As of today, this Web site is no longer the home of Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics, which I now more commonly call NMPolitics.net. The site has moved to http://nmpolitics.net.
Click through to the new NMPolitics.net and you’ll find a completely redesigned and [...]
This site is in the midst of a significant upgrade. Please bear with me through this transition. The submission of new comments has been temporarily disabled.
- Heath Haussamen
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Attorneys for the defendants are set to argue that AG King’s office has a conflict and should be removed from the case
One of two assistant attorney generals prosecuting the case against former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and three others was once fired by [...]
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
Most Americans in these town-hall meetings are, metaphorically, just waxing deck chairs on the Titanic. They argue health-care tactics while ignoring the profound change in health-care strategy. The unexamined and unchallenged change is from a philosophy of social contract to [...]
Sergio Garcia also says state party leaders didn’t understand how to reach Hispanics; Yates disputes Garcia’s claims
This article has been updated.
Sergio Garcia, who quit his job as deputy executive director of the state Republican Party earlier this week, says his abrupt resignation [...]
By Carter Bundy
No matter how many ads from corrupt health care executives like Rick Scott (that’s not name-calling: He was the CEO of a company that just settled a $1.7 billion fraud suit) and the Republican Party you see, market forces aren’t [...]
Some Republicans are hitting Dems hard over the charges against Vigil-Giron and others, but at least one potential GOP guv candidate says corruption isn’t a partisan issue
With the 2010 election cycle already in full swing, some Republicans are hitting Democrats hard over this week’s [...]
Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron isn’t currently being placed on administrative leave from her position with the state Department of Workforce Solutions despite the fact that she was indicted on 50 felony counts related to public corruption on Wednesday.
Deputy Secretary [...]
Here’s an interesting little side note related to Wednesday’s indictments of former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and others.
Vigil-Giron and the others indicted -- lobbyists Joseph Kupfer and Elizabeth Kupfer and contractor Armando Gutierrez -- co-hosted a fundraiser for Gov. [...]
At Las Cruces town hall, congressman expresses concern about bill’s vague wording, pledges to participate in any plan that’s approved
Harvey Baldwin asked nearly every person who walked into U.S. Rep. Harry Teague’s town hall meeting in Las Cruces on Thursday whether he could give [...]
As AG alleges scheme involving former secretary of state to bilk taxpayers out of millions of dollars, officials share ideas to combat such abuses
The indictments of former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and others are a reminder of the need for reforms that might [...]
Vigil-Giron and other defendants each face 50 counts in indictments issued today by grand jury
Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and the others indicted today by a state grand jury each face 50 counts including money laundering, fraud, soliciting or receiving kickbacks and [...]
Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron was one of four people indicted today by a state grand jury following an investigation into the alleged mishandling of millions of dollars in federal voter education funds by her office.
The AG’s office would not immediately release the [...]
Former secretary of state confirms she has received a ‘target letter’ from grand jury, again says she did nothing wrong
Former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron confirmed today that she is a target of an investigation into the spending of millions of dollars in federal [...]
Former AG says Wilson’s bringing up alleged FBI inquiry now is ‘meant to divert attention away from her extremely precarious legal situation’
A new claim that the FBI probed a controversy surrounding Patricia Madrid three years ago has the former state attorney general [...]
Roberta Vigil was sentenced on Monday to three years on probation and ordered to repay the West Las Vegas Schools $13,856 after being convicted in May of fraud, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting.
The money is to pay the district back for more than $16,000 in bilingual education [...]
Gov. Bill Richardson said today that, while he doesn’t want to scale back 2003 tax cuts or the film incentive program, he may be willing to put an end to some other tax credits and incentives.
“We need to take a look at them, to [...]
Members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation are holding a number of town hall meetings on health-care reform despite the unruliness, shouting and occasional scuffles that have characterized similar meetings in some other states.
Rep. Ben Ray Luján held a town hall meeting on health-care reform [...]
On Monday afternoon, a spokeswoman for Gov. Bill Richardson sent the governor’s public schedule for the week to the media -- sans a few journalists who normally get such e-mails from that office.
I didn’t receive the public schedule. Neither did the entire staff of [...]
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be the keynote speaker later this month at New Mexico State University’s “Re-Energize America” conference on moving toward a clean-energy economy.
Chu’s scheduled Aug. 31 speech was announced in a news release from U.S. Rep. Harry Teague, D-N.M., [...]
Gov. Bill Richardson will make three public appearances in Las Cruces on Thursday.
The first is a news conference at which Richardson will announce a “new college-readiness program” for students in Doña Ana County, according to a news release from his office. That event will [...]
Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez has hired one of the most well-known GOP public relations professionals in the business to run her campaign’s communications operation, a source close to the campaign confirmed.
