Diane Denish's latest campaign commercial features her running mate, Brian Colon. In an obvious pitch for the Hispanic vote, he's hammering away at the "Susana la Tejana" theme.
Susana Martinez's latest also uses someone who's run for lieutenant governor in her latest ad -- Diane Denish. This apparently consists of footage from the 2006 election featuring Denish praising Gov. Bill Richardson.
Here's the ads:
Showing posts with label "Brian Colon". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "Brian Colon". Show all posts
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
More on the Colón Smear Robo-Call
I got a copy of the notorious Brian Colón robo-call. (Thanks to my source for sending it and to New Mexican Web editor Henry Lopez for getting it on the Internet for me.)
UPDATE 5-25-10: I just had a nice chat with Lawrence Rael, who also is running for lieutenant governor. He wanted me to know that he was the first candidate to call Brian Colón to disavow the robo-call.
Some of it's garbled. And there seems to be some weird electronic hum in the recording that sounds like it's straight out of the Eraserhead soundtrack. But the viciousness is pristine.
The unidentified female caller actually does imply that Colón stole money from the Moving America Forward Foundation. But as I explain in my story in Tuesday's New Mexican, though the contributors to this non-profit have been kept secret, the expenditures are reported to the IRS and are public record. In fact I wrote about MAFF's final report in my column a few weeks ago.
I spoke with Colón's campaign manager about the call this afternoon. He verified that the candidate was born in New York, as the robo-call said (though his family moved to this state when Brian was an infant). But contrary to what the call said, he never was a Young Republican -- and in fact worked with a union during his college years.
UPDATE 5-25-10: I just had a nice chat with Lawrence Rael, who also is running for lieutenant governor. He wanted me to know that he was the first candidate to call Brian Colón to disavow the robo-call.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Anti-Colón Robo-Calls
I've been contacted today by two Santa Fe Democrats who received robo-calls bashing Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Brian Colón.
Barb found an Indiana group with the name "Democrats for Better Government." But that name's pretty generic and at this point there's no evidence the calls had anything to do with anyone in Indiana.
One of the two said the call claimed to be from a group called "Democrats for Better Government."
When I Googled that name, I found that the Democracy for New Mexico blog was all over the story. Barb Wold wrote that the call said:
... Brian was "bad for Democrats and bad for New Mexico," the female voice went on to provide exaggerated, distorted and incorrect information about Colón. It touched on his tenure as DPNM Chair, the presidential caucus and other aspects of Colón's career. It was very nasty.
At one point it strongly suggested that Brian may have stolen money from Moving America Forward, the foundation that was set up to register minority voters for which Colón served as Treasurer. The voice rambled on using charged language, trying to paint Colón as a bumbler, a crook and a crony -- all of this most likely coming from the campaign of one of the other Democratic candidates for lt. governor.
Then, horror of horrors, it accused Colón of supporting marriage equality. In fact, Brian Colón has been on the record for some time as being supportive of marriage equality. Shocker.
Barb found an Indiana group with the name "Democrats for Better Government." But that name's pretty generic and at this point there's no evidence the calls had anything to do with anyone in Indiana.
Anyone have any clues?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
AFSCME Endorses Colón
Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Brian Colón's campaign just got a boost by picking up the endorsement of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, a very active union in Democratic politics.
AFSCME represents more than 12,000 city, county, state, and university employees along with home childcare professionals.
Last night, AFSCME's PAC, New Mexico’s PEOPLE voted 5-0 to endorse Colón for "his understanding of the struggles New Mexican’s are going through because he has been through hard times himself."
In a news release, Mary Gustin of AFSCME said, “Mr. Colón knows it is irresponsible for Santa Fe to balance the budget on the backs of New Mexico’s working families. The workers are the backbone of this state and we know Brian is the right person to be their voice.”
Besides the kind word, the endorsement surely means money for the campaign as well.
Colón was quoted in the release: “I’m honored to have the support of AFSCME. This election is about improving the lives of New Mexicans across our state by helping rebuild our economy and investing in our people."
