Progressives target conservative state Senate Dems
Group launched campaign last week to support challenges to five incumbents, but outbreak might complicate path
The coronavirus pandemic and the virtual economic standstill it has induced could hamper a progressive coalition’s bid to unseat several influential New Mexico Senate Democrats in the June primary elections.
A group called No Corporate Democrats
launched a campaign last week to support primary candidates running against five Democratic senators, accusing the incumbents of favoring corporations over rural residents and criticizing them for blocking legislative initiatives on early childhood education and abortion.
The five are some of the most influential senators in the New Mexico
Legislature, including Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen and Sen. John Arthur Smith, chairman of the body’s Finance Committee. The group, which also includes Clemente Sanchez of Grants, Gabriel Ramos of Silver City and George Muñoz of Gallup, tends to be fiscally conservative and has opposed expensive legislative proposals.
But longtime New Mexico pollster Brian Sanderoff said the looming downturn in the economy and state finances — driven by the state’s stayat-home order, the closing of businesses and a huge drop in oil prices — could help those senators in the primary precisely because of their moderate stance.
“I think the current political environment favors the more moderate and conservative Democratic incumbents over their more progressive challengers primarily due to the recent circumstances, which have led to a dramatic decline in state revenues,” Sanderoff said.
The progressives’ message would likely be more successful in a year when revenue exceeds projections, rather than at a time when the state could have to
mend a $1 billion to $2 billion budget hole for fiscal year 2021, the pollster said.
“If we had all this additional surplus, then the progressive message that we’re not serving our children would have been that much more powerful,” Sanderoff said. “But now even our progressive governor will have to call a special session and trim back next year’s budget.”
Fiscal prudence has been a priority of some of the senators over the years.
Smith, for instance, repeatedly warned during this year’s legislative session that legislators were proposing to spend too much money. His Finance Committee, which also includes Muñoz as vice chairman, ultimately cut the House’s spending plan in high-visibility areas such as roads and teacher pay raises.
Now, they may have tangible proof those were good decisions, given the massive revenue cliff the state could be facing. “I probably get kicked around by everybody that wants to spend more money,” said Smith, D-Deming, referring to other legislators. “But now they’re all calling me, wanting to know how we’re going to get out of this mess.”
Yet the coalition said New Mexico would actually be in a better position to deal with the current crisis if it weren’t for many of the senators’ decisions on legislative matters.
If they hadn’t repeatedly blocked proposals to tap the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund for early childhood education, for instance, children would be better equipped to deal with the current situation, said Andrea Serrano, executive director of OLÉ, which is part of the coalition.
“We’re talking about years and years of bad legislation,” Serrano said. “New Mexico families haven’t had access to health care and child care, and our schools are underfunded.”
The coalition also accuses the five Democrats of being “beholden to corporations” and the oil and gas industry.
“Our campaign is about telling the truth about these Democrats and where they get their money,” Serrano said.
Serrano said the coalition won’t support primary candidates financially but will lead get-out-the-vote efforts and other ways of supporting the primary challengers. Other groups in the coalition include the Center for Civic Action, ProgressNow New Mexico and the New Mexico Working Families Party.
“For years, these senators voted against high-quality early childhood services that we desperately need in Southern New Mexico,” Valeria Hollaway, an early childhood provider in Las Cruces, said in a coalition statement. “Now that COVID-19 is a threat to everyone’s health and livelihood, families are desperate for child care, proving that working people are the backbone of our society — not corporations.”
Papen faces two primary challengers: businesswoman Tracy Perry, who also describes herself as a progressive Democrat, and Carrie Hamblen, who was chairwoman of the Southern New Mexico Pride organization for six years.
Smith’s opponent is former state Democratic Party Vice Chairwoman Neomi Martinez-Parra, a longtime educator from Lordsburg.
Sanchez is being challenged by retired teacher Pam Cordova; Ramos will face Siah Correa Hemphill, a teacher and school psychologist; and Muñoz has Noreen Ann Kelly as an opponent.
Sanderoff said the challengers may also have a tough time because the current crisis could make it harder for political newcomers to gain voters’ attention at a time when many are worried about their economic and physical well-being.
“Typically, voters seek stability in times of crisis,” he said.
Add to that the fact that candidates can’t campaign door to door or in person because of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s stay-at-home order.
“This also tends to benefit incumbents because they have more name recognition,” Sanderoff said.
The incumbents refuted the accusations made by the coalition last week, saying they are focused on helping their communities stay healthy and economically afloat during the outbreak. “It’s pretty sad what these groups are doing, in my opinion,” said Sanchez, who is from Grants and is chairman of the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee. “They claim to be for the people. It sure doesn’t seem like they’re for the people.
“They should be concerned about people and their health and their economic future,” Sanchez added. “That’s what I’m focusing on.”
Papen, D-Las Cruces, said she thought the rift between the senators and their progressive challengers was “philosophical” and acknowledged she and her colleagues were more financially conservative.
“We’ve got to make sure our state stays afloat,” she said.
She also said many of her constituents are scared amid the pandemic.
“I have phone calls coming in all day long and people say, ‘I need help,’ ” she said. “We’ve had epidemics before. This one is really bad. It’s turning us into if not a deep depression, certainly a depression.”