Nominee for UNM regent gave generously to politicians
Paul Emir Blanchard knows more than most about making news. He’s been grabbing headlines since 1967, when he upset Joe LaMotta in a high school wrestling match in Florida.
Joe was a tough kid and a big name, the son of Raging Bull Jake LaMotta, onetime world middleweight boxing champion.
After Blanchard finished high school in Coral Gables, he had a short stay at the University of Miami. His athletic talents weren’t appreciated by the football coach, so Blanchard went west to play for the University of New Mexico.
He lettered as a Lobo linebacker for two seasons, 1970 and ’71. Now 73, Blanchard is likely to next return to campus as a member of the UNM Board of Regents.
He’s been a financial contributor to Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who nominated Blanchard to be a regent. Blanchard has also donated to influential state senators who will vote on whether to confirm him.
The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday morning is scheduled to question Blanchard and make a recommendation on his nomination. Odds are good the full 42-member Senate will confirm Blanchard by early afternoon.
In the last dozen years, the Senate has voted down only one nominee for a regent post, attorney Matt Chandler.
A Republican, Chandler served as treasurer of political committee that ran untruthful campaign ads against Democratic candidates. Senate Democrats closed ranks to reject Chandler for a seat on the UNM Board of Regents.
It shouldn’t have surprised Republican Gov. Susana Martinez. She nominated Chandler as a regent because he was a political ally.
Blanchard has had many highs and lows in business, most notably as a contractor and developer. Various creditors sued him in the 1980s and ’90s, and governments filed liens against him for unpaid taxes.
He improved his finances partly by investing in racetracks and casinos. On his financial disclosure report for the regent seat, Blanchard lists one of his jobs as president of the Downs at Albuquerque.
Gambling is only one of his many ventures. Blanchard wrote he also is chairman of Defined Fitness Inc., a collection of fitness clubs in New Mexico. Other jobs he listed on his financial statement are president of a construction company and partner or managing member of four commercial real estate companies.
Like presidents handing
ambassadorships to pals or generous donors, governors from both major political parties have rewarded political insiders with appointments as university regents.
A review of campaign reports from the last dozen years shows Blanchard contributed heavily to Democrats. He donated as an individual or through his companies to Lujan Grisham and more than a dozen state legislators or their PACs.
For example, in 2017-18, his Blanchard Properties real estate company contributed $10,500 to Lujan Grisham’s first campaign for governor. Blanchard’s construction company gave another $5,000 to Lujan Grisham.
Blanchard’s financial support of the governor continued as she ran for a second term. On Aug. 26, Blanchard Properties donated $10,400 to Lujan Grisham. That same day, Blanchard’s wife, Leigh Ann Hella Blanchard, contributed $5,400 to the governor’s campaign.
Other state politicians also received financial help from Blanchard or his companies.
Blanchard Properties contributed to state Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, as he ran for different offices. Blanchard’s company gave Padilla $2,500 for his legislative reelection campaign in 2016, and another $5,000 in 2017 when Padilla when he announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor.
In similar fashion, Blanchard in 2015 contributed $5,000 to Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, for his legislative reelection effort. Muñoz received $5,000 more from Blanchard in 2018 when he declared himself a candidate for state land commissioner. As sitting senators, Padilla and Muñoz vote on regent confirmations.
Blanchard donated to Albuquerque Democrats Mimi Stewart and Moe Maestas when they were in the House of Representatives. Now senators, each of them will vote on whether to confirm Blanchard. Stewart, president pro tem of the Senate, is scheduled to introduce Blanchard to the Rules Committee.
Across the last decade, Blanchard also gave money to a few Republicans in the Legislature. For instance, he donated $7,500 from 2015-17 to then-House Majority Leader Nate Gentry of Albuquerque.
For a few years while Martinez was governor, one lawmaker tried to reform the way university regents are chosen. Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, was in the House of Representatives when he attempted to take away some of the governor’s power in selecting regents.
Steinborn said mediocre nominees often became regents, as there are no qualifications and governors treat the appointments as political plums.
He proposed a constitutional amendment to create nominating committees for regents. They were to send the governor a list of finalists, and she would have been obligated to choose only people from that group. Steinborn’s reforms never received enough votes to pass the Legislature.
Maybe universities try to hire the best and brightest to teach English literature or computer science. But when it comes to nominating regents to oversee state universities, cash and political connections can still go a long way.