Johnson Campaign: $6,006 Cash on Hand

It's safe to say that former Gov. Gary Johnson is running a low budget campaign.

According to his campaign finance report filed this week, Johnson between the first of April and last of June  raised $180,236.80 and spent $174,230.25, leaving him $6006.55 in the bank.

To put things in persepective, GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney reportedly raised about 20 million in the last quarter while Michele Bachman, who is leading in Iowa polls, raised about $4 million in the past three months.

And incumbent Democrat Barrack Obama's campaign raised $86 million last quarter, though about $38 million of that is for next year's Democratic National Convention.

At least Johnson is doing better than former Republican House Speaker New Gingritch. His campaign is more than a million dollars in debt.

Billy, They Don't Like You to Be So Free

Susana Martinez has become the second governor in a row to exploit New Mexico's most famous gunslinger, Billy the Kid.

On behalf of the state Tourism Department, Martinez is touting a new contest -- a contest with a $10,000 prize.

“Others may have considered pardoning Billy the Kid,” the governor said in a news release, referring to her predecessor, who got the state, and himself, untold tons of publicity with his consideration of a Kid pardon. Richardson masterfully milked that until his very last day in office.

“But, we’re not letting (Billy the Kid) off the hook," Martinez said. "This effort should provide New Mexicans and others with not only a chance to interact with one of our state’s most infamous historical characters, but a wonderful opportunity to enjoy all of the diverse and exciting wonders that exist in every corner of New Mexico.”

The Tourism Department has created a website where those wanting to compete can create a profile. There will be locations aroundthe state that will have clues that lead to Billy’s New Mexico "hideout." (Most historians think he's been "hiding out" in a grave at Ft. Sumner for the past 131 years, but I don't want to spoil the fun.)

"The more clues that are collected, the more information will become available as to where, when, and how the Kid can be captured," the news release says. "People can download the `Catch the Kid' smartphone application to play along, or they can play by taking pictures next to clue posters in each location throughout the state and uploading them to their profile page. The first posse to present the Kid with an arrest warrant will win a $10,000 reward."

So there you have it.

But the best thing about Billy the Kid popping up in government stories is that it gives me an excuse to post good music on this blog. Enjoy some Zimmerman:

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? "

Roundhouse Roundup: Retreat to Santa Fe

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 14, 2011


The Democratic Party might have a 3-to-1 voter registration edge over Republicans in Santa Fe, but the city in late September will play host for a “retreat” attended by major GOP contributors and potential big-money donors, organized by the Republican Governors Association.

At least one potential presidential candidate is scheduled to be at the private Sept. 21-23 gathering. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who currently chairs the Republican Governors Association, will be there, according to a spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez, as will several other GOP governors.

And yes, the host governor will attend, spokesman Scott Darnell said Wednesday.

Politico’s Mike Allen said in a column this week that the Santa Fe retreat is one of several held each year by the association’s Executive Roundtable.

“The roundtable — which requires members to contribute a minimum of $25,000 a year to the RGA — is part of an RGA effort to cultivate major individual donors, rather than the corporate donors upon whom the group traditionally relied,” Allen wrote.

Allen quotes “a source familiar with the RGA’s finances” who said that contributions from roundtable members accounted for almost half of the $22.1 million the RGA raised in the first half of this year.

Specifics of the events haven’t been publicized. And it doesn’t look like they will be.

Asked Wednesday where the retreat will take place, association spokesman Mike Schrimpf said “We usually don’t give out that information.” None of the events will be open to the public, he noted.

Schrimpf said such retreats typically feature policy sessions with GOP governors as well as dinners and other social events.

A roundtable retreat is scheduled in Aspen, Colo., for next week. According to both Politico and a Washington Post blog, among the Republican governors attending that event will be Perry, Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Susana Martinez of New Mexico.

If Martinez does have national ambitions, as some pundits have speculated, getting well acquainted with the big-money bunch at these private schmooze sessions won’t hurt.

