Democracy for New Mexico

Backlash Erupts Against Victories in NM by Ethical Progressives and the Growing Power of Reform Groups

Oooh, oooh, that smell. Recent braying by the usual suspects about what is clearly constitutionally protected first amendment speech has erupted at both the conveniently anonymous Eye on Albuquerque (hi Whitney?) and the shifty alligator shack.

What are they whining about? What's clearly bugging them is that factual mailings and ads about issues by certain nonpartisan, nonprofit groups are helping to gain support for progressive issues, and thus the ethical, progressive candidates who support them in New Mexico. Bad news for the crooks and wall-leaning lobbyists for special interests. Good news for the people.

We can't have that. It threatens the monied, elite forces who like to be in charge and who use disinformation, unattributed innuendo and dishonest spin in an attempt to stay there. Facts (and voting records) are the enemies of this bunch. They win if people are uninformed or misinformed. They benefit from keeping voters in the dark about what's really happening and who's benefiting.

We've Seen This Play Before
The two (or more) bloggers are blowing smoke with their accusations of illegal actions on the part of the nonprofits they're going after. The stir they're trying to create is similar to the thoroughly discredited efforts by forces within the GOP to convince people there's massive voter fraud going on. You remember the David Iglesias case, don't you? And how the U.S Attorney's office couldn't come up with a single prosecutable case of voter fraud in New Mexico? Such realities never stop the forces of distortion, however. We've seen it time and time again.

If their view of what is and what is not allowable under the law for such groups were to hold sway, a multitude of issue-based non-profits and so-called 527s here and around the nation would be deemed to be breaking the law, and doing it for many years. The laws governing such groups are detailed and specific. Generally, they cannot directly advocate for a specific candidate by name or coordinate their actions with campaigns. But such groups are definitely free to distribute anything they want about issues or document the voting records, positions and actions of any candidate on the issues being discussed. Period.

We Don't Want No Stinkin' Reform
The bloggers and those stealthy and unnamed "insiders" behind the recent attacks know this. But they are choosing to ignore reality so they can strike back against forces that are having success in promoting progressive issues and positions. They know that progressives and reformers often win when voters are informed on the issues.

Witness the victories of ethical reformers like Eric Griego, Eleanor Chavez and Tim Keller, who recently won state legislative primary races against lazy, compromised, long-time incumbents who had abandoned the needs of their districts in favor of furthering the agendas of special interests in the New Mexico Legislature. Rest assured that those wins rankled and scared the business-as-usual status-quo pushers. They don't like it when the people come before the lobbyists.

You can start giving the alligator shack and Eye on Albuquerque credibility on the ethics issue when they start being as up-at-arms about the filthy swiftboaters of the right, often funded almost entirely by incredibly wealthy rightwingers in Texas. Don't hold your breath.

Swampsters Have History of Snarling at Reform
Remember, the gator farm was the force behind that infamous "contest" that called for students to submit a "sensible plan" for ethics reform. At the time, the reptiles were claiming ethics reform bills were stalled in the New Mexico Legislature not because certain state reps and senators don't like the idea of oversight -- but because those lobbying for reform were ineffective in some way. For background, you can read my previous post about the reptilian attack on ethics and campaign reform and those who advocate it, and how that crude contest ploy played out in posts at New Mexico FBIHOP and m-pyre.

Now those fighting tooth and nail against giving up the quid-pro-quo gravy train are going a step further in hypocrisy -- suggesting that the reform groups fighting against corruption are themselves corrupt or compromised in some way. What's fueling this sturm und drang? Panic in the dark nooks and crannies of the power elites.

Pushing Gary King
What the pushers behind the blogger mouthpieces clearly are doing is attempting to pressure Attorney General Gary King to go after those fighting for ethics and campaign reform, improved health care and other important mainstream goals. Let's hope that King has his head on straight when he deals officially with the accusations of those who want to keep certain puppets in power. If he caves to the whining, I think he'll have some significant legal battles on his hands locally and nationally -- a real firestorm.

