas, Balderas has more room to grow."

On the  GOP side, Wilson was supported by 52 percent of Republicans polled compared with 24 percent for Sanchez. Las Cruces businessman Greg) Sowards came in a distant third with eight percent, while Bill English of Alamogordo got 4 percent .

"Wilson leads by strong margins across the Republican ideological spectrum," the poll memo said. "She leads Sanchez 48-19 among moderates and 48-31 among very conservatives."

Even though many identify Wilson as a "moderate" Republican, since her defeat to Steve Pearce in the 2008 GOP senate primary -- in which Pearce and his supporters called her a "liberal" -- Wilson has been stressing her conservative credentials.

PPP's blog says, "There's been a lot of talk about whether Wilson is weak with the far right and she is weaker with that segment of the party. ... Maybe she'll have trouble with the Tea Party crowd later in the game but she doesn't start off showing any signs of weakness with them."

PPP is a company owned by Democrats and specializes in polling for Democrats and liberal organizations. However, according to experts, the North Carolina-based company's numbers normally are in line with other national polling firms.

Wilson's campaign didn't seem to mind that PPP is a Democratic company. She posted the poll results on her Facebook and Twitter accounts.

PPP poll results released earlier this week show Heinrich and Balderas with modest leads in match-ups against Wilson and Sanchez.

Heinrich led Wilson 47 percent to 42 percent and Sanchez by 45 percent to 39 percent. Balderas led Wilson 45 percent to 39 percent and Sanchez 39 percent to 35 percent.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee on Tuesday responded those numbers Tuesday in an email saying, "If this is what a Democrat polling firm’s numbers show, than it’s clear that the New Mexico Senate race will be among the most competitive in the country next year."

PPP also polled New Mexico Republican voters on the GOP presidential candidates.

Those results found Minnesota Congresswoman and Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann with a plurality of 21 percent with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney close behind with 18 percent. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson came in third with 13 percent.

"Johnson has the weakest favorability numbers with his home state Republican primary voters at 47 (percent favorable)/40 (percent unfavorable.)" the PPP blog said. "Some of his unorthodox positions aren't playing well with the base, even if they do give him an unusual level of popularity across party lines with Democrats and independents."

The "unorthodox positions" referred to undoubtedly were Johnson's outspoken support for marijuana legalization, and possibly to the fact he supports abortions rights and civil-union rights for same-sex couples.

PPP surveyed 400 usual New Mexico Republican primary voters and 400 usual Democratic primary voters, with a 4.9 percent margin of error, between June 23 and 26. The poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization.

UPDATE 9:05 pm : Some gibberish in the lead paragraph in the original version has been cleaned up.

PPP Release NM 630930

Friday Political Misc.

According to State Auditor Hector Balderas, the mysterious lengthy and secret court battle between his office and that of Attorney General Gary King is over. But the records still are sealed.

In a news release, Balderas called for the seal to be broken and the records released to the public.

"Now that this matter is resolved, I hope that the case will be made public in the interest of transparency. I also look forward to strengthening my relationship with the Attorney General in order to ensure greater government accountability in New Mexico.”

King, reportedly, was asked about unsealing those records at a news conference in Albuquerque. His reply was non-committal, I'm told.

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Former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish basically has been quiet about Gov. Susana Martinez, who defeated her in last year's awful bitter gubernatorial contest.

Until now.

In an op-ed published on Heath Haussamen's site, the former Lt. Gov roars.

Early into her term, Governor Martinez has continued her tough talk and law enforcement focus and released a variety of executive orders to grab power as governors are prone to do. And we can all rest easy now that we have the notary publics under a watchful eye, dogs on restaurant patios legally, and a lieutenant governor with no responsibility.

 She didn't mention me,  but Denish made it clear that she disagrees with the idea I floated in my column a few weeks ago that the office of lieutenant governor be abolished to save money.

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Republican U.S. Senate candidate got some national attention she probably didn't want in an ABC interview with U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a Tea Party bigwig.

