To be relevant, N.M. needs a March primary
With Pete Buttigieg and 23 other Democrats running for president, you might believe this attention-starved pack would try to entice big crowds at every whistle-stop.
That’s not the way politicians work, especially when it comes to sparsely populated states with belated primary elections. New Mexico is one of those.
Its primary is not until June. This makes the state unimportant in nominating the candidates for president.
Lacking good jobs, New Mexico has no chance to add a few million residents to gain more votes in the electoral college.
The only way for the state to become relevant in presidential politics is to move its primary election to March. This would force candidates to meet the masses. Now they don’t bother.
Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., was scheduled to visit Santa Fe on Sunday. But only affluent New Mexicans had access to him.
Those who could spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for an omelet and a seat at the table got to hear from him at private functions.
In contrast, Buttigieg held a public rally Friday in downtown Las Vegas, Nev. He had more incentive to make himself available to residents of Nevada, though its population isn’t much larger than New Mexico’s.
The difference is that Nevada’s Democratic presidential caucus is Feb. 22. This gives it a voice in selecting a nominee. By comparison, New Mexico has laryngitis.
Republicans in the New Mexico House of Representatives once proposed a cure. They introduced a bill in 2015 to move the state’s primary election to March.
The measure failed on a 6-6 vote of the House committee on elections.
Democrats closed ranks to kill the bill. Republicans supported it, in part because they believed it would stir up chatter about then-Gov. Susana Martinez as a contender for vice president.
A favorite sidelight of sycophantic state Republicans was to promote Martinez for national office.
If New Mexico had an earlier primary, they figured all the vapid hosts of cable television shows would have to mention Martinez as a potential running mate of the Republican nominee.
House Republicans didn’t announce that Martinez would get a boost from a primary election in March. They made saner arguments.
One was that presidential nominations typically are decided before New Mexico’s primary is held. With an earlier election, the state would matter in presidential campaigns.
The Republicans also said voter turnout might increase if residents had a say in winnowing the presidential field.
They were right about everything except Martinez being a contender for national office. She wrecked what was left of her reputation in December 2015 at a boozy holiday party at a hotel in downtown Santa Fe.
Because Martinez no longer is governor, Democrats in the state Legislature could come to their senses and change the date of the primary election.
Then candidates for president would be inclined to see New Mexico as something more than a layover to solicit cash from the wealthy.
In fairness to Buttigieg, he isn’t alone in meeting privately with moneyed Democrats. Many candidates for president do the same.
It would have been fun to see how Buttigieg handled himself with ordinary people.
A Rhodes Scholar, he became mayor of South Bend when he was just 29. He decided to run for president instead of seeking a third term as mayor of a city that is only a bit larger than Santa Fe.
John Voorde, a member of South Bend’s governing council, told me Buttigieg’s decision to seek the presidency was no surprise.
“I think he had that in the back of his mind for some time,” Voorde said.
Voorde has been a council member, city clerk and township assessor in a political career that’s lasted 40 years. But the youthful mayor, he said, has never once asked for his opinion or advice.
Still, Voorde speaks well of Buttigieg. He said Buttigieg has been dynamic in trying to revive South Bend’s downtown and certain residential areas pockmarked with abandoned homes.
“Overall I give him an A or maybe an A-minus,” Voorde said.
Asked if he would vote for Buttigieg for president, Voorde didn’t answer directly.
“I think he might make a better president than a mayor. To me, the pinnacle is being mayor. There’s no better job.”
Buttigieg must disagree. But most Santa Fe residents probably won’t get the chance to quiz him.
By the time the state’s primary rolls around, Buttigieg and all but one of the other candidates probably will have foundered and failed.
That’s a problem in New Mexico every four years. Somebody is celebrating in the winner’s circle before the state’s residents ever enter the voting booth.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.