The rules governing nonprofits, 527s, etc. are pretty clear. My understanding is that unless there's blatant campaigning afoot that's directly pushing a certain candidate by name, or it can be proven that a group is coordinating its actions with a candidate, there's nothing illegal taking place.

Then again, the alligators, eyes on Albuquerque, special interest lobbyists and threatened legislative candidates aren't really concerned about the law. They're trying to raise a ruckus because the voting public is finally getting more access to the facts about voting records and how those who are supposed to represent them are instead at the beck and call of powerful, monied interests concerned primarily about their own bottom lines. Knowledge on the part of voters is considered a bad thing by the business-as-usual contingent -- so they're going after those who have the nerve to communicate the facts to the people. And trying to label that illegal. Shame, shame, shame. And transparent as hell.

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After Midnight ...

... it'll be too late. Too late to donate to one or all of our True Blue New Mexico candidates before the end of the second quarter campaign finance reporting period. Consider donating even $1 or $5 to help remake our state into a True Blue New Mexico. If we'd all do our part, the totals would rise dramatically. Lots of small donations can often overcome the influence of big donations from all the wrong people to the GOP candidates running against our Dems. But to make it work, we all have to participate.

Take Martin Heinrich's race for Congress in NM-01. Bush flew into town recently and raised more than $300,000 in whopper donations from GOP bigwigs for Repub Darren White. How do we help to undercut that advantage? By clicking here and donating even a few bucks to Martin Heinrich's campaign. Martin's aiming to raise at least $75,000 $100,000? online by midnight tonight. Can we help put him over the top?

You can plug in an amount at the top of the ActBlue page to be split among the five True Blue candidates or you can scroll down and give only to one or two. But I do hope you give something, whatever you can, before tonight at 11:59 PM.

Down-Ticket Races
Are you more motivated to give to candidates in down-ticket races? You can easily do just that on ActBlue too. Whether you live in their districts or not, onsider donating to these Dems in contested New Mexico legislative and other races:

New Mexico State House Races:

Janice Saxton (website)
Dem candidate for NM House in HD 22
ActBlue page

Ben Rodefer
Dem candidate for NM House in HD 23
ActBlue page

Ellen Wedum (website)
Dem candidate for NM House in HD 59
ActBlue page

Craig Cosner (website and address for check)
Dem candidiate for NM House in HD 67

More New Mexico House candidates

New Mexico State Senate Races:

Jeff Carr (website)
Dem candidate for NM Senate in SD 7
ActBlue page

Victor Raigoza (website)
Dem candidate for NM Senate in SD 10
ActBlue page

Tim Eichenberg (website)
Dem candidate for NM Senate in SD 15
ActBlue page

Jessica Wolfe (website)
Dem candidate for NM Senate in SD 21
ActBlue page

More New Mexico Senate candidates

Bernalillo County Clerk:

Maggie Toulouse Oliver (website and donation button)

Did I leave out a favorite candidate of yours? Let me know in the comments and I will add the name to my listing.

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Eric Griego on 'We The People' Wednesday

WE THE PEOPLE: Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Eric Griego, NM Senate District 14
Victorious Candidate who followed his ideal of grassroots--clean money--donations and defeated the big money special interest backed campaign of the incumbent by a wide margin.

Comcast CABLE Channel 27, 1st and 3rd Wednesday - 6 PM
or ON THE WEB:  www.quote-unquote.org
Click for Channel 27's [3rd oval down] Media Stream
Mickey Bock, Host; Judith Binder, Producer
Mission: Truth and Transparency in Government

Come Celebrate Monday with Eric Griego

I'm definitely going to be at this one to celebrate one of our most exciting progressive victories!

