Democracy for New Mexico

More Good News: Thomas Buckner Enters Race for Dem State Party Treasurer

From Thomas R. Buckner:
I am today announcing my candidacy for the position of Treasurer of the New Mexico State Democratic Party at the upcoming convention in Las Cruces on April 28.

You may remember me from the 2006 Primary campaign where I ran for State Auditor and obtained 43,000 votes, statewide, in the Democratic Primary. During that campaign I spoke with many of you by phone and in person.

I bring to the Treasurer Position my 47+ years of financial experience.  I am retired from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the State of New Mexico.  I have been in banking and bank regulation the majority of my professional career, having served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of three commercial banks.  Additionally, I spent three years with the New Mexico Attorney General's Office working for Patricia Madrid in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit as an accountant/investigator.  I hold a Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) from West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from the same University.

While with FDIC, I assisted in the investigation of the bank failures during the 1982-1996 time period and served as an Assistant Bank Examiner after the bank failures subsided following the election of  President Clinton.

I am married to my wife of 38 years, Sue A. Buckner.  We have three daughters, two granddaughters and one son-in-law.  Sue and I are members of Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church where I serve on the Missions Committee.  Both Sue and I are active in the Sandoval County Democratic Party where I serve as the Treasurer of the County Party, a position I have held for two years and have recently been re-elected to.  Sue is a Master Social Worker currently employed by the Department of Aging and Long Term Care.

If elected, I will continue the process of honesty and openness of the financial affairs of the State Party as I have demonstrated in the Sandoval County Democratic Party and other organizations I have served in leadership positions on.

Dem State Party Chair Candidate Brian Colón Hits the Labor Trifecta

I'm pleased to see that three of the biggest unions in New Mexico have decided to endorse Brian Colón for Dem State Chair. They're certainly on the right track in my book. Brian has been running a spirited campaign for the Party's top elected office based on the goals of making the Party more active, transparent and inclusive. He's been criss-crossing the state, reaching out to Dems in rural and urban counties alike, generating lots of positive buzz along the way.

Mr. Colón spoke at our March DFA-DFNM Meetup, and has managed to build quite a head of steam for his campaign among the grassroots community and, from what I'm hearing, Dems of all stripes all over New Mexico. He comes across as honest, innovative, energetic, likeable, approachable and hardworking -- just the qualities we need in a Party leader at a time when it's so important to unite and build a modern Party infrastructure that will work effectively for the 2008 election and over the long haul. I get the clear sense that everyone will have a seat at the table if Brian Colón is leading the Dem Party. And we'll all have plenty of work to do!

Here's the press release from the unions on the strong support for Colón in the labor community:

In an unusual move, three of the largest unions in New Mexico have endorsed Brian Colón to be the Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.  The unions are the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, and the Communication Workers of America.

While all three unions are non-partisan and do support some Republicans around the state, historically the Democratic Party is where working men and women have found their strongest allies.  As a result, all three unions believe it is important to be involved in helping to select the leader of the Democratic Party.  All three unions have numerous members and allies expected to attend the State Central Committee meeting in Las Cruces on Saturday, April 28, where the new DPNM Chair will be elected.

Colón represents a new generation of progressive, pro-worker, pro-economic growth Democrats who are commited to issues like increasing the minimum wage, expanding health coverage to all New Mexicans, reigning in abuses by payday lenders, guaranteeing the opportunity for a good education to all, fighting off privatization and corruption of government services, and ensuring equal opportunity for all.

The following are contacts for each union:

AFT:  Christine Trujillo, 239-0871
AFSCME:  Carter Bundy, 463-8499
CWA:  Robin Gould, 690-9584

Editor's Notes: See our previous post on the race for DPNM Chair. If you're interested in learning more or getting involved in Brian Colón's campaign, you can contact him here: (505) 270-2154 or bsc4dpnm@yahoo.com. Click to download a campaign flyer.

Democratic Party State Central Committee (SCC) members are elected at the County Party level. The Democratic Party of Bernalillo County will hold its elections this coming Saturday, at 10 AM, at Manzano High School in Albuquerque. The election for State Party Chair will occur at the the Democratic Party of New Mexico's SCC Meeting to be held in Las Cruces on April 28th.