Danny Diaz was communications director for the Republican National [...]
By Bill McCamley
“The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.” - Bess Myerson
Corruption has become a hot issue in New Mexico. Pay-to-play activities aren’t new, but recent convictions, indictments and investigations have brought what used to be a private [...]
Is there another voter fraud case brewing in Doña Ana County? After a jury found former Sunland Park Municipal Judge Horacio Favela guilty on Friday of fraudulently voting and registering as a candidate for judge, ABC-7 in El Paso quoted District Attorney Susana Martinez [...]
By a narrow margin, more votes cast in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site came from people who approve of the job Secretary of State Mary Herrera is doing than from people who don’t approve.
Of 648 votes, 316, or 49 percent, came from people who approve of [...]
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
This is an odd August Congressional Recess. Usually members of Congress bask in the calm and quiet at home while escaping the heat and humidity of Washington.
But this recess from the Washington heat is nothing compared to the local [...]
Nathan Krekula, a faculty member at a Christian university in Hobbs, says he won’t run for governor next year after all, but he plans to run sometime in the future, possibly as soon as 2014.
“I did some soul searching, and I think [...]
The Public Regulation Commission is just another example of why New Mexico needs an independent ethics commission
In recent weeks, it’s become crystal clear that New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission is a mess.
Current Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. and his father, a former commissioner, [...]
By Sarah Lenti
On Saturday, New York Times columnist Charles Blow took the opportunity to make some gross over-generalizations about Republicans. The press has been echoing his sentiment all week long.
Basically, the accusation is that the GOP is composed of [...]
Former White House aide says Wilson complained about ‘the timing of the courthouse construction indictment’ before the election; Wilson says that’s not true
Former White House aide Karl Rove told a House Judiciary Committee investigator that former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson raised concerns with [...]
The Washington Independent had an interesting article today about how two Ron Paul-backed GOP candidates -- one of them Paul’s son -- are causing headaches for mainstream Republican operatives who favor other candidates in what promise to be important Senate races next year.
That’s [...]
By Carter Bundy
The central argument over health care reform is whether free market solutions can solve American health care’s massive access and cost problems.
Over the last few columns, I’ve tried to make the case that normal free market principles and [...]
Wilson, Iglesias disagree about whether FBI inquiry happened
Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson says there was an FBI inquiry into ties between her 2006 opponent, Patricia Madrid, and a political action committee as the two duked it out in one of the hottest congressional [...]
Democrat Stephanie DuBois has announced that she will once again run for a seat on the state Public Regulation Commission next year.
DuBois, who ran unsuccessfully against Republican incumbent David King in 2006, wrote in an e-mail that she will once again apply for [...]
Gov. Bill Richardson wants to avoid job losses and keep tax cuts intact when state lawmakers convene in October to address another massive budget shortfall.
Richardson announced plans for the special session on Tuesday, and said he wants to limit it to one day. He [...]
E-mail questioning why Iglesias was ‘shy about doing his job on Madrid’ was about an FBI probe of Madrid, not the 2006 election, Wilson says
E-mails released today may appear to indicate that someone in the White House had the race between former U.S. [...]
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee today released transcripts of its interviews with Karl Rove and Harriet Miers and other documents related to the firings of several U.S. attorneys, including New Mexico’s David Iglesias, in 2006.
It’s been known for some time that [...]
Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima says the city council will consider banning the use of cell phones without hands-free sets and sending text messages while driving.
The issue will be discussed at the council’s Sept. 14 work session, Miyagishima wrote today in an e-mail to [...]
After going seven months without one, Doña Ana County has a new elections supervisor.
Bob L. Bartlesmeyer was recently hired for the job, the county announced this morning in a news release. The position has been vacant since County Clerk Lynn Ellins took office in [...]
A faculty member at a Christian university in Hobbs is joining the race for governor.
Republican Nathan Krekula writes on his campaign Web site that he supports the development of new energy technologies and protecting natural resources along with support for the oil and gas [...]
Many conservatives are angry about bailouts, tax-increase proposals, cap-and-trade legislation and health-care reform. Fine. But instead of resorting to violence, they need to take a seat at the table.
A libertarian activist in Albuquerque crossed a line on Friday when he advocated physical violence against members [...]
There was no news release, no public announcement, and little fanfare, but Brian Colón resigned from his position as chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico this weekend as expected, apparently with the intention of entering the lieutenant governor’s race.
Colón made his [...]
Now here’s an actual voter-fraud case being prosecuted by the office of Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez. The trial of a man who’s accused of “fraudulently registering as a candidate for Sunland Park municipal judge and fraudulently voting” starts today, the Las [...]
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
In the last month I have been occasionally blue thinking of my father, who passed away in 1993. Many of his formative years were spent fighting for freedom. First he fought World War II on the frontlines in person, and [...]