Colón was quoted in the release: “I’m honored to have the support of AFSCME. This election is about improving the lives of New Mexicans across our state by helping rebuild our economy and investing in our people."
Monday, April 12, 2010
More Campaign Finance Reports
I revamped this entire post so it's not such a patch work
Democratic Governor Candidate
* Lt. Gov. Denish raised $1,114,142 in this reporting period and spent $715,538.69, leaving her with $2,598,632 cash on hand. I'll have a list of her largest contributors in tomorrow's paper.
Republican Governor Candidates
* Susana Martinez's report is up. She's raised $428,064 and spent $194,809, leaving a balance of $363,913.
* The Allen Weh campaign emailed a news release saying Weh had raised $1.29 million. According to his campaign, this is a total for the race --not just this reporting period-- and includes monetary contributions, loans, and, and inkinds. The Associated Press did the math. This period Weh raised $691,000, $500,000 of that from a personal loan. Weh’s campaign has about $544,000 in the bank. (This section was updated at about 6 p.m.)
* Pete Domenici, Jr.'s report just popped up on the SOS site. He reported raising $372,107, of which $70,000 was a loan from himself. Domenici spent $$242,409, leaving a balance of $129,698.
* Nothing yet from Janice Arnold-Jones or Doug Turner, though I ran into Turner, who said he raised about $200,000 in cash and $55,000 in in-kind donations.
Democratic Lieutenant Governor Candidates
Former state party chairman Brian Colon reported raising $156,489. He reported spending $201,651, which leaves him $205,886. His biggest contributors were his Albuquerque law firm Robles, Rael & Anaya, which gave him $11,879, and L&F Distributors of McAllen, Texas, which contributed $10,000.
Lawrence Rael's report is in. He $162,175, of which $105,000 are personal loans. Rael spent $162, 175, leaving $126,195 in cash on hand.
Nothing yet from Joe Campos, Jerry Ortiz y Pino or Linda Lopez
Republican Lieutenant Governor Candidates
* John Sanchez's report is in. He seems to be running a self-financed campaign. Sanchez reported raising $279,300. But $273,800 is from a series of personal loans. In addition to the loans, $2,500 of the $5,500 in monetary contributions was from Sanchez himself. And his Albuquerque roofing company gave an in-kind contribution of $6,735. Sanchez spent $23,018 leaving a balance of $256,281.
* Brian Moore's report has yet to show up on the Web site, but Moore e-mailed a spreadsheet to reporters. He raised $139,840, $100,000 of which was a personal loan to himself. Moore spent $14,231, leaving his treasury $129, 535.
* Kent Cravens has raised $57,990 and spent $34,583.
* J.R. Damron, a Santa Fe doctor who has dropped out of the race raised $24,975 and spent $24,451 -- some of which was in the form of partial campaign contributions.
* Kent Cravens has raised $57,990 and spent $34,583.
* J.R. Damron, a Santa Fe doctor who has dropped out of the race raised $24,975 and spent $24,451 -- some of which was in the form of partial campaign contributions.
Late Monday afternoon the Secretary of State's Office released this statement:
The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office will extend today’s 5:00 PM deadline for candidates to file their reports. The agency will be working prolonged hours today and this evening in an effort to respond to all requests from candidates for assistance with the new campaign finance reporting system.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Roundhouse Roundup: NM's Straw Poll
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 10, 2009
You might think that the first balloting in the lengthy U.S. presidential selection process takes place in Iowa in January.
You’d be correct about Iowa. But, at least on the Republican side, the first balloting for president is the Ames Straw Poll, which takes place in the month of August the year before the election.
It’s not a binding ballot. Anyone who buys a ticket to the fundraising dinner for the Iowa GOP is eligible to vote. A very small number of people actually participate. But the candidates spend a lot of time, energy and big cash bucks to load people from all over the state onto buses to get to that dinner and cast their proverbial straws.