Another View On Unfair Apportionment in Taos County

This post was submitted by Claudia Kuhns of Colorado:
I have been following the precinct elections and the county re-organization in Taos County both this year and in 2005.  It is appalling that the gains in organization and equality have been obliterated by one group of so-called Democrats cheating to get their man elected as county chair. It is even more appalling that this appears to have been done with the complicity of the state Democratic Party which has not even followed its own rules in apportioning precinct representatives as well as allowing election fraud in some precincts while disenfranchising citizens in other precincts. Is there really any democracy in New Mexico?

This seems to follow the same pattern of oppression by some members of the Democratic Party in New Mexico in 2004 when an outrageously exorbitant fee was established for a recount in the Presidential election. This fee was established by then Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Governor Bill Richardson, both Democrats. It has since been statistically proved that there were gross irregularities in a significant number of precincts in New Mexico. The stopping of the recount was subsequently ruled illegal by the New Mexico Supreme Court.

More recently in the CD 1 race Patricia Madrid narrowly lost to Heather Wilson.  Again democracy was thwarted as no recount was done. In many states the narrow margin in this race would have triggered an automatic recount. One wonders why Ms. Madrid conceded so quickly.

Where are the real Democrats in New Mexico? Is the Democratic Party being run by Republicans in Democrats' clothing?  Sure sounds like that might be the case.

Claudia Kuhns
Executive Director
The Public Integrity Project
Be the Change USA

Editor's Note: See our previous posts on this topic here, here and . This post was submitted by Claudia Kuhns. Guest blogs such as these provide an opportunity for readers to express their opinions on political topics and do not necessarily reflect the views of DFNM. If you'd like to submit a post for possible publication as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link in the upper left-hand corner of our main page.

Vote Now: MoveOn Town Hall on Iraq

Last night's MoveOn Virtual Town Hall on Iraq featured the Dem candidates for president answering questions on the Iraq war submitted by MoveOn members. Voting is now in progress for viewers to weigh in on how the candidates did. If you didn't get a chance to participate online live, you can watch video of the entire event or segments on each candidate, listen to highlights, download a podcast or read transcripts before voting. MoveOn will release the results of the vote tomorrow.

Gov. Richardson Already Backing Homans to Run Against Heather?

I sure hope not. After all, a Democratic Party convention and a primary are supposed to be the vehicles for selecting Party candidates -- not elected-official fiat. But Heath Haussamen is reporting that an unnamed source is leaking that Gov. Bill Richardson has "pledged his support" to the primary candidacy of current Economic Development Secretary, Rick Homans (left), to take on Rep. Heather Wilson in New Mexico's First Congressional District in 2008.

If true, I predict that Democrats all over CD1 will be raising their voices in protest. We want to select our candidates -- not have them forced down our throats by Party bigwigs, ala what was seen by many as a blatant push for Richard Romero over Miles Nelson by Richardson in the 2002 CD1 Dem primary. In fact, that's one reason why so many relative newbies have been running for (and winning) Party office at both the county and state levels of the Democratic Party, and getting involved in nuts and bolts activism. We're tired of all the Party's power being in the hands of a few elected officials and power brokers. As DNC Chair Howard Dean has said many times, we want the Party to be built from the bottom up, not the other way around.

Other names are being discussed as Dem possibilities to run against Heather, including former City Councilor Eric Griego and current NM Rep. Jerry Ortiz y Pino. And Haussamen reports today that current Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich (right) is also "seriously leaning" towards a bid to win a chance to take on Heather Wilson in CD1. Haussamen quotes Heinrich directly on this. Believe me, if Heinrich were to enter the race he'd have massive support from rank and file Dems in the District. Homans, on the other hand, doesn't even live in the District and would have to move here to be a candidate in CD1. Would that be seen by local Dems as carpetbagging and manipulation of the race by Santa Fe powers that be? You betcha.

