Musical Chairs for Santa Fe Statehouse Seats

We've been witnessing a complicated game of musical chairs (or is that 3D chess?) being played among Dems interested in running for U.S. House and Senate slots in New Mexico ever since Sen. Pete Domenici announced he'll retire. Now the action has spread to Dem candidates for Statehouse seats in Santa Fe.

Recently, current State Senator John Grubesic announced he wouldn't be running for reelection in 2008 in Senate District 25 in Santa Fe because he needed to build up his law practice and earn some money. First-time candidate Brian Egolf had earlier announced he'd be running for that State Senate seat. Next, the highly respected State Rep. Peter Wirth (left) of Santa Fe's House District 47 announced he would also be running for Grubesic's old Senate seat. Exit Egolf, who announced yesterday he'll run instead for the House seat Wirth will be vacating in House District 47. Phew.

But wait, there may be more. A rumor is now making the rounds that Miles Nelson, M.D. (right), may be contemplating entering the House District 47 primary to challenge Egolf. Nelson, you may recall, was a Dem primary candidate for U.S. Congress in NM-01 in 2004 who got strong support from the grassroots. He ended up losing the primary to former State Senate President Pro-Tem Richard Romero, who had the backing of many Dem power politicos, including Gov. Bill Richardson. Romero went on to lose to incumbent Repub Rep. Heather Wilson in the general election 54% to 46%. Romero had also been defeated by Wilson in the 2002 race, by about the same margin.

A couple years back, Dr. Nelson moved to Santa Fe and just happens to reside in State House District 47. The word is he's being urged to make a return to election politics and run for what was Wirth's seat against the more moderate Dem, Brian Egolf. We'll see. Personally, I'd love to see Nelson back in the political action. He'd make an exciting State House candidate and would be an excellent replacement for progressive Rep. Wirth in that seat.

Other announced Dem candidates for the New Mexico Legislature include Eric Griego, who will be a primary challenger of current Dem State Senator James G. Taylor in Senate District 14 and John Blair, who is running for State Senate in District 15, a seat currently held by Repub Diane Snyder.

New Mexico's Dem primary elections, except for the caucus for presidential candidates, will take place in June of 2008. Read our previous posts on 2008 State Legislature races in our archive.