Political roundup

Days until the primary election: 46

Two against Pompeo: Both of New Mexico’s U.S. senators say they will vote “no” on President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the State Department.

Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat, told NPR’s “All Things Considered” this week that nominee Mike Pompeo would “double down on President Trump’s worst instincts and policies” if confirmed as secretary of state.

“President Trump’s dangerous and erratic tweets and statements threaten to bring us closer to war. The next secretary of state needs to be an independent and strong advocate for diplomacy. I don’t think Mike Pompeo will be that voice,” Udall said.

Trump nominated Pompeo, currently the director of the CIA, last month after firing former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Pompeo has met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and give renewed hope to broad negotiations with the regime.

Still, Udall said, he is not convinced Pompeo would demonstrate much independence in the Trump administration.

New Mexico’s other senator, Democrat Martin Heinrich, is also opposed to Pompeo’s confirmation.

Both he and Udall voted against making Pompeo CIA director last year.

In a Republican-controlled Senate, however, Pompeo is likely to squeak by with enough votes to get the job.

Heinrich also is not sure about Trump’s likely pick to take over at the CIA. He says the CIA has released too little information about Gina Haspel’s 33-year career at the agency. And Heinrich does not like the classified information he has seen about her so far.

Anti-torture groups are already resisting her nomination, arguing she is connected to the agency’s “black site” detention program.

In a letter this week calling on the CIA to declassify some background information about Haspel, Heinrich wrote: “The more we review the classified facts, the more disturbed we are, both by the actions she has taken during her career and by the CIA’s failure to allow the public the opportunity to consider them.”

Pot debate: Maybe the last question was most revealing as Gov. Susana Martinez shared a stage on Thursday with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to discuss “Governing in the 21st Century” during an event at the Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

Asked what challenge they least expected to face as governors of their respective states, Hickenlooper replied: “Pot.”

Hickenlooper, a Democrat, explained that he had opposed a ballot measure legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in the Centennial State only to watch it pass and end up at least partly responsible for implementing the new law.

Martinez, a Republican and former prosecutor, renewed her opposition to approving a similar law in New Mexico, raising concerns there not be an effective way of tracking the money generated by the industry.

“Now they pay taxes,” Hickenlooper responded, pointing out that recorded sales topped $1.5 billion last year.

Martinez, whose own state was strapped for cash not too long ago, paused at one point in the back-andforth.

“Yeah, I’m very opposed to it,” she said.