About the closest thing in New Mexico we have to the Ames Straw Poll is the weekly Web poll on Heath Haussamen’s N.M. Politics Web site. At least when the question deals with electoral matchups. Nobody spends any significant money, but the campaigns do their best to get out their supporters.
This week, the question is which of six announced Democrats should win the lieutenant governor primary next year.
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, former Democratic Party state chairman Brian Colón had a commanding lead in the Haussamen poll. Colón had 412 votes, 50 percent of the online votes cast. His closest opponent, Santa Fe Sheriff Greg Solano, had 153 votes, or 18 percent.
This might not be an accident. On Wednesday morning, Colón, using his Twitter account, began promoting the poll. “Please support our campaign for Lt. Governor by voting in Heath Haussamen’s poll today,” he said in a message, which also appeared on his Facebook page. Naturally, there was a live link to Haussamen’s site.
Early in the afternoon, Colón zapped a similar message to those on his campaign e-mail list.
“Participating won’t add you to any future e-mail list,” the e-mail said. “Click your choice and let’s send an early message about our grassroots movement with the campaign.”
Colón wasn’t the only candidate to use Facebook to get the word out about the poll. Similar posts could be found on pages belonging to Joe Campos, Jerry Ortiz y Pino, Lawrence Rael and Solano, who also used Twitter to plug the poll.
But, as Haussamen said in an e-mail conversation, “Colón has been by far the most active.”
Of course, this week isn’t the first time in recent months that candidates have rallied their troops to participate in the online poll.
In early June, Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh won Haussamen’s poll, narrowly beating former Congresswoman Heather Wilson — who has said she’s thinking about running. Weh issued a news release saying, “A recent online poll on one of the state’s most popular political blogs shows that Albuquerque businessman Allen Weh is the preferred GOP nominee for governor in 2010. … The results reveal that New Mexicans believe I’m the strongest candidate to take on Diane Denish in 2010.
Haussamen wrote at the time, “While I’m flattered that the Weh campaign takes my site so seriously, the reality is that I intend the non-scientific polls for fun only. It’s no secret that such polls can be manipulated.” He pointed out that his polls usually attract about 200 votes, but the week Weh won there were more than 400. “Which means someone, or more likely more than one someone, made an intentional effort to get people to this site to vote in the poll,” Haussamen wrote.
A month later, Republican challenger Adam Kokesh got 79 percent of the poll vote against incumbent Democrat Ben Ray Luján. That week there were 951 votes. Haussamen noted that there were posts on at least two Web sites associated with supporters of Ron Paul. It can’t be determined how many of the votes cast came from the heavily Democratic 3rd Congressional District.
“Online polls can be manipulated in nefarious ways, but in general, I’ve found that the candidates who win the polls are the ones who tend to be well organized, so it does tend to be a test of organization,” Haussamen said Wednesday.
September 10, 2009
You might think that the first balloting in the lengthy U.S. presidential selection process takes place in Iowa in January.
You’d be correct about Iowa. But, at least on the Republican side, the first balloting for president is the Ames Straw Poll, which takes place in the month of August the year before the election.
It’s not a binding ballot. Anyone who buys a ticket to the fundraising dinner for the Iowa GOP is eligible to vote. A very small number of people actually participate. But the candidates spend a lot of time, energy and big cash bucks to load people from all over the state onto buses to get to that dinner and cast their proverbial straws.
About the closest thing in New Mexico we have to the Ames Straw Poll is the weekly Web poll on Heath Haussamen’s N.M. Politics Web site. At least when the question deals with electoral matchups. Nobody spends any significant money, but the campaigns do their best to get out their supporters.
This week, the question is which of six announced Democrats should win the lieutenant governor primary next year.
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, former Democratic Party state chairman Brian Colón had a commanding lead in the Haussamen poll. Colón had 412 votes, 50 percent of the online votes cast. His closest opponent, Santa Fe Sheriff Greg Solano, had 153 votes, or 18 percent.