DeMint said he plans to get involved, once again, in Republican primaries for the 2012 elections. One race he has his eye on is the open Senate seat in New Mexico, which is being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman. Republican leaders have recruited former Rep. Heather Wilson to run, but she faces a challenge against the more conservative John Sanchez, New Mexico's lieutenant governor.


"She's a friend, but we've talked to her and I don't think Heather's going to be thought of as a conservative, and she's got a good opponent," DeMint said. "We may get involved with that race, but we haven't made a final decision. I won't commit, at this point, but I think we're going to have a strong conservative there."

Roundhouse Roundup: Susana: Ya Run, Ya Resign

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
June 23, 2011

I think it's safe to say that Gov. Susana Martinez isn't wild about the idea of people in her administration seeking higher office. In fact, if you work for Martinez, don't even think about sticking around if you decide to run for political office.

Last month when Lt. Gov. John Sanchez announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, the governor issued a less-than-friendly statement expressing the concern that a Senate race could become a "distraction," and saying she wouldn't give Sanchez any extra responsibilities in her administration.

But that message doesn't apply to Sanchez alone.

Jon Barela

Martinez's Economic Development Secretary-designate Jon Barela, a Republican who lost a tight race for Congress against Democratic U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich last year, reportedly is thinking of running again in next year's 1st Congressional District race.

When asked what Martinez thought about Barela's possible candidacy, her spokesman, Scott Darnell, replied, "Cabinet secretaries understand that they must be focused on assisting the governor in doing the job New Mexicans elected her to do and know they would need to resign if they choose to run for office."

I asked Barela about that. "I'm not a candidate for Congress," Barela said at the outset of the conversation.

"So you're not going to run?" I asked.

"I didn't say that," he clarified.

Asked about Martinez's statement, Barela said he agreed. "If I do run, I'd resign," he said, adding that he would feel the same way if the governor hadn't issued the statement.

Barela said he's in no hurry to leave the Economic Development Department. "I really love this job," he said.

Barela pointed out that unlike the lieutenant governor, Cabinet secretaries (and Cabinet secretary-designates) serve at the pleasure of the governor who appoints them. Martinez can't force Sanchez out because he was elected to the post — albeit on a ticket with the governor.

It's also worth noting that the duties of Cabinet secretaries are far more extensive than that of the lieutenant governor, whose main job is standing by to take over if the governor dies or leaves office.

So here's a scenario to ponder: If Martinez actually does get tapped to run for vice president on the Republican ticket — as some pundits have been speculating since before she even took office — and she accepts, according to her own rules, she'd have to resign.

Which would make Sanchez — who may or may not be the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate by then — governor.

A long-shot scenario, I realize. But stranger things have happened in New Mexico politics.

Bold new rule: I used to make fun of Bill Richardson all the time for his overuse of the word "bold" when he was governor. Nearly every week Richardson was launching a "bold initiative" taking a "bold position" on something or other.

Then last year, Martinez came along and adopted "Bold Change" as her campaign slogan. "Bringing Bold Change and a Brighter Future" is on the official website of the governor. Martinez even had a "Bold Inaugural Ball" in January.

But New Mexico governors aren't the only politicians out there who use that word to describe themselves. It seems like every other news release or political blog post I read is touting some bold leader whose boldness boldly goes where lesser mortals fear to tread.

Brave, courageous and bold

Just this week, GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, in announcing his candidacy this week, called for "bold changes" in our tax code, and Al Gore criticized President Barack Obama for not using "the bully pulpit to make the case for bold action on climate change."

So here's my bold proposal: Nobody is allowed to use the B-word anymore unless you're singing about Wyatt Earp.

NM Among Top Most-Likely-To Change Senate Seats

Chris Cillizza of The Fix, a Washington Post political blog, includes this Enchanted Land as one of the top 10 states most likely to switch parties in next year's U.S. Senate elections. Here's what he had to say:

The symmetry of the two primaries here is striking. Both Rep. Martin Heinrich (D) and former congresswoman Heather Wilson (R) are seen as strong candidates to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D), but both face Hispanic candidates who hold statewide office — in a plurality Latino state. The jury is still out on just how formidable state Auditor Hector Balderas (D) and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez (R) will be, but if they can run good campaigns, that will make both primaries very interesting. Case in point: Wilson has been extremely aggressive in trying to define Sanchez from day one. Republicans think she’s running a strong campaign, but winning the primary with such a moderate record will be tough (as she found out in her 2008 Senate primary loss) and this is a Democratic-leaning state. 

