With Nowhere Else to Go, Marty Chavez to Seek U.S. Senate Seat in New Mexico

My own personal take on the latest development in the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico: Albuquerque's Mayor Martin Chavez will announce his run for Pete Domenici's Senate seat tomorrow at 11 AM at Eclipse Aviation. Maybe he should have Terri Cole, maven of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, and his big donors from all sectors of the sprawl development industry standing on stage with him -- for these are the interests he's served most faithfully while mayor. At one time he could have had Repub Sally Mayer at his side, since she's been one of his strongest boosters on the City Council, but even she feels betrayed and bullied by Chavez of late. That's the kind of guy he is.

Recent Setbacks
Mayor Marty has been trumpeting his desire to be Governor for many moons now. Unfortunately for him, not many Democrats around the state have been enthusiastic about it. He's offered lavishly catered events at Dem gatherings, traveled the state looking for backers and tried to get his helpers elected to Party offices, even if a few didn't really live in the precincts they ran in. Still, in the only available public polling on Dem candidates for the 2010 governor's race, Dems chose Lt. Gov. Diane Denish over him by a margin of 50% to 30%. Chavez has little statewide cred with Dems despite being elected as Albuquerque's mayor three times. Maybe that's because he got so many votes from Repubs. And he didn't have to face a Dem primary because the mayor's race is officially "nonpartisan."

His only other foray into running statewide brought a sound defeat, when he lost to Repub Gary Johnson by a margin of 55% to 46% in the 1998 Governor's race. Of course, since then, Marty's reinvented himself as sprawl development's best friend. The money is so good you know.

Recently, of course, he got another thrashing when the candidates he put up to run in this month's municipal election in Albuquerque all got roundly beaten. Several used less than stellar campaign tactics to try and get the edge, only to be found out and chastised in public and ultimately by the voters. Yes, Marty must have been pretty glum until Pete Domenici announced his retirement. After all, Chavez had blocked off that alternative route to power by stating previously that he wouldn't ever run against Domenici. More than that, he proclaimed that he supported Domenici and would vote for him. Quite the Democrat, isn't he?

Moderate or Mugging for Monied Interests?
Now that the way to the governship seems rocky indeed and he's rapidly becoming a lame duck mayor, a run for Senate must seem like the perfect solution to his growing political impotence. At least to his cronies and donors. It sure doesn't seem like anything but tone deaf political stubborness to the rank and file Dems I know. You can hear the groans rising from many quarters. For Marty isn't really a "moderate" Dem as he likes to portray himself. In my book, he's a big-time sell out to the financial forces of profit at any cost here in the Duke City. Remember that he raised and spent more than for his last mayoral run. You don't get that level of donations in a city race for nothing.

There's a big difference between being moderate on economic issues and taking money to do the work of some of the nastiest players on the metro scene. What kind of Democrat would work with Terri Cole et al. to quash a raise in the minimum wage, fight the implementation of clean elections and stop the movement for Smart Growith in the city? What kind of Democrat would do everything in his power to make uncontrolled sprawl growth easier and then self-proclaim himself "green" and into "water conservation"? The kind that thinks he can fool at least most of the people enough to win a Democratic primary for Senate. Personally, I think he's got his work cut out for him.

I'm curious as to how Chavez intends to package himself for this run, especially during a Dem primary that's sure to be a test of his mettle as a Democrat. What mask will he don, what buzzwords will his dedicated PR team provide, which parts of his record will he reinvent to try and convince voters he's something he's not?

It will certainly be compelling in a dismal sort of way to watch him try to squeeze into Dem's clothing as he goes before the Party's central committee and primary voters. And I guess the political pundits finally have a "name" Democrat to satisfy their needs. The problem is that his name is mud in the minds of way too many Democrats who take the Party's core credos seriously. And I'm not just talking about progressives. I'm talking about ordinary Democrats you meet when you canvass door to door in the precincts. The Democrats who stuff the envelopes and make the phone calls. The Democrats who vote straight tickets. You know, real Democrats.

Thanks for the Memories: ABQPAC
For those who may have forgotten about one of Mayor Chavez's major ethics transgressions, below are some links to local press articles about his 2002-03 involvement with ABQPAC, which was created to raise money from city employees and contractors to pay for such things as the travel expenses of Marty's family on international goodwill trips, his cell phone bills, campaign debts, etc.

Even the city's Board of Ethics and Campaign Practices -- generally seen as toothless and compromised -- was forced to take some action against Chavez regarding ABQPAC. Although Common Cause and others were calling for his removal from office due to the ABQPAC scams, he was reprimanded and ended up returning $60,000 in "donations" he got via ABQPAC. The Ethics Board found him guilty of violating the City Charter by accepting money to pay for family travel and other expenses. The Board ruled that he violated a ban on accepting valuable gifts from those with an interest in city affairs and that he failed to report certain campaign contributions and abide by contribution limits.

• 18 PAC Donors Tied to Contracts, Albuquerque Journal
• The Chavez case: Panel will deliberate key points, Albuquerque Tribune
• >Chavez Found Guilty of Violations in ABQPAC Inquiry, Albuquerque Journal
• The Mayor’s Indispensable Woman, Duke City Fix (about Teri Baird, campaign fundraiser for Chavez and ABQPAC)
• Ethics Hall of Shame, Democracy for New Mexico

For our previous posts about the 2008 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico, visit our archive. For our posts about the recently complete Albuquerque municipal election and Mayor Martin Chavez's role in it, click here.