Besides his active role in pushing the proposed Spaceport America near To or C, Homans is perhaps best known for successfully suing the City of Albuquerque to get rid the city's campaign donation limits while running for Mayor in 2001. Rah -- here's the guy who worked hard to bring MORE MONEY into the political process, while most every other Dem was working to get big donations out of elections. The results of his suit? One big one was that Mayor Marty Chavez raised and spent record-breaking amounts of money to win his mayoral races. He did it by heavily courting monied interests, including the sprawl development bunch, with no holds barred. You can experience the consequences all over the city.

Also consider Homans' past experience as Vice Chair of the pro-sprawl, anti-labor Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. He's also the former publisher of the New Mexico Business Weekly, as former chairman and CEO of Starlight Media Group.

THIS is who Gov. Richardson is allegedly backing at this early date in the process? Tell me this can't be right. Then again, recall that Homans was one of Richardson's main issues honchos when he ran for Governor in 2002, and he's reportedly very close with Rick, who's a long-time champion of cutting taxes for the biz community and generally offering generous accommodations to that sector.

For all I know, Homans might make a formidable candidate in NM-01, but I urge the Governor to refrain from leaking his opinions on a favored candidate until the proper Dem Party processes play out. We want a primary race, not another annointing from above. If Homans is the right person for the job, let him earn it by succeeding in the Dem Party convention and primary contests. We don't want or need a thumb on the scale, at this early point in the race or beyond.

Many of us have been encouraged by Gov. Richardson's initiatives of late, as well as what he's been saying and doing on the presidential campaign trail, so it's especially disappointing to learn of this leak about his alledged pledge to support Homans. Let's hope he pledges instead to let DEMOCRATS select a candidate for CD1 without interference from above. And DCCC, beware.

Evidence of Unfair Apportionment Formula Used by DPNM for Taos County Precincts

Above graphs and story submitted by "Taos County Democrat":
What's wrong with this picture? Note that the apportionment formulas used by the Democratic Party of New Mexico to determine representatives to the Democratic County Central Committee meetings in Bernalillo and Santa Fe Counties produced fairly even results, and a fair share of representation per Dem voter to every precinct. However, in Taos County, the State Party used a different formula that produced very uneven results, with significantly more representatives per Democratic voter in some precincts and significantly less representatives per Democratic voter in others.

In Taos County, representation ratio, RR values, vary from 1:26 to 1:94, and the distribution of the uneven results breaks clearly along ethnic lines. Additionally, the under-represented precincts are where high populations of non-Hispanics constitute an equal or majority portion of the Democratic electorate for that precinct.

The apportionments in Bernalillo and Santa Fe Counties conform to the Proportional Representation Rule of the State Party, while the Taos County apportionment does not:

RULE 17. PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
The policy of the DPNM is to preserve equitable minority representation at all levels of the convention and meeting processes, and to that end committees and delegations to conventions shall be selected, insofar as reasonably possible, to represent proportionally any vote. Except as otherwise provided in these rules or in rules governing a National Convention there shall be no automatic delegates to any convention. -- Rules of the Democratic Party of New Mexico

The State Party is arguing that it assigned a CCC member to every precinct to ensure that all precincts would be represented. Representation is not the issue. It is PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION that is the issue.

For example, Taos County Precinct 09 (Arroyo Hondo) was apportioned 10 CCC representatives and Taos County Precinct 31 (El Valle) was apportioned "1" CCC representative. El Valle has a 26 average Democratic vote to factor, while Arroyo Hondo has an 879 average Democratic vote factor.

If the Democratic Party of New Mexico's precinct apportionment of CCC members for Taos County was a proportional representation of the average Democratic vote for Taos County Precinct 09 (Arroyo Hondo), that precinct would have been apportioned 34 CCC members (879 ÷ 26).

While the State Party is arguing that they were merely assuring representation from each precinct, they actually radically disenfranchised the larger Taos County Precincts in the process by a factor of 3 to 4. The result is in direct opposition to the State Party's own rule.

What's so democratic about a State Democratic party that argues against proportional representation of democratic voters? Easy answer ... nothing. If the Republicans would have done this there would be a revolution.

Editor's Note: Previous posts on this topic can be found here and . To submit a guest post or other information for possible publication on DFNM, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link in the upper left-hand corner of the main page.