Roundhouse Roundup: Conspicuously Absent

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
June 9, 2011


When State Auditor Hector Balderas on Wednesday announced his office’s report on procurement irregularities and funny accounting practices at the state Corrections Department, he not only shed light on an apparent huge mess in a state Cabinet department.

State Auditor Hector Balderas

He also may have provided an inadvertent reminder of an old political rivalry.

I’m referring to one routine paragraph near the end of the news release:

“Balderas’ staff worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation throughout the course of the special audit and provided federal agents special audit documentation. Because the special audit indicates that potential criminal violations may have occurred, Balderas stated that his office has referred the report to the FBI, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and other state law enforcement agencies. Balderas also will refer the report to the governor, the Legislative Finance Committee, and other state oversight agencies.”

Conspicuously missing is the state attorney general, a guy named Gary King.
It might have been just an oversight. After all, Balderas is running for U.S. Senate and surely doesn’t want to needlessly agitate a fellow elected Democratic state official.

And for the record, the Attorney General’s Office is mentioned in the report. It listed the Attorney General’s Office first among the state agencies that would be contacted with the audit findings.

AG Gary King

Still, the omission brought back memories of two years ago, when King subpoenaed a variety of records from Balderas’ office. Balderas at the time called the action a possible “abuse of the subpoena process.” After a closed-door grand jury hearing on the subpoena, Balderas told a reporter, “I look at it as, ‘They’re obstructing our office.’ ” A spokesman for King declined to comment at the time.

Balderas said the attorney general’s subpoena stemmed from a tip by a disgruntled State Auditor’s Office employee who accused Balderas of making state employees baby-sit his children and complained about a punch clock installed at the Auditor’s Office. It’s not clear what happened to the subpoena because grand jury proceedings are secret. But no charges were ever filed.

Not long after that, Balderas began an investigation into whether King’s office properly spent money set aside by the Legislature for an animal-cruelty task force. Like “Babysitterpunchclockgate,” nothing ever came of the animal task force probe.

That was the last time Balderas and King sparred in public. But perhaps some tensions still are simmering.

Speaking of tensions: The U.S. Senate primary still is nearly a year away, but on the Republican side, former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez already are duking it out.

Lt. Gov. John Sanchez

A Sanchez spokesman told the Albuquerque Journal this week that Wilson “is exactly right, we do have a spending problem. But she forgot to mention that she took part in digging the economic hole that we are in. Records matter.”

But on Wednesday, “Wilson allies” told The Politico that Sanchez basically was a darling of union bosses, pointing out that in 2002, he had a 71 percent rating from the AFL-CIO, according to the Project Vote Smart website.

I’m not sure what that really means. In that same year, Sen. Rod Adair, perhaps the state’s most conservative legislator then and now, got a 77 percent rating from the AFL-CIO, according to Project Vote Smart.

But Politico pointed out that in 2001, Sanchez broke with the GOP by voting to reinstate collective bargaining and to raise the minimum wage.

Former Congresswoman Heather Wilson

Even worse, at least among the Republican base, Politico dredged up a 2002 quote from a Sanchez speech to the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce where, trying to distance himself from then-Gov. Gary Johnson, he said, “And I don’t care what you want to say or do. ... You cannot run the state of New Mexico like a business.”

“This is just another example of John Sanchez isn’t who he says he is,” Wilson’s campaign manager said in an email.

DSCC Targets NM in Medicare Ads

National Democrats are targeting Republican candidates running for Jeff Bingaman’s Senate seat in a series of Internet ads about Medicare being released Wednesday.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is running ads against Republican Senate candidates in eight battleground states.