This might not be an accident. On Wednesday morning, Colón, using his Twitter account, began promoting the poll. “Please support our campaign for Lt. Governor by voting in Heath Haussamen’s poll today,” he said in a message, which also appeared on his Facebook page. Naturally, there was a live link to Haussamen’s site.
Early in the afternoon, Colón zapped a similar message to those on his campaign e-mail list.
“Participating won’t add you to any future e-mail list,” the e-mail said. “Click your choice and let’s send an early message about our grassroots movement with the campaign.”
Colón wasn’t the only candidate to use Facebook to get the word out about the poll. Similar posts could be found on pages belonging to Joe Campos, Jerry Ortiz y Pino, Lawrence Rael and Solano, who also used Twitter to plug the poll.
But, as Haussamen said in an e-mail conversation, “Colón has been by far the most active.”
Of course, this week isn’t the first time in recent months that candidates have rallied their troops to participate in the online poll.
In early June, Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh won Haussamen’s poll, narrowly beating former Congresswoman Heather Wilson — who has said she’s thinking about running. Weh issued a news release saying, “A recent online poll on one of the state’s most popular political blogs shows that Albuquerque businessman Allen Weh is the preferred GOP nominee for governor in 2010. … The results reveal that New Mexicans believe I’m the strongest candidate to take on Diane Denish in 2010.
Haussamen wrote at the time, “While I’m flattered that the Weh campaign takes my site so seriously, the reality is that I intend the non-scientific polls for fun only. It’s no secret that such polls can be manipulated.” He pointed out that his polls usually attract about 200 votes, but the week Weh won there were more than 400. “Which means someone, or more likely more than one someone, made an intentional effort to get people to this site to vote in the poll,” Haussamen wrote.
A month later, Republican challenger Adam Kokesh got 79 percent of the poll vote against incumbent Democrat Ben Ray Luján. That week there were 951 votes. Haussamen noted that there were posts on at least two Web sites associated with supporters of Ron Paul. It can’t be determined how many of the votes cast came from the heavily Democratic 3rd Congressional District.
“Online polls can be manipulated in nefarious ways, but in general, I’ve found that the candidates who win the polls are the ones who tend to be well organized, so it does tend to be a test of organization,” Haussamen said Wednesday.
He also observed sardonically, “The candidates seems to take these polls way more seriously than I do.”
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Roundhouse Roundup: Colon Stepping Down, or Is He Stepping Up?
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
August 6, 2009
Brian Colón will step down as state Democratic Party chairman at the end of the week, moving closer to a bid for lieutenant governor.
"I am submitting my resignation to the Party on Friday and it will be effective on Saturday," Colón told me in an e-mail on Wednesday. "I will then consider my bid for Lt. Gov."
Colón, an Albuquerque lawyer closely allied with Gov. Bill Richardson and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish — the only declared 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate — has been chairman since April 2007. The party's Central Committee will choose another chairman. State party executive director Josh Geiss said the party is shooting for early September for that meeting.
Both Javier Gonzales, a former Santa Fe County commissioner, and Sandoval County Democratic Party chairman David Montoya have shown interest in the job, Geiss said.
"Yes, I'm definitely preparing to enter the race for state chairman," Gonzales told me Wednesday. Gonzales, who works as a business consultant and serves on the Board of Regents for New Mexico State University, said he'll start actively campaigning for the unpaid post shortly after Colón steps down.
Gonzales, the son of former Santa Fe Mayor George Gonzales, served on the County Commission between 1993 and 2002. He's often considered running for other offices, including Congress, Santa Fe mayor and — apparently like most New Mexico Democrats with a pulse — lieutenant governor.
Speaking of which: The list of active and probable Democratic lieutenant governor candidates keeps growing. State Rep. Joe Campos of Santa Rosa said Wednesday that he's adding his name to that list. Campos is in his fourth term as a legislator and has been mayor of Santa Rosa for 12 years. He also served a term as a Guadalupe County commissioner.