Rite of first refusal: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney this week publicly refused to sign a controversial pledge by a group of social conservatives in Iowa. On Wednesday, his rival Tim Pawlenty followed suit and said he wouldn’t sign “The Marriage Vow — A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family” touted by the organization called Family Leader.

The pledge covers a variety of issues including gay marriage, abortion, marital fidelity, porn and Sharia law. Candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum quickly signed on.

The original version of the document included a statement that suggested that African-American children born into slavery were better off in terms of family life than black children born after Barack Obama became president. That statement has since been removed.

But while those two former governors were agonizing over whether to risk offending the religious right, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, a longshot 2012 contender, not only declined to put his John Hancock on the pledge, he ripped into it with glee.

“While the Family Leader pledge covers just about every other so-called virtue they can think of, the one that is conspicuously missing is tolerance,” Johnson wrote Saturday in his campaign blog. “In one concise document, they manage to condemn gays, single parents, single individuals, divorcees, Muslims, gays in the military, unmarried couples, women who choose to have abortions and everyone else who doesn’t fit in a Norman Rockwell painting. ...

"The Republican Party cannot afford to have a Presidential candidate who condones intolerance, bigotry and the denial of liberty to the citizens of this country," Johnson said, "If we nominate such a candidate, we will never capture the White House in 2012.”

“Well, first of all, who’s Gary Johnson?” Family Leader leader Bob Vander Plaats asked when Salon.com sought his response to Johnson’s statement.

Moore Heading Guv's DC Office

One of Gov. Susana Martinez's deputy chiefs of staff is heading to Washington, D.C. to head the governor's branch office in the nation's capitol.

Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell confirmed that in an e-mail. Moore's transfer was first reported by blogger Joe Monahan,

Moore, a former legislator from Clayton, "will work regularly with the staffs of our congressional delegation, as well as federal agencies when necessary and the National Governors Association," Darnell said. "His office will ensure communication and coordination on the many issues that affect New Mexicans that have federal and state components."

Darnell said Moore's move was permanent, not a temporary position. Of course, in reality, no political job is permanent.

Meanwhile, Martinez quietly let a D.C. lobbying firm's contract expire with no intention of finding a replacement.

"The previous administration had not only a staff member in Washington, but also a lobbying firm on contract that was paid $10,000 per month by the administration," Darnell said.  "We have done away with the previous practice of hiring a lobbying firm and will simply utilize one staff member," he said, referring to Moore.

My story in today's New Mexican is HERE

UPDATE: 8:28 am: I just corrected an unintentionally funny typo. In the original version of this post it said, " ... no political jon is safe." I must have been thinking of Sens. Ensign and Vitter and Professor Chris Garcia. The correct word is "job."

NM Tries to Join the Un-Jet Set

If you've got an extra $3.15 million you can get a good deal on the state's 2005 Cessna Citation Bravo. It's been sitting unused in a hangar in Santa Fe, but the state's still paying to maintain it.

My story on the status of the jet sale is HERE.

The state General Services Department says the state is paying $400,000 a year to keep the jet. But that figure is for maintenance and fuel. But, the jet hasn't used any fuel to speak of since December. I asked for but was not able to get a breakdown of the actual cost of maintaining the jet.

Wetzel Aviation, the aircraft broker trying to sell the jet offers all the specs on the plane HERE.

Audit Shows Ex-Sheriff Sold $73,000-plus of SF County Assets

According state Auditor Hector Balderas, former Sheriff Greg Solano sold $73,364 worth of goods belonging to Santa Fe on his eBay account.

Balderas' office in a press release said the audit, performed by the Moss Adams firm, showed that Solano sold "handcuffs, body armor, print cartridges, digital recorders, smartphones and dozens of cell phones."

The audit findings also revealed "an overall lack of policies and procedures at the Sheriff’s Office, including deficient controls related to the office’s evidence, ammunition and supply rooms," Balderas' release said.