From Eric Griego, State Senator-Elect: Please join me next Monday to celebrate my victory in the race for State Senate District 14.  Here are the details:

Monday, June 23, 5:30 - 7:00 PM
At the home of
Richard Romero & Margie Lockwood
907 Silver Ave SW, Albuquerque

I am pleased to be joined in the celebration by Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, State Auditor Hector Balderas, State Senators Dede Feldman, Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Cisco McSorley, State Representatives Gail Chasey, Peter Wirth and Moe Maestas, and State Representative Elect Brian Egolf.

The party will be hosted by Richard Romero, Drew Setter, Mike Puelle, David Duhigg, Natasha Ning, Reese Edwards, Cate Stetson, J.D. Bullington, Marcus Rael, Ricardo Barros and Nerissa Whittington, to whom I am grateful.

Thank you for your support and friendship, and I hope to see you Monday!

PS: reminder to those of you who already have contributed and/or volunteered for my campaign: You are my guests at this celebration. While some supporters who haven't contributed yet may wish to do so at this event, I want you to just come celebrate!

To see our previous posts on this and other New Mexico legislative races, visit our archive.

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2008 New Mexico Primary Winners; Upset Victories for Griego, Keller, Chavez

Martin Heinrich wins NM-01 in 4-way race. Ben Ray Lujan handily wins NM-03. Still too close to call in NM-02 between McCamley and Teague, though Teague is in the lead and has claimed victory. McCamley hasn't conceded. There are a bunch of Dona Ana County precincts still outstanding, where McCamley draws his greatest support. Problems have been reported with getting these votes transported and counted so things are at a standstill. I think McCamley can still pull it out, IF he gets big numbers from those outstanding precincts. Go, Bill!

Griego, Chavez, Keller: Incumbent Topplers

But what can only be called upset victories by three Dem primary legislative race challengers in Albuquerque have really made my day (and night). They're a wonder to behold, beautiful to absorb, shocking to realize. Eric Griego, Tim Keller and Eleanor Chavez victorious over entrenched, status quo incumbents! Griego whomped Paul Taylor in SD 17. Keller positively crushed Shannon Robinson in SD 15. Chavez won by a smaller, but still very healthy margin, in HD 13. And because they won in heavily Dem districts, the three intrepid change agents have effectively won seats in the NM Legislature.

Stunning. All three ran terrific campaigns. All three will bring truly progressive values to Santa Fe. All three represent victories for the people over the special interests. DFA-Democracy for New Mexico endorsed all three, as did many other folks in the grassroots, progressive and union communities. This is a BIG win for the forces of clean government and reform.

Update: Check out this post by Marjorie at m-pyre about Eleanor Chavez and Silva's hit piece on her during the campaign. Nice shots of Eleanor in her youth with Cesar Chavez and with her campaign manager, Tomas Garduno.

Results available at NM Secretary of State and at KRQE-13 News and many other places. At 10:40 PM, here are some select results, winners in red:

NM-01 Dem Congressional Race
Martin Heinrich 44%
Rebecca Vigil-Giron 25%
Michelle Lujan Grisham 23%
Robert Pidcock 8%

NM-02 Dem Congessional Race
Bill McCamley 42%
Harry Teague 52%
Teague claiming victory but McCamley says too close to call

NM-03 Dem Congressional Race
Don Wiviott 27%
Ben Ray Lujan Jr. 41%
Benny Shendo Jr. 16%
Harry Montoya 11%
Jon Adams 3%
Rudy Martin 2%

Dem U.S. Senate Race: Tom Udall unopposed

Repub U.S. Senate Race
Heather Wilson 49%
Steve Pearce 51%

Dem NM State House District 13
Eleanor Chavez 54%
Dan Silva (incumbent) 46%

Dem NM State Senate District 15
Eric Griego 63%
James C. Taylor (incumbent) 37%

Dem NM State Senate District 17
Tim Keller 66%
Shannon Robinson (incumbent) 34%

Bernalillo County Clerk
Maggie Toulouse Oliver 70%
Ambrose Chavez 30%

More results:

NM-02 GOP Congressional Race
Aubrey Dunn 20%
C. Earl Greer 10%
Edward R. Tinsley 31%
Monty Newman 21%
Greg Sowards 18%

Dem NM State Senate District 11
Linda Lopez 53%
Michael Padilla 47%

Tough race for John Blair against Eichenberg, who's much better known in Dem circles, even though Blair got the Albuquerque Journal's endorsement and campaigned very hard. Mr. Blair, you must run again for something soon. We need you in office.