Announced candidates for lieutenant governor include Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano and state Sens. Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Linda Lopez, both from Albuquerque. Mid-Region Council of Governments Executive Director Lawrence Rael is considering the race, as is political newcomer Matthew Padilla, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman.
Meanwhile, on the GOP side: State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones of Albuquerque is telling reporters she'll seek the Republican nomination for governor next year. Arnold-Jones, first elected to her House seat in 2002, is expected to formally announce this month. Arnold-Jones is best known for webcasting House committee meetings without waiting for formal permission from House Speaker Ben Luján.
August 6, 2009
Brian Colón will step down as state Democratic Party chairman at the end of the week, moving closer to a bid for lieutenant governor.
"I am submitting my resignation to the Party on Friday and it will be effective on Saturday," Colón told me in an e-mail on Wednesday. "I will then consider my bid for Lt. Gov."
Colón, an Albuquerque lawyer closely allied with Gov. Bill Richardson and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish — the only declared 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate — has been chairman since April 2007. The party's Central Committee will choose another chairman. State party executive director Josh Geiss said the party is shooting for early September for that meeting.
Both Javier Gonzales, a former Santa Fe County commissioner, and Sandoval County Democratic Party chairman David Montoya have shown interest in the job, Geiss said.
"Yes, I'm definitely preparing to enter the race for state chairman," Gonzales told me Wednesday. Gonzales, who works as a business consultant and serves on the Board of Regents for New Mexico State University, said he'll start actively campaigning for the unpaid post shortly after Colón steps down.
Gonzales, the son of former Santa Fe Mayor George Gonzales, served on the County Commission between 1993 and 2002. He's often considered running for other offices, including Congress, Santa Fe mayor and — apparently like most New Mexico Democrats with a pulse — lieutenant governor.
Speaking of which: The list of active and probable Democratic lieutenant governor candidates keeps growing. State Rep. Joe Campos of Santa Rosa said Wednesday that he's adding his name to that list. Campos is in his fourth term as a legislator and has been mayor of Santa Rosa for 12 years. He also served a term as a Guadalupe County commissioner.
Announced candidates for lieutenant governor include Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano and state Sens. Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Linda Lopez, both from Albuquerque. Mid-Region Council of Governments Executive Director Lawrence Rael is considering the race, as is political newcomer Matthew Padilla, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman.
Meanwhile, on the GOP side: State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones of Albuquerque is telling reporters she'll seek the Republican nomination for governor next year. Arnold-Jones, first elected to her House seat in 2002, is expected to formally announce this month. Arnold-Jones is best known for webcasting House committee meetings without waiting for formal permission from House Speaker Ben Luján.
It's not known whether her announcement will stream live over the Internet.
Other GOP candidates for governor include Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez and former state party chairman Allen Weh. Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson has said she's considering a run, as has former Gary Johnson campaign manager Doug Turner.
Learn 'em some grammar: The Governor's Office, in announcing its "bold steps" to fight the state's astonishing dropout rate, e-mailed a statement with this quote from Gov. Bill Richardson:
"To sustain New Mexico's growing economy and workforce, all New Mexican's must at the very least graduate from high school. We must accept that in the 21st century, to secure a job that will support a family and provide a decent quality of life, a high school diploma is a must." (The emphasis is ours.)
I would hope that this high-school diploma includes mastering the correct use of the apostrophe. I don't claim to speak perfect English — my exact language is some unclassifiable Okie dialect strongly influenced by early '60s rock 'n' roll deejays — and I've made my share of typos. But the incorrect "apostrophe S" is one that drives me crazy, probably because it's so common.
Some might even suggest that this error actually might help spotlight the educational crisis in this state. So I hope all you educator's and state public information officer's get to work on that.
Other GOP candidates for governor include Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez and former state party chairman Allen Weh. Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson has said she's considering a run, as has former Gary Johnson campaign manager Doug Turner.
