Rising star falls back to earth
Mayor dropped out of two elections in recent months
Within the span of a year, Javier Gonzales, perhaps more than any figure in New Mexico politics, has seen the high and the low.
He’s been both a potential candidate for governor and political nomad. Now, at the close of a still undefined single term as mayor of Santa Fe, he’s ended up in a sort of no man’s land for a longtime politician and public figure.
Gonzales, whose term at City Hall wraps up in less than a month, has skipped out on a pair of elections since the fall — one of which many expected him to win, and another that many were surprised he entered in the first place.
Leaving the two political opportunities on the table was part of a topsyturvy 12 months in which the telegenic mayor of the capital city became a national spokesman for immigrant-sanctuary policies, witnessed his signature policy proposal flop with voters, and, this week, confronted an allegation of sexual assault.
State police said they had received a complaint about alleged assaults by Gonzales, which the accuser said occurred more than 30 years ago, when Gonzales was 14, and the alleged victim, a female cousin, was 8.
Gonzales vigorously denied the claim, calling it a slanderous smear driven by political enemies, not least a City Hall gadfly who likes to appear at public meetings armed with a handgun to menace city councilors.
Whether it was the emergence of the allegation that forced Gonzales out of the public spotlight, or rather a growing discomfort with the often ugly bloodsport that occurs within its harsh glare, is unclear. Gonzales in a statement cited the fact that the allegations weren’t new — they have “been around since my divorce in attempts to hurt me and my kids,” he said — and a spokesman said Gonzales was simply ready for another chapter outside of politics.
“He’s been in elected office for a long time,” said Scott Forrester. “He truly felt like it was time to switch gears and do something else, and he made that decision before any of this.”
The transformation from ascendant progressive voice with a prominent platform to man on a political ice floe has been sudden and strange, however. And it remains to be seen where, if anywhere, Gonzales turns next.
“I don’t think it’s a death knell,” said Lonna Atkeson, a professor of political science at The University of New Mexico. “Something that maybe happened 40 years ago may be less important to people’s perspective, or less inflammatory, in different circumstances.”
Atkeson said she thought Gonzales’ case was indicative of an unseemly “mob rule” underbelly of the nationwide #MeToo movement, a reckoning with sexual power dynamics and assault that has felled careers spanning from U.S. Sen. Al Franken to actor Kevin Spacey.
In this environment, Atkeson said, “accusations are tantamount to convictions. And who wants their name to go through that?
“What we’re doing now is we’re probably losing good talent in many ways because someone’s entire career and all the things they’ve accomplished and done for the community can be erased by a single accusation, or a single event, even if it doesn’t have truth,” she added. “I think that’s bad for society.”
But Atkeson was quick to add that Gonzales was not a perfect candidate or mayor.
“His focus on national-level politics … and not focusing on the city has been the most damaging to his legacy and his name,” she said. “You know, what are you focusing on? City government is about services.”
Entrepreneur Alan Webber, whom Gonzales has endorsed to succeed him, on Friday described the allegations as “extremely serious” in a statement but added he only knew what had been reported.
“In all circumstances, it’s important that victims of abuse feel that their voices are heard and that they are safe in coming forward,” Webber said. “Until there are more facts based on the investigation, public speculation of any kind is ill-advised and unhelpful to all parties.”
City Councilor Joseph Maestas, another candidate for mayor, said in a statement that he was “troubled” by the claim and called on Gonzales to “withdraw from any involvement in the race to pick his successor while these allegations remain under investigation.”
Councilor Ron Trujillo, perhaps Gonzales’ chief political antagonist, had no comment.
Gonzales, for decades, has been all over the map of state Democratic politics. The son of a Santa Fe mayor, Gonzales entered the arena for himself as a Santa Fe County commissioner at age 27. He served two terms. He also was a regent at both New Mexico Highlands University and his alma mater, New Mexico State University, and for four years chaired the state Democratic Party.
In 2014, he ran for mayor of Santa Fe as an outsider and defeated a pair of city councilors in a three-way race, taking 43 percent of the vote.
He is the City Different’s first openly gay mayor and gained some measure of celebrity outside New Mexico for his progressive stature.
But the Gonzales administration came to its climax last year when the mayor proposed a 2-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages to fund early childhood education. The ensuing special election, into which outside groups on both sides poured millions, exposed deep divisions within Santa Fe. The pro-tax sales pitch fell flat with voters, who soundly rejected it.
If the defeat of the tax ended speculation about Gonzales as a 2018 gubernatorial candidate, the mayor’s race was still one many observers expected Gonzales to enter as the incumbent and probably win.
But Gonzales, in what was unanimously considered a shock announcement, cited his time commitments as a father of two daughters and said he would not seek re-election.
His leap into the lieutenant governor primary three months later also was a surprise move. As a candidate for the party’s No. 2 slot on the ticket, Gonzales would be campaigning across the state, making many more appearances much farther afield than he would in a citywide race.
He said he wanted to fill a potential “vacuum” of progressivism in the race after state Sen. Michael Padilla withdrew his candidacy amid an uproar over decade-old sexual harassment allegations.
Earlier this week, though, Gonzales announced his heart had never been in the lieutenant governor’s race, reversing course from only a few days prior when he had successfully qualified as a candidate.
With a clear conscience, he said, he was ready to return to the private sector.
On Friday, District Attorney Marco Serna confirmed New Mexico State Police had informed his office the allegation had been made last week against the mayor.
Gonzales in his statement said unequivocally it was “without merit or truth.”
The mayoral election is March 6, and the winner is scheduled to be sworn in the week after.
City Councilor Signe Lindell, an ally of the mayor’s, said Gonzales often has been subject to more animus than warranted — and this most strident anti-Gonzales campaign, she added, was born out of the soda-tax special election.
“The winning side, rather than deciding to move on, or to move the discussion to a positive place, has decided to engage in personal attacks that have a negative impact on those serving and make those thinking about serving think twice,” Lindell said. “We are a vibrant, diverse community that can overcome our challenges, but we can only do it if we start talking about the issues instead of personality.”