Dem NM State Senate District 15
John Blair 40%
Tim Eichenberg 60%

Buh bye, Dan!

GOP NM House District 57
Dan Foley (incumbent) 46%
Dennis Kintigh 54%

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2008 NM Primary: Sample Ballots, Polling Places for June 3rd Election, More

See our previous post for information and links for finding your polling place, sample ballot and more. Also check out the links under Voting Info on this blog's left-hand sidebar near the top for voting guides and more. I thought I'd repeat this because I've gotten almost 2000 more than 2100 2300 2985 3525 hits already by the time the counter shifted to another day at midnight GMT time, many of them looking for election info. Yesterday I got 1404 unique visitors and 3265 hits. People are definitely interested in this election.

More stuff:

**New Mexico FBIHOP is from New Mexico voters about their experiences at the polls today. Go share yours after you vote.

**NM-03 Dem candidate Ben Ray Lujan Jr.'s campaign will be live-blogging today about how the voting's going and more at their campaign blog.

**Check the Coming Events calendar on the right-hand sidebar on this page for various election night parties you're welcome to attend, including gatherings hosted by the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Don Wiviott, Ben Ray Lujan, Jr. and Tim Keller.

**Steve Olson and Bryan Barash of Tom Udall's campaign will be live-blogging and webcasting from tonight's Democratic Party of New Mexico election night celebration at the Convention Center in ABQ.

**New Mexico's U.S. Senate and House races are getting heavy attention from the national press and blogs. Take today's Real Clear Politics piece on "Battleground New Mexico," and yesterday's post by the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza reviewing and praising Martin Heinrich's ad, "George Bush Leaves NM Families in the Dust."

Clinton to Concede; Record Turnout for NM Primary? Tonight's the Night ...

... When the results of the last two Dem primaries in South Dakota and Montana come in and Hillary Clinton concedes to Barack Obama. It's now being reported that Clinton will acknowledge tonight that Obama has the delegates needed to secure the nomination, and effectively end her presidential bid. She'll be giving a speech in New York this evening, while Obama holds a huge victory rally in Minneapolis at the arena where the GOP will crown McCain at their convention this summer. His campaign will be revealing groups of endorsements throughout the day from superdelegates.

... When we finally learn whether Rep. Tom Udall will face Rep. Heather Wilson or Rep. Steve Pearce on the Repub ticket in the U.S. Senate race. A just-released SurveyUSA poll shows Pearce-Wilson in a dead heat on the eve of the election. We'll also see if a late endorsement from Sen. Pete Domenici will put Wilson over the top. Wilson would need a huge turnout in the Albuquerque area to win. SurveyUSA still has Udall trouncing Pearce 60% to 35% and Wilson 60% to 36% in November.

... When we see if a recent 11% edge in the polling numbers holds and Martin Heinrich beats out Rebecca Vigil-Giron, Michelle Lujan Grisham and Robert Pidcock to snag the Dem nomination for Congress in NM-01.

... When we discover if Bill McCamley's grassroots-fueled ground game beats Harry Teague's oil money run for the Dem nomination for Congress in NM-02. There's also a highly competitive race with gobs of money being spent on nonstop TV ads on the Repub side in this District. Will the winner be Ed Tinsley (the favorite), Aubrey Dunn, Earl Greer, Monty Newman or Greg Sowards? In a contest with this many candidates, anything can happen.

... When we learn who'll be the new U.S. Rep. in NM-03 in a fiercely fought, down-to-the-wire Dem primary contest between Don Wiviott and Ben Ray Lujan, Jr., with Benny Shendo, Jr. and Harry Montoya also expected to get some significant support. The winner of tonight's primary will undoubtedly win in November in the overwhelmingly Dem district.