The ads, which will appear on Google searches, Facebook and other online sites “demand” that former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez “tell GOP leaders in Washington to take the Republican plan to end Medicare off the table in ongoing debt-ceiling negotiations.”

The unpopular Ryan budget is stressed in the ads. Ryan's plan would make a drastic change in Medicare, starting with those who turn 65 in 2022. At that time, under the proposal, Medicare beneficiaries would choose a private health insurance plan from a special :Medicare exchange.” The federal government would kick in an average of $8,000 toward the annual premium.

Last month when I asked for their opinions on the Ryan plan, neither Wilson nor Sanchez actually endorsed the proposal. Wilson criticized Democrats for not coming up with what she called a “realistic” plan of their own for Medicare.

Democrats — buoyed by a surprise victory in a special Congressional election last month over a Republican in a heavy GOP district see the Medicare issue as huge stick with which to clobber Republicans.

On one hand, the Ryan budget is poison to older voters, who tend to vote in large numbers. On the other, the Ryan plan is hugely popular with the conservative GOP base — which tends to dominate Republican primaries.

A spokesman for the DSCC declined to say how much money the group is spending for the Internet ads.
In addition to New Mexico, other states with Senate races being targeted in the DSCC online campaign are Virginia, Montana, Missouri, Nevada, Massachusetts (where Scott Brown was one of the few Republican senators to vote against the Ryan budget), Florida and Ohio.

Besides Wilson and Sanchez, lesser known Republicans running for Senate are Greg Sowards and Bill English.

Democrats running include U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, state Auditor Hector Balderas and Albuquerque activist Andres Valdez. Bingaman is retiring at the end of his term, which is over at the end of next year.

NM Senate Candidates and the Ryan Plan

I almost forgot to link to my story in Tuesday's New Mexican about the major U.S. Senate candidates from both  parties and their positions on the controversial Ryan budget.

The Dems, Martin Heinrich and Hector Balderas, to absolutely no one's surprise, both are dead set against plan, which would eventually privatize Medicare.(Both current New Mexico senators, Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, Democrats bothn voted against the Ryan budget last week.)

The Republicans, Heather Wilson and John Sanchez, are on the proverbial fence. Neither would outright endorse the plan, but neither wanted to say exactly why/ Sanchez said that no plan is perfect. Wilson said she doesn't agree with all the plan, but she would rather talk about why the Democrats suck.

You can read the story HERE.

Roundhouse Roundup: When Running Mates Quit Running Together

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 26, 2011

Martinez & Sanchez on Election Night 2010

Unlike Bill Richardson with Diane Denish, Gov. Susana Martinez will never be accused of getting too touchy-feely with her lieutenant governor, John Sanchez.

And even if Martinez’s popularity takes a nosedive before next year’s election, it would be a real stretch for Democrats to try to talk about the “Martinez-Sanchez administration,” the way Republicans derisively referred to the “Richardson-Denish administration” in attacking Denish during the last gubernatorial race.

Several pundits have noted that Martinez and Sanchez aren’t exactly close. And neither has done much in the way of disputing that.

Unlike Denish, who frequently appeared at Richardson news conferences during his first term, I haven’t seen Sanchez at any of the Martinez conferences I’ve attended since she took office.

The truth is, I don’t even remember the two of them being in the same room since Martinez gave her State of the State address on the Legislature’s opening day in January.

The distance between them became glaringly obvious Tuesday when Martinez issued a news release wishing Sanchez well in his campaign for Senate, but adding: “To prevent this race from becoming a distraction, Lt. Governor Sanchez will not be given responsibilities in my administration beyond the select few provided for in the state Constitution.”

Sanchez is taking on former Congresswoman Heather Wilson, who headed the Martinez administration’s transition team, in the Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate. But if Sanchez doesn’t succeed in his quest to succeed U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., it will be interesting to watch how his relationship with Martinez and his role in state government develops. It seems unlikely at this point that their interactions will turn completely sour.

But few, if any, predicted in 1991 that Gov. Bruce King would be challenged by Lt. Gov. Casey Luna in the 1994 Democratic primary.

