Marty Chavez Disses Negative Politics & U.S. House; Ex-Wife May Run for Mayor

Since he released a statement last Friday withdrawing from the U.S. Senate race, Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez has essentially been in hiding from the public. He hasn't appeared at a single press conference -- a rarity for the camera-loving Mayor. Although he was present at Friday's lighting of the Old Town Christmas tree, Marty reportedly fled the scene when invited to the podium. He's let his campaign manager, Mark Fleisher, do most of the talking, and Fleisher has been repeating a story that poor internal polling numbers were the reason Marty decided to abruptly withdraw from the race.

That explanation always seemed odd, given that all of the polling numbers from day one of Marty's Senate campaign were poor. Juicy rumors continue to percolate about the real reason Chavez suddenly fled the race. Dark innuendos multiply by the day. Now we have another scenario, directly from Marty via a telephone interview with Albuquerque Journal reporter Jeff Jones:

Chávez on Tuesday contended the poll did not play a role in his decision to get out of the race. He said he became convinced it would take a "particularly hard-hitting" primary race to secure the Democratic nomination, leaving the winner "bloody and weakened" heading into the general election ... He said Washington had "no role in my getting in, or getting out."

In other words, Chavez claims he was just being noble -- and doing so of his own volition -- putting the interests of the NM Dem Party before his own ambitions. Right. That's why his campaign began reciting negative mantras about Rep. Tom Udall even before NM-02's Congressman officially joined the Senate primary race. It's bad enough when fellow Dems fling mud as a close race draws to a close, but Marty went negative from the get-go.

Mayor Marty Too Genteel for U.S. House
Chavez had an even more outrageous explanation for why he won't enter the NM-01 Congressional race:

Chávez, in a telephone interview, blasted the U.S. House of Representatives and said that jumping into the race for the open, Albuquerque-based seat is "not an option." The House is "not a place where I want to be," said Chávez ... He said Tuesday that while the Senate remains a place where "individuals of substance gather," the House— whose members face re-election every two years, compared with six-year terms for senators— is "not a place for ladies and gentlemen any longer. ... They play a type of politics (that) I think is destructive."

Gag me with a spoon. Where do I even begin parsing these statements? Marty aghast at "destructive" politics? If the U.S. House is not a place for "ladies and gentlemen," does that mean that Rep. Tom Udall is just another low-life politico, at home for years in a setting beneath the dignity of Chavez? I guess Marty suddenly sees himself as a man of "substance" who's above the political fray, too unsullied and high minded to consider running for an office as shabby as the U.S. House. Amazing.

After all, this is a man who has been reveling in back-room, backstabbing politics at their most venal during his City Hall years. I guess he considers his underhanded skirmishes with the City Council and his belligerant antics in pushing his my-way-or-the-highway initiatives as a better match for the refined sensibilities of the U.S. Senate than what he sees as the nasty strategery of the U.S. House. My, my.

Margaret Aragon De Chavez Pondering Mayoral Run
In another intriguing development, Marty's ex-wife, Margaret Aragon De Chavez, told KOB-TV news that she'll form an exploratory committee next Spring to study whether she should run for Albuquerque Mayor in 2009. In her on-camera interview (text and video), Aragon De Chavez said:

... [running for Mayor] is something a lot of people have encouraged her to do. Aragon De Chavez said her experiences as a school teacher, principal, real estate agent, and single mother would make her a strong candidate.

"If you want to be an effective leader, you've gotta have the ability not to waffle on issues. I also think you've got to have compassion to listen and if you feel that you've made the wrong choice, you need to admit it and say it needs to be reevaluated," she said.

Aragon De Chavez previously considered running for Mayor in 2005, following her 2004 divorce from Marty. Asked about the possibility that she might be running against Marty in 2009, she said:

"You know I really don't want to talk about the possibility of other candidates, because I think what I need to think about is what would make me the best candidate and that's what I'm going to focus on," she said.

... Aragon De Chavez said her two teenage children plan on working for her campaign if she decides to run for mayor.

Timing is everything, isn't it? Marty told the Journal that "a possible run for a fourth mayoral term, a bid for the governor's job in 2010 or a return to the private sector all remain "on the table," but added that he's currently focused on his mayoral duties."

The current City Charter includes term limits that would preclude another mayoral run by Marty. However, if he wanted to run for a third consecutive term, which would be his fourth term in total, Marty could either try to change the Charter or challenge its constitutionality in court. A similar term limit provision for City Councilors was struck down by the New Mexico Supreme Court in the mid-1990s.

Click for archives of our previous coverage of the 2008 U.S. Senate race in New Mexico and the 2008 NM-01 Congressional race.