NM Domestic Partnership Act: Wait Till Next Year

Yes, catching up after a vacation is a you-know-what. Sadly, New Mexico's domestic partnership bill died at the Legislative Special Session. Insight New Mexico has the story (and audio clips from Peter Simonson of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico). Equality New Mexico reports that Governor Richardson has promised to put domestic partnership on the call for the thirty-day 2008 NM Legislative Session next January.

This year's Domestic Partnership Act passed the NM House THREE times -- once during its initial trip to the House Floor, once to restore the bill after it was gutted by the Senate, and once during the Special Session. Essenatially, it was stripped of its meaning and killed in the final hours of the regular Session by one vote. This post summarizes what happened. Four Democratic Senators voted with Republicans to kill the bill: Tim Jennings (Roswell), John Arthur Smith (Deming), Lidio Rainaldi (Gallup) and Carlos Cisneros (Questa). Opposition by the first three was anticipated, but Cisneros, for unknown reasons, suddenly switched sides. Sen. Cisneros wins my own personal Democratic Turncoat of the 2007 Legislative Session Award for this vote, as well as the one he cast (with 8 other Dem Senators) to deny the NM impeachment bill a floor debate in the Senate.

Sen. Cisneros has long been a champion of environmental, health care and other liberal causes, so it seems entirely out of character that he voted as he did in these two instances. Who knows what kinds of political pressures convinced him to vote as he did or when they came from. Maybe his thinking was still muddled because of the whack on the head with a hammer he got from his then wife, Patsy, when she caught him at a cabin with another woman in May of 2005. You can't make this stuff up. I just hope he didn't have the nerve to kill the domestic partnership bill on "moral" grounds. Maybe he'll regain his senses by next January.

Should you want to torture yourself, you can refresh yourself on our coverage of the ups and downs of this (and other) legislation by visiting our 2007 Legislative Session post archive. Also see State Senator Dede Feldman's blog post on the wrap-up of the nightmarish Special Session.

DCCC Launches 'Heather Wilson Watch'

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) today launched a new website, Heather Wilson Watch, chronicling the role played by Rep Heather Wilson (R-NM1)i n the firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. There are serious and unresolved differences between Wilson’s political statement and Mr. Iglesias’ testimony under oath:

“I received a call from Heather Wilson. She said ‘what can you tell me about sealed indictments.’ The second she said any questions about sealed indictments, red flags went up in my head, because as you know, we cannot talk about indictments until they’re made public. In general, we specifically cannot talk about a sealed indictment.” -- David Iglesias

“A federal prosecutor was fired only after he refused to bend to Heather Wilson’s political pressure,” said Jennifer Crider, Communications Director at the DCCC. “Heather Wilson needs to quit playing games and tell the truth about her role in the U.S. Attorney scandal. The website Heather Wilson Watch will hold Wilson accountable for her refusal to come clean about why she tried to interfere in a federal investigation and her role in getting Iglesias fired.”

Pressure is expected to continue to get Wilson, Sen. Domenici and others to tell the truth on the record about their roles in the scandal. An article in The Hill reports:

Kyle Sampson’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week suggests that congressional pressure may have played a significant role in the firing of a New Mexico prosecutor.

Statements from Sampson, who served as chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before resigning last month, to the Judiciary Committee last Thursday are placing additional pressure on New Mexico GOP Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, as well as Gonzales, White House political adviser Karl Rove and ex-White House counsel Harriet Miers, to explain what roles, if any, they played in the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, according to legal experts.

... Justice Department e-mails and Sampson’s testimony also show that sometime between Oct. 17 and Election Day, Iglesias’s name was added to the list along with three names that were redacted in the e-mails.

Domenici and Wilson, who was running in a tight reelection race, called Iglesias just a few weeks prior to the Nov. 7 election.

Earlier this week, protestors showed up outside Rep. Wilson's "state of the district" appearance before the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce to urge her to come clean on her role in the scandal. So far, Wilson has stuck to her story that her call to Iglesias just prior to the November 2006 election was "entirely appropriate." Well, only if you go by the politically poisoned standards of the Bush administration and its cronies.