Select few responsibilities: There was a general snicker among some news dogs and political junkies at the idea of Martinez giving the lieutenant governor fewer responsibilities. In this state, the “lite gov.” has fewer real duties than any other elected state official.

Those responsibilities include presiding over the Senate when the Legislature is in session, acting as governor when the real governor leaves the state and serving as an ombudsman for constituent concerns. The lieutenant governor also is an automatic member of the Board of Finance as well as a few other boards and commissions.

It begs the question: Is this position necessary?

The Lieutenant Governor’s Office is not a real budget buster, but in years when there has been budget crunch, every little bit helps. According to information on the state Sunshine Portal, Sanchez and four staffers are paid a total of $350,000 a year.

Chief of Staff Rod Montoya recently pointed out that this is about half the size of Denish’s staff. The budget for the office in the next fiscal year totals $680,000, which allows for three additional full-time employees.

Most states do have full-time lieutenant governors. But not all.

The National Lieutenant Governors Association’s website (Yes, there is such a thing. They will meet in Puerto Rico in July) explains, “In Tennessee and West Virginia, the senate president is first in line of succession and in both states that official, by statute, is empowered with the title ‘lieutenant governor’ … In Arizona, Oregon and Wyoming, the secretary of state is first in succession, and in New Hampshire and Maine, the senate president is first in succession.”

Almost a year ago, when the conservative news website Capitol Report New Mexico floated the idea of abolishing the office of lieutenant governor, House Speaker Ben Luján, D-Nambé, said he expected the task force on government restructuring to consider it.

But that didn’t happen. And no bill ever emerged to get rid of the office. I guess the Legislature was too busy ignoring every other government restructuring and consolidation proposal to get around to ignoring this one.

Wilson: "The Governor was a surprise guest at my
speech at the Economic Forum this morning. Great to 
sit with her! These photos are a little blury [sic], 
but things  in politic move quickly! :)" 

Speaking of Capitol Report, after I filed my column, Rob Nikolewski apprently noticed this item in National Review as well as Heather Wilson's campaign Facebook page, where this photo appears.

The two Republicans were at the Economic Forum in Albuquerque where Wilson was speaking.

Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell told the National Review that when Martinez is in Albuquerque, she tries to attend the Economic Forum and was not there specifically for Wilson's speech.

They must make pretty good eggs there for the governor to drive 60 miles for breakfast.


UPDATE: 5-26 I just corrected the caption of the top photo to state the actual year that Martinez and Sanchez were elected.

This is Getting Fun Already!

Republican Heather Wilson sent out this news release earlier this hour.

"We welcome Lt. Governor Sanchez into the race and look forward to contrasting Heather Wilson's conservative record with his invented one. On issue after issue John Sanchez is not who he says he is, and Republican voters will be quick to figure that out."

You probably could say Sanchez started it today with his thinly-disguised barb in his video saying “We don’t want to return people back to Washington, D.C., who got us into this mess in the first place."

Only a year and a week or so before primary day.

UPDATE: I probably should mention the above quote from the Wilson campaign was from Heather Wade, the deputy finance director.

Governor Responds to GOP Senate Race

Here's Gov. Susana Martinez's statement regarding Lt/ Gov. John Sanchez's entry into the Senate race:

“I wish all of the candidates for the U.S. Senate well and do not intend to make an endorsement in the Republican primary at this time.

“It is Lt. Governor Sanchez's decision to pursue what he believes is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run for the Senate. However, it is my responsibility to keep my word to the people of New Mexico by pursuing the reform agenda I promised and delivering the results they deserve. To prevent this race from becoming a distraction, Lt. Governor Sanchez will not be given responsibilities in my administration beyond the select few provided for in the state Constitution.

“I promised New Mexicans that I would work hard every day to turn our state around and that work will remain my focus.”

No additional responsibilities for the lieutenant governor? Is this the end to the Children's Cabinet as we know it?

Yep, It's Official. Sanchez is In

Early yesterday evening, John Sanchez's new campaign website wasn't up. I checked it.