Learn 'em some grammar: The Governor's Office, in announcing its "bold steps" to fight the state's astonishing dropout rate, e-mailed a statement with this quote from Gov. Bill Richardson:
"To sustain New Mexico's growing economy and workforce, all New Mexican's must at the very least graduate from high school. We must accept that in the 21st century, to secure a job that will support a family and provide a decent quality of life, a high school diploma is a must." (The emphasis is ours.)
I would hope that this high-school diploma includes mastering the correct use of the apostrophe. I don't claim to speak perfect English — my exact language is some unclassifiable Okie dialect strongly influenced by early '60s rock 'n' roll deejays — and I've made my share of typos. But the incorrect "apostrophe S" is one that drives me crazy, probably because it's so common.
Some might even suggest that this error actually might help spotlight the educational crisis in this state. So I hope all you educator's and state public information officer's get to work on that.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Roundhouse Roundup: Trouble with the House Scoreboard?
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
March 5, 2009
Could this be the script of a political attack in the next election?
No, don't really call her.
Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, insists she did vote on HB628.
She pushed the button at her desk on the House floor to vote, and, she said, the red right lit up on the board that allows onlookers on the House floor and gallery to see how each member voted, indicating she voted "no," as she intended.
But after the vote, a House colleague pointed out to Arnold-Jones that the printout of the roll call on the bill did not register any vote for her.
Her vote wasn't decisive. The bill — which deals with lawyers being present during inspections of businesses by the Environment Improvement Board — failed by a 10-vote margin — 11 when you include Arnold-Jones' vote.
"It looks like I took a walk on the vote," Arnold-Jones told me. The printed record is what constituents — and researchers hired by political rivals — look at around election time.
Skipping votes can become an issue in a campaign. In 2002, Bill Richardson, running for his first term as governor, ran devastating ads against his Republican opponent, who was a state House member, for missing several votes. "John Sanchez didn't show up for work," was the disapproving catch-phrase in those ads.
There was a back-and-forth on the House floor between Arnold-Jones and Speaker Ben Luján on Wednesday. Luján said House members have to be careful. "If you just slightly hit the button, (the light) goes off again," he said. When Arnold-Jones asked that the record reflect her "no" vote, the Speaker initially hesitated, saying he didn't want to start going back and letting members vote on bills they'd missed.
But he finally relented, and no House member objected to counting Arnold-Jones' vote on HB628.
Arnold-Jones said she's convinced there's something wrong with the House electronic voting system.
"It really makes you wonder how often this happens," she told me. She doesn't believe the mistake happened on purpose. "It could easily happen to any of us," she said.
Steve Arias, chief clerk of the House, said he doesn't believe there's anything wrong with the voting system. He told me he did run a test on the system after Wednesday's floor session, and nothing appeared to be wrong.
On Tuesday, Arias said, his staff had to replace the buttons used by Rep. Ben Rodefer, D-Corrales, which, he said, had stopped working. "We tested the system three times after that, and it worked fine," Arias said.
Arias said the House first began electronic voting in 1980. The computer "brain" was upgraded in 1994. "Then there was another computer upgrade three or four years ago, and we got a new vote board," he said.
The Senate, by the way, has no electronic vote board. The votes there are done verbally or by show of hands.
Although Arias doesn't believe there is a systemic problem with the House vote apparatus, Jones is sure there is. She said she asked a sergeant at arms to bring her the printout for each floor vote.
Colón seeks second term: State Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón announced this week that he's seeking a second term.
If he's got any opponents, they've been awfully quiet about it.
Although Colón can't — and indeed, doesn't — take complete credit for the Democratic sweep in New Mexico last November, the fact his party won the state's electoral votes for Barack Obama, took all three congressional seats and the vacant U.S. Senate seat, and picked up a six seats in the state Legislature does give Colón some pretty good bragging rights for his re-election.
As he said in his e-mail announcement, "We funded and ran a nearly $2 million coordinated campaign to insure that while the Obama Campaign was working to elect Barack Obama, our local candidates had resources to grab his coattails and ride them to victory."