... When we discover if clean government, reform-minded Dem challengers in Albuquerque area State Senate and House races can overcome the incumbent clout in races like those that pit Eric Griego vs. Sen. James C. Taylor, Tim Keller vs. Sen. Shannon Robinson and Eleanor Chavez vs. Rep. Dan Silva. And will John Blair snare the Dem nomination vs. Tim Eichenberg?

There are also many other legislative and county contests on the ballot, PRC primaries, and judicial races at the Metro, District and Supreme Court levels. A significant number of them are uncontested.

Where to Track Results
The polls in New Mexico close at 7:00 PM tonight. If the Secretary of State's website is, by chance, functioning correctly tonight, we should be able to track results there. Many county clerk websites will have county race results. Various New Mexico newspapers, radio stations and TV news outlets will also be providing comprehensive results on the air and on websites. I'll be linking to some of them later today when the results start coming in.

Record Turnout Expected in NM?
According to an article in today's Albuquerque Journal,

In the state's 2006 primary election, fewer than 181,000 Republicans and Democrats voted in the top-tier contests— a figure that represented less than 21 percent of eligible voters. Secretary of State Mary Herrera predicted Monday that the four open congressional seats this year will help drive a record turnout today.

"Voter turnout should be in the high 30s," Herrera said, referring to the percentage of registered voters expected to cast ballots today. "I'm expecting the highest turnout in history for a primary."

In Bernalillo County:

Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver said turnout is up significantly this year, based on early voting. Absentee balloting is about twice as heavy as usual, and the number of ballots cast at early-voting locations was up by about one-third, Toulouse Oliver said.

"Turnout is significantly higher for early and absentee (voters) compared to the 2004 and 2006 primary elections," she said.

Bernalillo County, the state's most populous, has mailed out roughly 22,000 absentee ballots— about 15,900 of which have been returned. About 7,500 are from Democrats, and about 8,400 from Republicans. About 17,200 people cast ballots at early-voting locations in Bernalillo County. Democrats totaled about 9,300 of the votes and Republicans about 7,900.

Update 3:00 PM: The reports coming in from precincts are mostly saying otherwise, describing light turnouts in many areas of the state. If true, it's a depressing development given what's at stake in this primary. Maybe we should start requiring people to pass a civics test before they can get a driver's license.

SD 17: Tim Keller Hosts Election Night Party

State Senate District 17 candidate Tim Keller is hosting an election night party tonight, Tuesday, June 3, at Tim’s House/Campaign Headquarters, 11023 Vistazo PL SE, in Albuquerque, from 7 to 8:30 PM. Click for FLYER (pdf). Let's hope it's a VICTORY party! Go Tim!

SD 17: Shannon Robinson Hits New Low with Campaign Mailers; Gets Contributions from Vested Interests

New Mexico's primary cycle certainly has had its share of negative campaigning, but the latest low-life moves by Dem incumbent Shannon Robinson (right) -- who's running to keep his State Senate seat in Albuquerque District 17 -- may well be the filthiest campaign tactics used so far this year. I'd call them Rovian in nature, but Robinson's hits are far worse because they're aimed at a candidate in his own Party. And they're outright lies. And he needs to be called on it.

Robinson is facing a hard-charging challenge from Tim Keller, a smart, articulate and progressive reform candidate who's earned endorsements from some of the most respected and ethical Dems in town, as well as scads of organizations and neighborhood leaders (see this post.) It must really be getting to Robinson, who's used to running unopposed and unchallenged on his ethical breeches and his favors to the powers that be. I'm sure he can't believe what's happening and he's responding in the worst possible way -- by trying to slime Keller with outrageously distorted mailings in the last days before the primary. Obviously, Robinson's feeling really desperate. Panicked. Ready to do or say almost anything to try and gain an edge.