"... auditors found that it was generally difficult to identify and locate items due to the clutter and disorganization of the evidence room, the evidence offices and the officers’ supplies room. Even though this situation was noted as far back as 2001, auditors noted that the problem seems to have progressed. Auditors also found that the evidence lockers leave evidence susceptible to theft, and Solano and one Sergeant periodically overrode controls by walking in and out of the evidence locker room area without signing in or out. Moreover, auditors found that the Sheriff’s Office does not adequately discourage theft in key risk areas such as in the supply, ammunition, inventory and asset areas."

Among the other findings:

• The half door blocking the evidence offices and officers’ supply room is not locked and auditors noted that, at times, personnel entered restricted areas without question;
• There is no inventory of unit equipment in the shed held by Fleet Management, and auditors noted Solano sold a rotating police light, light-bar controllers, a light PA control box and a light panel on Ebay;
• The Sheriff’s Office has not adequately addressed the backlog of evidence needing to be logged, filed and properly secured;
• The County does not have a scale to weigh the drugs upon arrival for future inventories; and
• There are times that staff is ordered to release property from the evidence room without the proper paperwork completed and signed off.

In May Solano's lawyer Brooke Gamble said that the former sheriff, who resigned late last year because of the theft investigation, will plead guilty. But she and prosecutor Matt Chandler of Clovis said a plea couldn't be accepted until an audit was completed.

Solano is charged with 251 counts of embezzlement and one count of fraud.

Balderas is running for U.S. Senate.

(Full disclosure: Lawyer Gamble represented one of my family members in an unrelated matter more than a year ago.)

Roundhouse Roundup:To Sing an American Tune

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
July 7, 2011


Is this a case of clairvoyance or just a stupid coincidence?

About three months ago, in my political blog, I wrote about former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist having to make a humiliating public apology to singer/songwriter David Byrne for using the Talking Heads song "Road to Nowhere" in a political ad. Byrne sued and won, and Crist looked like a sad sack.

In the blog post, I quipped, "Wow, Tom Petty could mop up if he sued every politician who played 'I Won't Back Down' at a political rally. (Are you listening Bill Richardson and Tom Udall?)"

Udall used the Petty song as his entrance music in Albuquerque when he announced he was running for Senate back in 2007. Richardson used the same song the same way just about everywhere I saw him speak in Iowa and New Hampshire when he was running for president. They played "I Won't Back Down" when I saw Richardson speak in Manchester, N.H., the night before the New Hampshire primary. Just a couple of days before he, well, backed down.

And now Petty is threatening legal action against a politician using his song.

But not Udall or Richardson. And not over "I Won't Back Down." Petty is trying to get Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann to cease and desist using his song "An American Girl" at her rallies.

This tension between rockers and the candidates who try to co-opt their music goes back at least to 1984, when both Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale were trying to ride on Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." coattails.

It's not the first time a liberal rocker got upset over a song used by a conservative. In the '90s, Chrissie Hynde was upset because Rush Limbaugh used the instrumental from The Pretenders' "My City Was Gone" as his radio theme song. Limbaugh eventually agreed to pay an annual licensing fee for the song, which Hynde reportedly donates to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

As I've said before, I liked it better when politicians still considered rock 'n' roll to be evil.

More fun with polls: Gov. Susana Martinez has to be happy about the latest Public Policy Polling survey of New Mexico voters. It showed 52 percent approving of her job performance, with 37 percent of those polled disapproving.

PPP director Tom Jensen said, "Most of the Republicans elected governor in Obama states last November have quickly become very unpopular. Not so in the case of New Mexico's Susana Martinez."

Among the poll findings was that Martinez got high marks from about a third of the Democrats polled. Also, 49 percent of Hispanics approved of Martinez, with 41 percent disapproving.