But later last night, or perhaps early this morning, it came alive.

It's official: Five months of being lieutenant governor is enough!

And here's the video announcement.

I'm sure he's not talking about anyone in particular when he says,"“We don’t want to return people back to Washington, D.C., who got us into this mess in the first place."

In the GOP promary Sanchez faces former Congresswoman Heather Wilson, who has been collecting endorsements like baseball cards, not to mention a hefty campaign treasury. Two other GOP candidates, Greg Sowards and Bill English, also have declared.

On the Dem side, there's Congressman Martin Heinrich and challenger State Auditor Hector Balderas. Longshot Albuquerque activist Andres Valdez also has declared he's running.

Sanchez Has Declared He's Running For Senate

Lt. Gov. John Sanchez hasn't made a formal announcement for the Senate race, but last week he filed the required paperwork with the federal government. Below is his statement of candidacy.

Roll Call says that "sources close to Sanchez" say he'll announce tomorrow.

Sanchez will face former Congresswoman Heather Wilson in the Republican primary. Two other GOP candidates, Greg Sowards and Bill English, also have declared.

On the Democratic side, Congressman Martin Heinrich faces State Auditor Hector Balderas. Dark horse Dem Andres Valdez also has declared he's running.


Sanchez Senate Declaration

Wilson Leading Big in Poll of NM GOP

Thirteen months before the U.S. Senate primary, former Congresswoman Heather Wilson has a huge lead in a survey conducted of 801 like Republican voters.

Wilson at a Tea Party rally last year

According to the "robo" poll by Magellan Strategies, Wilson leads expected candidate Lt. Gov. John Sanchez 59 percent to 17 percent. Las Cruces businessman Greg Sowards got two percent of the vote, while another 11 percent said they would prefer a candidate other than Wilson, Sanchez or Sowards.

Neither U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce or longshot contender Bill English were included in the poll. In another section of the poll Pearce had a favorable rating by Republicans of 77 percent.

The poll shows that Wilson has an 84 percent favorable rating (55 percent of those polled said "very favorable.") Only 12 percent had unfavorable opinions of Wilson. And two percent said they'd never heard of her! Nice to see that cavemen were included in this sample.

Sanchez showed a 58 percent favorable rating among the Republican respondents and a 13 percent unfavorable rating. Seventeen percent had no opinion of him and 12 percent hadn't heard of him.

Sowards, unsurprisingly, had the highest "huh?" rating. Forty one percent had never heard of him while another 23 percent had no opinion.

Sowards was the first, and so far only, candidate to respond. He put an optimistic spin on it, saying, “This survey is pretty good news to us. The robo-poll shows that a significant majority of primary voters (63%) have yet to definitely commit to former Congresswomen Wilson, while only 9% are ready to commit to Lt. Governor Sanchez who just recently got elected.”

Gov. Susana Martinez enjoys a high approval rating from her party in the survey. Ninety three percent of Republican voters have a favorable opinion of her. (75 percent of Republicans said "very favorable.")

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry scored somewhat lower (59 percent favorable) but I suspect that's because he's less known outside of his city. Sixteen percent hadn't heard of him, while 17 percent said they had no opinion. Only eight percent had an unfavorable opinion.

According to the poll memo, "Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies fielded this survey with their own resources. Magellan does not have a business relationship with any candidate or group interested in the 2012 New Mexico US Senate Republican primary."

The poll was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday and has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.

Here's the poll memo

Magellan New Mexico 2012 US Senate GOP Primary Survey Release 042811

Sanchez: "We Still Haven't Decided" on Senate Seat.

Is Lt.Gov. John Sanchez really going to challenge former Congresswoman Heather Wilson in the upcoming race for U.S. Senate?

Sanchez, who just spoke to The Friends of Capitalism, a conservative pro-business Santa Fe group, at the Rio Chama Steakhouse a few minutes ago, still isn't saying.

Sanchez's short speech to the group dealt mainly with the 2010 election and the recent Legislative session, although he did stress his belief that New Mexico should elect strong fiscal conservatives to federal positions.