Robinson Equates Keller with GOP, Bush
Get this: a recent direct mail piece distributed by Robinson's campaign has this to say about Keller:

"Tim Keller was recruited by the REPUBLICAN Party, his campaign funded by the REPUBLICAN Party, and if elected he will vote with the REPUBLICAN Party."

Another Robinson mailer equates Tim Keller with George Bush, and shows their photos side by side to underline the claim. I'm not kidding you. Hey Shannon, it's you who gets support from donors that usually support Bush and other Republicans.

Keller's Strong Support from Dems, Progressives, Unions
Maybe someone should tell Democratic-to-the core folks like Rey Garduno, Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Richard Romero that they've -- gasp -- heartily endorsed a candidate who's a stealth Republican! Evidently Keller has also managed to fool progressive and labor groups like the Albuquerque Teachers Federation; the National Educational Association, New Mexico; New Mexico Professional Firefighters Association; Conservation Voters New Mexico; ACORN, New Mexico; the Hispano Round Table de Nuevo México; New Mexico Progressive Action; Albuquerque Area Firefighters Local 244; the Sierra Club; and DFA-Democracy for New Mexico -- all of which have endorsed Tim Keller. Click for even more loyal Dems who are supporting Keller.

Who's the Real Democrat?
Judging by the corporate special interests donating to Robinson's campaign, I'd have to say it's NOT Shannon Robinson. Shannon more closely resembles one of those bought-off change fighters we've come across all too often of late in Democratic politics -- a DINO -- Democrat in Name Only. How else to explain donations to Robinson like these:

Nearly $8,000 from oil and gas Interests—in the last 15 days!

$500 BP North America Employee
$1,000 ConocoPhillips Company
$600 Devon Energy Corporation
$600 Giant Industries
$500 Phelps Dodge
$750 Samson

Other suspect donations have come from:

$1500 from Insurance groups
$600 Anheuser-Busch Cos
$500 National Rifle Association
$500 Reynolds American (Tobacco)
$1000 Corrections Corp. of America (private prisons)

Are these entities that normally support progressive Democrats? Yet they're supporting Shannon Robinson with donations considered large in a State Senate race. What does that tell you? It seems clear that monied interests that almost always work against any candidate with a progressive, Democratic agenda are supporting none other than Shannon Robinson in this race. Shame on Shannon.

Yeah, But How Does Robinson Vote?
Not surprisingly, Shannon Robinson's voting record reflects his buddy-buddy relationships with his big donors, who are against the very things that real Dems believe in. Check out this Keller mailer that spells out Robinson's DINO-ness by examining his actions. Robinson's record shows him protecting the health care industry, being involved in activities to fight a raise in the minimum wage, opposing ethics reform, protecting oil and gas interests and pushing the privatization of education. Maybe it's Robinson who's shifted over to the dark side of the aisle ....

Last Chance to Help
Let's do what we can to help Tim Keller -- the real deal -- win this race and get rid of another outed DINO Dem. Visit Keller's website or email tk@timkellerfornewmexico.com to volunteer some time or donate some money. Tim's got a terrific chance to win this seat, but only if The People help him do it.

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SD 14: What is James Taylor Hiding? Fails to Submit Campaign Donation Report

James G. Taylor (right), the incumbent Dem State Senator in District 14, has failed to submit his latest financial report on contributions to his campaign, which was due yesterday. He'll be charged with an ethics violation and fined, a price Taylor is apparently ready to pay in order to keep his last-minute donors secret until after Tuesday's primary election. He is in violation of the Campaign Reporting Act Statue 1-19-35, page 14, "Reports and Statements; late filing penalty; failure to file." The penalty for late filing of the report due the Thursday before an election is $500 plus $50 per day for each additional working day the report is late.

This isn't the first time Taylor has failed to meet a reporting deadline. He was nine days late filing his last required contribution report, originally due on May 12th. The Secretary of State extended the deadline until the 13th, and Taylor finally turned it in on May 22. For some reason, he's having a hard time following the rules.