The Senate Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into Domenici's role in Iglesias' firing.  Members of the House ethics panel won't comment on whether they’ve launched a probe.

To update yourselves on the facts of this scandal, check out the DCCC's timeline covering Wilson's involvement.

Today's Suggested Reading: Feingold on Iraq

Ratcheting Up the Pressure by Senator Russ Feingold. Indeed.

More on Controversial Taos County Dem Party Elections

A collection of audio clips and photos from the Democratic Party of Taos County Central Committee last week are provided by CulturalEnergy.org (scroll down to stories of week of March 26, 2007 and click the Central Committee meeting link). After a meeting filled with arcane parliamentarian maneuvers and rulings, Chuby Tafoya was elected as Taos County Chair in a victory over the current County Chair, Billy Knight.

Background
The manner in which some of the County Party's earlier precinct elections were conducted was widely criticised, with challenges ultimately filed against the validity of the elections in five precincts. Next came a County Credentials Committee meeting, where the challenges were dismissed against four precincts where many of Chuby Tafoya's supporters reside. Many claim this was done without a proper review by the Credentials Committee of affidavits and ballots submitted to document alleged irregularities and rule breaking. One challenge, by Chuby Tafoya's supporters in the large Arroyo Hondo precinct, where most of Billy Knight's supporters (as well as Tafoya) live, was accepted by the Credentials Committee without a review.

Attendees report that despite the presence of the Executive Director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, the DNC Field Organizer, Joseph Casados, and the State Party Parliamentarian, Robert Beck, on hand to chair the Credentials Committee meeting, not one single person was credentialed and not one single precinct's election documentation examined. Many who witnessed it are calling it an astounding display of incompetence and a violation of Party rules.

Taos County Central Committee Meeting
The audio clips are from the County Central Committee meeting where the Credentials Committee rulings were accepted in violation of the Party rules, and a majority voted to keep the Arroyo Hondo precinct winners from voting in the County Chair election. Some of the speakers describe their reactions to the Arroyo Hondo precinct delegation being kept from voting based on what they deem to be murky and minor technicalities, if any, while other more serious precinct election challenges were set aside without any real review of the evidence by the Credential Committee. Indeed, it seems that clear evidence of the alleged ballot tampering by Tafoya's father was suppressed from examination by the majority vote of the Tafoya-dominated Credentials Committee.

From approximately 7 minutes until 13 minutes on the audio recording, Margarita Denevan gives an especially passionate and clear defense of how the rules were clearly and closely followed in the Arroyo Hondo precinct elections -- ironically, the only precinct where the Credentials Committee saw supposed violations.

After the voting for County Chair was finished at the CCC meeting, giving Chuby Tafoya a victory without any votes from the Arroyo Hondo precinct, the majority voted to reinstate the Arroyo Hondo delegation.

What Comes Next
Emotions continue to run high in Taos, and much criticism continues to be leveled by many of those who attended the Credentials Committee meeting on State Party parliamentarian Robert Beck and Executive Director Matt Farrauto, who were present but did not question the proceedings. It's being alleged that the Credential Committee did not even vote to approve the credentials of those who were allowed to vote at the County Central Committee meeting, and the legality of holding the County Central Committee meeting itself was questioned by incumbent Chair Billy Knight. Knight reportedly intends to challenge precinct elections in three precincts — Talpa, Cruz Alta and Ranchitos — to the state party’s judicial committee.

This is a complicated and emotional situation and it has been somewhat difficult to get and communicate a clear narrative of what happened at the Taos Dem meetings from the reports I'm getting from up north. I hope I'm getting it right so far, as information continues to be released.

Previously Available Material
Check my that lists some of the challenges that were later to be filed against various precinct elections. There's also material on New Mexico Matters that describes alleged violations in one precinct, as well as scanned precinct ballots that show alleged tampering. There's also coverage of an article published by the Taos Daily Horse Fly, which presents the controversy as a rather humorous anecdote, rather than a serious situation where precinct election fraud is being alleged and the process by which Dem Party rules were applied (or not) is being challenged.