When asked about a possible run for the Senate, Sanchez. as he's told others before, said he's considering running for the retiring Jeff Bingaman's seat. He said he's spoken with groups of people both from in the state and outside who have encouraged him to run.

The Republicans, he said, need a candidate who not only can win the primary but the general election as well. Pointing out that he and Gov. Susana Martinez won nearly 40 percent of the state's Hispanic vote last November, Sanchez said conservative Republicans can appeal to independent and Hispanic voters in the state.

"I like to call conservative Hispanics `closet Republicans,' " he said.

He pointed out that that he's won two Republican primaries: Last year's contest for lieutenant governor and the 2002 gubernatorial race against Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley.

He declined to say when he'd make a final decision. "It's still 14 months before the primary," he said.

What would prevent him from running? "It's a personal decision," he told reporters after his speech. He said he'd have to weight the effect of a campaign -- and assumedly, the possibility of moving to Washington, D.C. -- on his marriage and his two young daughters, as well as his business. Sanchez owns an Albuquerque roofing business.

Is the $300,000-plus that Wilson raised in 24 days last month daunting to a possible opponent? No, said Sanchez. "It's still very early." He said he's proven in past races that he can raise campaign funds.

Asked about the importance of avoiding a bloody primary like Wilson's senatorial primary against Steve Pearce in 2008, Sanchez said a primary doesn't have to be destructive. He noted the three-man GOP primary for lieutenant governor, in which Sanchez bested state Sen. Kent Cravens and former state Rep. Brian Moore never got acrimonious.

However, he didn't mention his 2002 primary against Bradley, which left so many hard feelings that both Bradley and then Gov. Gary Johnson waited weeks before endorsing Sanchez in his race against Bill Richardson.

When asked to name differences between himself and Wilson, Sanchez declined.

I'm Back ...

Boy that week went by fast, but I got a chance to get out of town, visit family, hear some music and generally decompress from the Legislature.

It doesn't appear that any earthshaking political events happened while I was gone.

Gov. Martinez appointed political ally Darren White to the Judicial Standards Commission, in spite of THIS. There's been some howling from the Dems about that, not to mention the editorial page of The New Mexican.

And speaking of cops, on the local level,  Ray Rael got hired as Santa Fe Police Chief. (I got to know him back when I was a cop reporter and he was a police captain and spokesman for SFPD.)

To me the most interesting story last week was Lt. Gov. John Sanchez's opening fire on Heather Wilson in the upcoming Republican fight for the U.S. Senate nomination.

This occurred in The Hill, a Washington, D.C. publication about Congress.

"I think Heather served honorably," (Sanchez) said in an interview. "But if we consider the choices that were made by former establishment candidates, I think it's clear the choices will be very easy for the people of New Mexico.


"Do they want a return back to the days of moderate-type leaders [whose] conservative compasses [weren’t] pointed in the right direction? Or are they looking for somebody who doesn't have to reinvent himself?" he said. "I think the choice for U.S. Senate is abundantly clear. ... People in the state are looking for new ideas," he said. "They're not looking to return to policies of the past, and decisions and leaders that kind of got us into this mess in the first place."

Unlike Wilson, a former 5-term Congresswoman, Sanchez hasn't yet declared he's running for the retiring Jeff Bingaman's seat. But based on conversations I've had with him and things that I've read -- like this Hill article -- I do believe he'll jump in.

Most are assuming there will be a bloody re-run of the bitter Wilson-Steve Pearce Senate race in 2008. But I can't help but think of late 2007 when former Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez was in the Democratic race for a U.S. Senate seat. Very early on in the game Chavez was ripping into fellow Dem Tom Udall.

But by early December 2007, less than two months after he announced he was running for Pete Domenici's seat Chavez announced he was bowing out. reportedly he was under pressure from national Democrats to do so in order to avoid a bloodbath in the primary. Udall went on to win the seat.

A bloodbath like Republicans had in 2008 with Wilson and Pearce.

I can't help but wonder whether national Republicans will step in this year like their Democratic counterparts did in 2007, to avoid a nasty primary.