Not surprisingly, Colón's announcement says nothing about one of the Democrats' less lustrous moments last year — the February presidential caucus, which brought complaints about inaccurate voter lists, inadequate numbers of ballots and general confusion. Plus, it took a couple of weeks to get the final results — in which Hillary Clinton barely edged Obama. A promised public summit concerning the future of the caucus was canceled in April and never rescheduled.
Colón is a strong ally of Gov. Bill Richardson. In a recent opinion piece in an Albuquerque paper, Colón claimed the federal grand-jury investigation into an alleged state pay-to-play scheme was politically motivated. Colón served as treasurer of a Richardson public charity, the Moving America Forward Foundation, which has refused to disclosed contributors and expenditures.
March 5, 2009
Could this be the script of a political attack in the next election?
Announcer's voice (over a grainy and unflattering black-and-white photo of the legislator): "Voters in House District 24 sent Janice Arnold-Jones to the state Legislature to represent the citizens. But when it came to voting on an important bill concerning worker safety (voice begins to drip with sarcasm; cue the horror-movie music) Janice Arnold-Jones couldn't be bothered." (Show printout of roll-call vote House Bill 628; close-up on the blank space next to her name.) Call Janice Arnold-Jones (flash her home phone number) and ask her why she doesn't have the time or the courage to vote on major legislation."
No, don't really call her.
Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, insists she did vote on HB628.
She pushed the button at her desk on the House floor to vote, and, she said, the red right lit up on the board that allows onlookers on the House floor and gallery to see how each member voted, indicating she voted "no," as she intended.
But after the vote, a House colleague pointed out to Arnold-Jones that the printout of the roll call on the bill did not register any vote for her.
Her vote wasn't decisive. The bill — which deals with lawyers being present during inspections of businesses by the Environment Improvement Board — failed by a 10-vote margin — 11 when you include Arnold-Jones' vote.
"It looks like I took a walk on the vote," Arnold-Jones told me. The printed record is what constituents — and researchers hired by political rivals — look at around election time.
Skipping votes can become an issue in a campaign. In 2002, Bill Richardson, running for his first term as governor, ran devastating ads against his Republican opponent, who was a state House member, for missing several votes. "John Sanchez didn't show up for work," was the disapproving catch-phrase in those ads.
There was a back-and-forth on the House floor between Arnold-Jones and Speaker Ben Luján on Wednesday. Luján said House members have to be careful. "If you just slightly hit the button, (the light) goes off again," he said. When Arnold-Jones asked that the record reflect her "no" vote, the Speaker initially hesitated, saying he didn't want to start going back and letting members vote on bills they'd missed.
But he finally relented, and no House member objected to counting Arnold-Jones' vote on HB628.
Arnold-Jones said she's convinced there's something wrong with the House electronic voting system.
"It really makes you wonder how often this happens," she told me. She doesn't believe the mistake happened on purpose. "It could easily happen to any of us," she said.
Steve Arias, chief clerk of the House, said he doesn't believe there's anything wrong with the voting system. He told me he did run a test on the system after Wednesday's floor session, and nothing appeared to be wrong.
On Tuesday, Arias said, his staff had to replace the buttons used by Rep. Ben Rodefer, D-Corrales, which, he said, had stopped working. "We tested the system three times after that, and it worked fine," Arias said.
Arias said the House first began electronic voting in 1980. The computer "brain" was upgraded in 1994. "Then there was another computer upgrade three or four years ago, and we got a new vote board," he said.
The Senate, by the way, has no electronic vote board. The votes there are done verbally or by show of hands.
Although Arias doesn't believe there is a systemic problem with the House vote apparatus, Jones is sure there is. She said she asked a sergeant at arms to bring her the printout for each floor vote.
Colón seeks second term: State Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón announced this week that he's seeking a second term.
If he's got any opponents, they've been awfully quiet about it.
