Almost spring, and the politics keep rolling
Oh, how time does fly. We’re so far into 2018 that the city has taken down the Christmas lights on the Plaza — or at least isn’t turning them on at night. And it’s that time of year when the yard signs for city election candidates begin to wilt and the yard signs for primary candidates begin to spring from the fertile ground.
So in honor of those lazy, hazy crazy days of (almost) spring, here’s a look at some recent minor political news.
The manly job of land commissioner: Late last month I got a fundraising email from state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard, D-Los Alamos. It had the subject line: “A woman can’t be .”
The message read, “If you are a woman you might have heard this line about something you wanted to accomplish but told was out of your reach. If you are a man, you might have heard this about me running for land commissioner.
“I don’t blame my opponents for using the lowest common denominator in their attacks but this isn’t my first rodeo and my track record speaks for itself. …”
Oh no! Which one of her opponents — Democrats Sen. George Muñoz, environmentalist Garrett Veneklasen and Republican Public Regulation Commissioner Pat Lyons — would actually say something like that? Granted, all three men are surely hoping that voters choose a male for the position this year, but I haven’t seen any of them saying that women aren’t qualified to be land commissioner.
So I aked Garcia Richard to ask who had used her gender to attack her. “People from both camps,” she said. When asked if any actual candidate said it, she said, “Not that I know of.”
George and Howie: Speaking of the hotly contested land commissioner race, last week I got an email from the Muñoz campaign touting a high-profile endorsement from a fellow Democratic senator.
“Today, New Mexico state senator and candidate for lieutenant governor Howie Morales issued the following statement in announcing his endorsement of Sen. George Muñoz for the state’s next land commissioner.
What followed was four paragraphs of praise from the Silver City senator for the senator from Gallup.
“As a 6th generation New Mexican with a long record of experience as a businessman, rancher and public servant, Sen. Muñoz is the one candidate that has the leadership and experience necessary to serve as New Mexico’s next Commissioner of Public Lands. … In the Senate, he always stood with me as I challenged the disastrous education policies of Hannah Skandera and Gov. Susana Martinez. At the height of their popularity, George Muñoz never wavered, and remained strong in defending our classrooms in New Mexico.”
What I didn’t see — besides any mention of gender — was any reciprocity. No mention of whether Muñoz was endorsing Morales. And I haven’t seen anything from Morales touting support from Muñoz.
Billy’s back? Speaking of endorsements, I have to admit I did a double take when I saw an email from the Deb Haaland campaign announcing an endorsement for her bid for Congress in Albuquerque’s 1st Congressional District.
“BREAKING NEWS: 350 Action, Bill McKibben Endorse (sic) Deb Haaland for Congress in NM-1.” Maybe I’ve been covering New Mexico politics too long, but when I first saw the name “Bill McKibben” I thought of former state Sen. Billy McKibben, who died last year.
Bill is a well-known environmentalist author based in Vermont. Billy was a Republican state senator from Hobbs. Well loved on both sides of the aisle — unless he was using his quick wit and sharp tongue against you — Billy McKibben was nicknamed “Chainsaw.”
If he were still alive, I’m not sure that Billy would join Bill McKibben in endorsing Deb Haaland. But if he did, she wouldn’t be the first Democrat he endorsed. In the 2002 gubernatorial campaign, Billy joined a group called Republicans for Richardson, supporting Bill Richardson in his first race for governor. As late as 2007, he was still singing Richardson’s praises, telling the Albuquerque Journal that the Democratic governor, who was running for president, had “energized New Mexico. … He’s caused all kinds of people to think, ‘Why not?’ ” McKibben said.
Contact Steve Terrell at 505-986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at www.santafenewmexican.com/ roundhouse_roundup.