Taylor is facing a strong primary challenge from former Albuquerque City Councilor Eric Griego. Griego is known for his support of well-planned and integrated "smart growth" -- development done in a manner that follows common sense guidelines, favors infill and doesn't produce harmful, overbuilt sprawl. In contrast, Taylor is clearly on the side of those who believe in giving big developers taxpayer-funded "tax increment financing" to build what they were already going to build -- and doing so without asking much in return in meeting standards for planning, design, timing, job development or anything else.

So what is James Taylor trying to hide by failing to file his latest financial report on time?

Connections with SunCal, Atrisco Oil and Gas
Could it that he doesn't want to call attention to generous campaign contributions from donors associated with Sun-Cal, Atrisco Oil and Gas and others pushing for taxpayer subsidies and against meaningful regulation of their massive projects proposed for the West Side?

As reported in an article in today's Albuquerque Journal, Atrisco Oil and Gas is going so far as to host a special picnic and rally tomorrow in support of certain incumbent candidates, including Taylor, who can be expected to back their business interests without restraint. Officials from SunCal will also address the crowd:

The Atrisco heirs organization, Atrisco Oil and Gas, is holding a picnic rally Sunday for legislators they endorse in coming elections. Along with letting three legislators with primary elections Tuesday speak, the company has invited three other legislators and West Side development company SunCal Cos. to address the crowd, Atrisco President Peter Sanchez said.

The rally is being questioned on ethical grounds:

Some community groups think the event, which is allowable under state law, is too big of a mix of corporate interest and state government.

"I don't think the question is whether it's legal, it's whether it's ethical," said Gabriel Nims, executive director of 1,000 Friends of New Mexico.

Steve Allen, Common Cause New Mexico executive director, said a large corporation spending money just before an election skews the playing field in politics. "It becomes dangerously close to the influence peddling the ordinary voter is skeptical of," he said.

[Nimms added] "What's so alarming ... is that it's so blatant in working to preserve the business interests of (Atrisco and SunCal).

... SunCal recently bought 57,000 acres from the shareholders of Westland, the corporate successor to the Atrisco Land Grant, for $250 million and has plans to develop it. Atrisco contracted with a company last year to begin searching for natural gas inside the property, as well.

A story by Barbara Armijo in today's New Mexico Independent also discusses tomorrow's rally for Taylor and two other incumbents:

The intra-party battle between the incumbents and their challengers appears, in part, to revolve around how to pay for development of West Side, specifically the idea of earmarking future tax revenue to pay for roads and water and sewer lines that will help SunCal develop its planned community. That is what is called for in creating a tax increment development district whereby future gross receipts taxes are used by SunCal to help pay for roads, water and sewer lines.

That means those tax dollars won't be available to the state in the future to help fund state programs, said Eric Griego, a former Albuquerque City Councilor and deputy state economic development secretary under Gov. Bill Richardson who is running against Taylor.

"I don't believe we should be giving tax dollars away to corporations that will be building there any way," Griego said. "It's unfair to the average taxpayer. Why are taxpayers paying for new infrastructure" where most of them won't live. Griego would prefer impact fees, he said.

... Shares of Westland were sold to SunCal in 2006, but as part of the agreement for the sale, former shareholders retained certain oil and mineral rights, which Atrisco Oil and Gas oversees. Atrisco has leases for three wells from Tecton Energy Corp., a Houston-based company, for natural gas and other mineral exploration on some of the 55,000 acres it sold to SunCal.

Support the Clean Government Candidate
If you'd like to support Eric Griego's campaign challenging James Taylor, he can use all the help he can get from now through Tuesday's primary. Click here to volunteer or make a donation. Griego's not getting big dollar donations from corporate concerns seeking favors, like Taylor apparently is. Griego can definitely win this race, but he needs our support to do it. To help change the business-as-usual politics we've seen way too much of, we need to actively support honest, ethical legislastive candidates with the gumption to challenge those entrenched in special interest politics. Do it now.

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