Although Colón can't — and indeed, doesn't — take complete credit for the Democratic sweep in New Mexico last November, the fact his party won the state's electoral votes for Barack Obama, took all three congressional seats and the vacant U.S. Senate seat, and picked up a six seats in the state Legislature does give Colón some pretty good bragging rights for his re-election.
As he said in his e-mail announcement, "We funded and ran a nearly $2 million coordinated campaign to insure that while the Obama Campaign was working to elect Barack Obama, our local candidates had resources to grab his coattails and ride them to victory."
Not surprisingly, Colón's announcement says nothing about one of the Democrats' less lustrous moments last year — the February presidential caucus, which brought complaints about inaccurate voter lists, inadequate numbers of ballots and general confusion. Plus, it took a couple of weeks to get the final results — in which Hillary Clinton barely edged Obama. A promised public summit concerning the future of the caucus was canceled in April and never rescheduled.
Colón is a strong ally of Gov. Bill Richardson. In a recent opinion piece in an Albuquerque paper, Colón claimed the federal grand-jury investigation into an alleged state pay-to-play scheme was politically motivated. Colón served as treasurer of a Richardson public charity, the Moving America Forward Foundation, which has refused to disclosed contributors and expenditures.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Brian Colon Speaks (but not to me)
The chairman of the state Democratic Party never got back to me about my story on the Moving America Forward Foundation -- the Bill Richardson charity that collected $1.7 million but won't release records of who donated and how exactly the money was spent.
But he did talk to Matt Reichbach on the Insight New Mexico radio show (1350 AM, Albuquerque.) You can find that HERE.
Regarding MAFF, Colon told Reichbach, "I'm glad you asked." (I guess he wasn't glad that I was trying to ask or he'd have called me back.)
He told Reichbach that the Moving America Forward Foundation was different than Moving America Forward, Inc., which was a political action committee, and thus did report contributors and expenditures.
And he said MAFF spent money "for the purpose of registering and educating voters all over the country.” But we still don't know exactly where the money went or who gave to MAFF.
Granted, legally a "public charity" is not obligated to disclose contributions or expenses. However, people naturally want to know who is giving money to anything associated with a public official.
But he did talk to Matt Reichbach on the Insight New Mexico radio show (1350 AM, Albuquerque.) You can find that HERE.
Regarding MAFF, Colon told Reichbach, "I'm glad you asked." (I guess he wasn't glad that I was trying to ask or he'd have called me back.)
He told Reichbach that the Moving America Forward Foundation was different than Moving America Forward, Inc., which was a political action committee, and thus did report contributors and expenditures.
And he said MAFF spent money "for the purpose of registering and educating voters all over the country.” But we still don't know exactly where the money went or who gave to MAFF.
Granted, legally a "public charity" is not obligated to disclose contributions or expenses. However, people naturally want to know who is giving money to anything associated with a public official.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
eMAIL FROM THE CHAIRMAN
State Democratic Chairman Brian Colon, who was a director of Gov. Bill Richardson's secretive Moving America Forward Foundation, didn't return my phone calls when I was writing a story about that last week. Other reporters have said the same thing.
So I was excited when I got an email from Colon a few minutes ago.
Alas, it wasn't about MAFF.
(and no, I'm not really a fellow Democrat. I'm a proud declined-to-state. I get the same kind of email from the Republicans.)
So I was excited when I got an email from Colon a few minutes ago.
Alas, it wasn't about MAFF.
Dear Fellow Democrat,
I wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that we have sold more than 900 tickets and have less than 100 available for our Annual Legislative Dinner.
Click here to reserve tickets before we sell out.
Elected officials and supporters will come together to celebrate our success in creating a Blue State in '08 this Thursday January 29 at 7:00pm.
Click here to reserve tickets to the Legislative Diner today!
Tickets for the Legislative Dinner are just $200 and you can purchase your tickets right now online by clicking on the button below. Act
now to ensure that we reserve a seat for you at this exciting event.
(and no, I'm not really a fellow Democrat. I'm a proud declined-to-state. I get the same kind of email from the Republicans.)
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