According to the poll, Martinez would beat Democrat Diane Denish in a rematch by nine percentage points — a slightly larger margin than she had last November.


In a case of bad timing, the poll results were released shortly after The New Mexican published an op-ed by Denish, in which she wrote, "I promised to stick around and fight for our families, and I intend to do so. Just how that will play out, perhaps in seeking another office or just participating in the public debate, is to be determined."

Denish endorses: On Wednesday, Denish was talking about another candidacy. Not her own, but that of Hector Balderas, the state auditor who is running for U.S. Senate.

"The Senate needs more leaders like Hector Balderas. Leaders who reject the premise that 'fiscal responsibility' and 'accountability' are Republican words," Denish said in a news release.

Balderas is running against U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich in the Democratic primary. A PPP poll released last week showed Heinrich ahead by nearly a 2-1 margin. Balderas' main handicap in that poll appeared to be lack of name recognition.

BLOG BONUS

Here's "American Girl" by Tom Petty

Susana Poll Numbers Looking Good

In the most recent numbers released by PPP, Gov. Susana Martinez is enjoying a 52 percent approval rate, with 37 percent of those polled disapproving.

In the PPP blog, poll honcho Tom Jensen says, "Most of the Republicans elected Governor in Obama states last November have quickly become very unpopular. Not so in the case of New Mexico's Susana Martinez ... A female Hispanic Governor who's maintaining her popularity as she governs a blue state? Martinez would be at the top of my VP list for next year if I was a Republican strategist."

Of course, Jensen is not a GOP strategist. PPP is a Democratic polling firm.

The latest poll finds that Martinez would beat Democrat Diane Denish in a rematch 53 percent to 44 percent. About a third of the Democrats polled approved of Martinez's first six months as governor as did a plurality of Hispanics.

The poll also asked about same-sex marriage.

When asked whether same-sex marriage should be legal 42 percent said yes and 48 percent said no. "Respondents under 65 narrowly support it but are outweighed by 58/30 opposition among senior citizens," Jensen said.

However, when respondents are given the option of "civil unions" the numbers get interesting. 37 percent chose same-sex marriage as the best option, 31 percent chose "civil unions" while only 30 percent agreed that "there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship."

Other poll findings:

* Outgoing Sen. Jeff Bingaman's approval rating is 59 percent (29 percent disapprove) while Sen. Tom Udall has a 48 percent approval (31 percent disapprove). U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan's figures are 30 percent approval, 34 percent approval, but those numbers are statewide, not just CD3, which Lujan represents.

* Former Gov. Bill Richardson's still are low -- 27 percent favorable, 63 percent unfavorable.

PPP surveyed 732 New Mexico voters from June 23 to 26. The margin of error is 3.6 percent.

PPP Release NM 705

Happy Independence Day Weekend

I'm off work today and won't be back until next Wednesday.

I probably won't be blogging much here until then. But in the meantime, here's what Politico says about the New Mexico Senate race, which it ranks as number 7 in the Top 10 competitive races:

7. NEW MEXICO (Up 1 spot) — New Mexico leapfrogs Ohio after a Public Policy Polling survey showed both former Rep. Heather Wilson and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez within single digits of their potential Democratic opponents. Rep. Martin Heinrich and state auditor Hector Balderas showed comparable strength, presenting a difficult decision for a party eager to place more Hispanic faces at the top of the ticket. A subtle signal of the importance of Latinos: After indicating it was on the verge of backing Heinrich, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said it will remain neutral. On the margins, neutrality is a win for Balderas. So far, he and Heinrich have been playing nice, while Wilson and Sanchez duke it out over who is a more genuine conservative.

Who won June: Balderas

Of course, it doesn't mention the PPP results released yesterday showing Heinrich beating Balderas among Democrats by a 2 to 1 mmargin.

Oh well, have a safe holiday. And as I posted on my music blog, make sure any fireworks you shoot in New Mexico this year are this kind: