Democracy for New Mexico

America Votes Says: Sign Petition to Get Wilson and Domenici to Testify Under Oath

This is a guest blog from Jennifer Ford, NM State Director of America Votes, who spoke at this month's DFA-DFNM Meetup:

It was great to be in a room with so many energized progressives at the last Democracy for New Mexico meeting!

My name is Jennifer Ford and I am the New Mexico State Director with America Votes. America Votes serves 37 national and more than 260 state-based partner organizations. This historic partnership represents a combined membership of more than 20 million Americans across the country. Groups that are a part of the America Votes coalition work on a broad range of issues including the environment, civil and human rights, choice, education and labor. 

Yesterday, in the wake of Attorney General Gonzales’ testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight one of our partners, New Mexicans for Truth.  This grassroots group of New Mexicans is dedicated to finding out the truth about Heather Wilson and Pete Domenici’s role in the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Both public officials allegedly made calls to Iglesias to pressure him about the metro courthouse indictments.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that "if a member of Congress contacts a US attorney to put pressure on one specific case, that is a very, very serious issue..."  Yesterday, testifying in front of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Gonzales told the panel that he doesn’t recall any more details on the firings.  In fact, Attorney General Gonzales said he couldn’t recall specific conversations or details in response to more than 70 questions. See this CNN article.

Since he has not been able to clear up the questions surrounding this scandal, the logical next step is for Heather Wilson and Pete Domenici to testify under oath about their conversations. 

New Mexicans for Truth has started a website to find out whether or not Wilson and Domenici pressured U.S. Attorney Iglesias as a way to win public support for Wilson’s extremely tight re-election campaign – a campaign that she won by only 900 votes.

If you are concerned about this issue, go to https://www.peteandheathercomeclean.com  and sign the petition asking Rep. Wilson and Senator Domenici to testify under oath.  Both Domenici and Wilson have repeatedly declined to testify under oath about the timing of the calls. This, above all else, has made it harder for New Mexicans to learn the truth about their Justice Department, and whether politics interfered with the law enforcement process.

Please sign the petition and pass it along to concerned friends:

https://www.peteandheathercomeclean.com.

As progressives we are stronger when we work together and I look forward to working with DFA to further a progressive agenda in New Mexico. 

Jennifer Ford
New Mexico State Director
America Votes
jford@americavotes.org
505-266-2505 ext. 111

Editor's Note: This is a guest blog from Jennifer Ford. Guest blogs provide our readers with an opportunity to express their opinions and share information on relevant political issues. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the main page.

Domenici Subpoenaed ... Again

This time in the local Elevator Nine trial. New Mexico FBIHOP has . See our previous post for background on this case, including links to a Common Dreams article by one of the demonstrators and to a relevant Pax Christi NM website.

Two More Hats in the Ring?

A little birdie (and it wasn't Bosco, Sunny or our seven parakeets) told me that . . . Javier Gonzales and Don Wiviott are two more Democrats considering entering the U.S. Senate Race to run against Domenici. Again, these are essentially rumors, but ...

In 1994, at only 27 years of age, Javier Gonzales was elected to the Santa Fe County Commissioner, where he served two four-year terms. According to the New Mexico Highlands University website, Gonzales works as a consultant at the global management firm, Accenture, and serves as the President of the NMHU Board of Regents:

Javier Gonzales is an Associate Partner in the Accenture Government Practice. His primary responsibility is to serve as the National Business Development Director for Local Government. Prior to joining Accenture, Javier served eight years as a Santa Fe County Commissioner. During his term as County Commissioner, Javier was elected to serve as the President of the National Association of Counties (NACo). Javier was the first Hispanic to serve as President in the organizations 66 year history as well as the youngest. Javier is a co-owner in his family business KSWV-AM 81 Radio Que Suave. It is Northern New Mexico's largest privately owned radio station.

His father, George Gonzales, was Mayor of Santa Fe from 1968 to 1972 and a County Commissioner before that. While on the County Commission, Javier is reportedly credited with helping to initiate Santa Fe County’s open space program, pass the County's first economic development plan and create the position of Health Policy Commissioner, among other things. Javier has also served on the Board of the National Hispanic Cultural Center and, according to this, he's also on the New Mexico First Board. Last month, Gov. Richardson appointed Gonzales to head a Higher Education Campus Safety Task Force in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy.

At last weekend's Dem meeting in Las Cruces, Gonzales hosted a packed event at the Double Eagle, where he treated the crowd to prime rib and more.

Don Wiviott is the developer of The Lofts, The Lofts at Marquez Place, and the Railyard, which are all innovative live-work unit projects in Santa Fe. He's also chaired the Santa Fe Development Review Committee.

Anyone out there know any other back stories on these two?

See our earlier Hats in the Ring post.

New Mexico: Hats in the Ring

Lots of rumors, articles and blog entries around town about who's gonna run for what in the New Mexico Dem 2008 Congressional election cycle. Let's look at some of the names being bandied about.

1st CD House Seat Held by Rep. Heather Wilson:

Martin Heinrich: So far, current Albuquerque City Councilor Heinrich is the first to unofficially enter the race. He's got support leaked by the Governor's camp, a campaign exploratory office and strong support from the environmental community and other sectors of the Dem grassroots in CD1. He's taken an unpaid leave of absence from his job as New Mexico Resource Trustee. He's clean as a whistle in the ethics department, is strongly against the Iraq war, yet is a staunch supporter of Second Amendment gun rights, and he's known as a fair and practical negotiator across the aisle. Heinrich is smart, articulate and personable. He attended this past Saturday's Dem SCC meeting talking up his chances.

Heinrich's downsides: He's untested in terms of going up against a strong opponent. It's unknown whether he has the grit, toughness and scrappiness to stand up to the kind of assaults that come with the territory in CD1, given Heather's tradition of using Rovian tactics to tear down opponents. We've never seen him debate a formidable competitor. We've never witnessed how he would respond to withering media attention. He's not Hispanic in a district where non-Hispanics haven't generated support adequate to win in the past.

Eric Griego: Now working as an assistant secretary at the NM Economic Development Department, Griego is a veteran of Albuquerque's often bruising municipal political scene. Eric led a number of mini-insurrections against the policies of Mayor Martin Chavez when he was on the City Council, and ran a proactive, populist, muscular campaign against Chavez in the last mayoral election. There's no doubt that he's a smart, scrappy, tough-minded, ethical candidate who can hold his own in debates and under the withering eye of heavy media attention. He has a robust following in the grassroots and has maintained a public presence via his previous column in the Alibi and his current one in the Albuquerque Tribune, as well as a 10-week stint hosting , a political radio talk show, during the last Legislative Session. Though he has expressed some interest in running for this seat, he hasn't yet done anything to actively build support.

Griego's downsides: He may be perceived as too "progressive" for the district. He made a fair amount of "enemies" by taking on Mayor Chavez so passionately. It's unknown how he would do in the fundraising department or in reaching out to more moderate elements of the Party.

Louis Caldera: The former UNM President, reportedly forced out by the Board of Regents last January, is being mentioned of late as a more "centrist" possibility for CD1. He expressed his interest in a run in a recent Albuquerque Tribune article and was making the rounds at last Saturday's Dem State Party meeting in Las Cruces. He currently is a law professor at UNM. Caldera is the son of Mexican immigrants and earned degrees from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Harvard Law School. He also served as secretary of the Army under Clinton. His military-related background might give him a leg up in running against Wilson, who graduated from the Air Force Academy. He's a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former member of the California General Assembly. His resume is varied and extensive.

Caldera's downsides: He's never run for public office in New Mexico. He's not a native New Mexican and his relationships with some segments of the local community have reportedly been less than satisfying. It's unknown how he would handle himself in a combative race under pressure and much public scrutiny. He's fairly new to the state and hasn't established a significant core of political supporters. His past experience is mostly bureaucratic in nature. He's built no credibility with the Democratic grassroots.

Others: NM Reps Gerald Ortiz y Pino and Al Park, City Councilors Debbie O'Malley and Michael Cadigan, Bingaman staffer Terry Brunner and even Mayor Chavez have been mentioned as possible candidates in this race. However, none of them has gone on the record as being serious about about a run. Still, one or more of them could decide to enter the race if the others more actively pursuing a candidacy come up empty handed.

Note: New Mexico FBIHOP has a poll up asking your preference on the CD1 race. .

2nd CD House Seat Held by Rep. Steve Pearce:

Al Kissling: Kissling has announced he'll do a repeat of his run against Pearce in the 2006 race, where he got about 40% of the vote against the ultra-rightwing Pearce. A political newcomer in '06, the liberal Rev. Kissling has a varied and compelling background, and worked very hard to gain traction in the 3rd CD without much in the way of campaign funds or Party support. His strengths include his honesty, passion for the issues and endurance in grassroots campaigning.

Kissling's downsides: He's already lost once in the district. He hasn't shown any taste for raising the funds needed to run a serious race.

Bill McCamley: Just 29, McCamley is an ambitious up and comer on the Dem scene. He won his first time out as a candidate for Dona Ana County Commissioner, and also serves as the Executive Director of the New Mexico Rural Development Response Council. He has a strong interest in "smart growth." An energetic fresh face, McCamley has declared his candidacy early and can be expected to run a hard primary race against Kissling. He has appeal with younger voters and those concerned about how Dona Ana County grows.

McCamley's downsides: He's inexperienced and may be considered to be too young by older voters. It's unknown how he would handle media pressure and how much money he could raise for the race.

U. S. Senate Seat Held by Pete Domenici:

Most prominent Dems are waiting to move on this race until the fallout from the U.S. Attorney firing scandal becomes more defined, and questions about Domenici's health and mental status are resolved. In the meantime, two grassroots candidates viewed as outsiders have declared they'll be running in the Dem primary for this seat. A recent Albuquerque Tribune article reports on the backgrounds of announced contenders Leland Lehrman and Jim Hannan, both Santa Fe-area residents. The pair were courting Dems at Saturday's SCC meeting in Las Cruces. Lehrman is running on a hard left platform, while Hannan is focusing on such issues as preserving Social Security, securing universal healthcare and improving auto mileage standards. It's unclear how much support either could get from Party regulars at a preprimary convention or a primary election. The article also quotes attorney Geno Zamora as interested in a possible run. Zamora ran an unsuccessful but generally well received campaign for the Dem Attorney General slot against Gary King, who went on to win in the general. He recently launched a consulting firm, Zamora Strategic Advisors.

Perhaps most intriguing is the idea of State Auditor Hector Balderas running for this Senate seat. Although Balderas hasn't said anything about a run, his name was on the lips of many Dems last weekend in Las Cruces, as a potential candidate for either the Senate or the CD1 Congressional seat. Over the course of his relatively short political career, first as a NM Rep from Wagon Mound, and now as State Auditor, Balderas has built a big buzz among Dems as being the Real Thing in terms of smarts, credibility, poise and top-notch ethics. He's very well liked and respected among Dems in many sectors of the Party, and his future in politics is viewed as bright indeed.

Balderas gave a well-received speech at Saturday's SCC meeting that touched on a number of foreign policy issues, using his recent trip to Pakistan as a jumping off point. He came off as mature, serious and seasoned beyond his years. Hector is definitely one to watch, if not for this election cycle, then certainly for future contests.

Bottom line on the Senate race -- still too early to know how the field will shake out. What we do know is that Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez most likely won't be a part of it. He came out early as supporting another run by Domenici, stating that Pete has his vote -- not a good way to garner rank and file Dem support for future political ambitions. Of course Chavez could conceivably enter the race if Domenici pulls out, but I think his very public support for Pete would be a definite downer for most Dem primary voters.

My guess is he'll stick with a primary run for Governor against , as he's also expressed his distaste for running for Congress. He's already busy raising money under an exploratory committee called Marty Chavez for New Mexico. Again, I think his past alliances with Republicans will make a win against Denish difficult at best. If there's anyone who has strong support across the board in core Dem political circles, it's Diane Denish.