Why were they abandoned in the agency’s former office for almost two years? What information do they contain?
When the Las Cruces-based Region VII Housing Authority shut down in August 2006, board members said the agency’s records would be sent to Region III in Albuquerque.
So why did the [...]
Whistleblower says Democratic Party chairman’s dual roles create ‘the perception of conflict of interest;’ Colón says there is no conflict
The chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico traveled to Las Cruces on May 14, 2008 to pick up documents left behind when the Region [...]
Al Gore’s “climate protection” campaign has opened an office in Albuquerque to help New Mexicans shift to clean energy.
The Alliance for Climate Protection, whose board is chaired by Gore, officially opened its Repower New Mexico office on Thursday. The office will be [...]
Debate about who should be the next chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico is quickly evaporating as other candidates and potential candidates are announcing their support for New Mexico State University Regent Javier Gonzales.
The only other announced candidate, Sandoval County Democratic [...]
New Mexico State University Regent Javier Gonzales confirmed today that he’s seeking the chairmanship of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.
“In consultation with my family and friends, as well as consultation with Democratic Party leaders, I’ve concluded this is an ideal opportunity for [...]
This commentary has been removed in its entirety because of factual inaccuracies.
Noon is the executive director of CARE (Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy), an Albuquerque-based nonprofit organization that is advocating for citizen rights to energy freedom. Contact her at marita@responsiblenergy.org.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is one of a number of high-profile speakers who New Mexico State University has lined up for the 2009 Domenici Public Policy Conference it’s holding next month.
Other speakers announced Wednesday by the university include Joint Chiefs [...]
The likely GOP gubernatorial candidate also says honest government ‘is a function of leadership’
Doug Turner says there’s been a lot of talk in the Republican gubernatorial primary race about ending corruption, with candidates expressing anger and using buzz phrases like “clean up Santa Fe.”
[...]
Matthew Padilla, a law student and former U.S. Navy officer, plans to take an official step toward becoming a candidate for lieutenant governor next week by forming an exploratory committee.
Padilla, a Democrat, wrote in a letter to supporters that he will file the paperwork [...]
This article has been updated.
Brian Colón will resign from the position of chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico on Saturday to launch a bid for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, the party confirmed today on its new blog.
From the [...]
The lawmaker and Santa Rosa mayor will formally announce his candidacy next week
State Rep. Jose Campos, D-Santa Rosa, announced today that he’s running for lieutenant governor next year.
Campos, who is also the mayor of Santa Rosa, “will formally announce his candidacy” on Tuesday [...]
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
It was a case of them holding up a red flag to get a charging bull to stop. I cannot resist commenting on today’s news that the graduation rate from the free education in New Mexico public schools is putrid. [...]
This is in regard to the New Mexico Independent article written by Trip Jennings (Lawmakers Mull Withholding Funds to Force Office to Comply With Tech Rules). Please see the attached secretary of state IT plans we submitted in September 2007 for FY [...]
This article has been updated.
Gov. Bill Richardson may not have been the one to secure the release of two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea moments ago (that was Bill Clinton), but Richardson is going on national television to talk about it.
Richardson [...]
The director of New Mexico’s Legislative Finance Committee, David Abbey, has won a national award for his work on budgetary issues.
Abbey was named the 2009 winner of the Legislative Staff Achievement Award by the National Association of Legislative Fiscal Officers, according to a news [...]
Some of this information has been previously reported, but The Associated Press’ Barry Massey is out today with a new article that takes a comprehensive look at donations to Gov. Bill Richardson from firms with state investments.
In all, according to Massey’s analysis, “Money managers, [...]
There was talk in June about the possibility of sending Gov. Bill Richardson or former Vice President Al Gore to North Korea to negotiate the release of two U.S. journalists who were sentenced to 12 years in labor camps there.
Instead, former President [...]
The office of Attorney General Gary King isn’t happy with today’s decision that attempting to force two nonprofits to register as political action committees violates their First Amendment right to free speech.
“We are disappointed in the outcome of today’s ruling and we will [...]
Judge says nonprofits’ mailers are ‘precisely the type of political expression that is constitutionally protected’ by the First Amendment
This article has been updated.
A federal judge sided with two nonprofits today in ruling that an attempt by the Secretary of State’s Office to force them [...]
News is all over the Internet this morning -- and has been confirmed by my sources -- that Brian Colón will resign his position as chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico later this week and announce that he’s running for lieutenant governor next [...]
Though others are likely to enter the race, right now it’s just three women officially vying for the right to be governor
No woman has ever been governor of New Mexico, but there’s a good chance that will change next year.
Though [...]
The worst part about having to write about more layoffs at a New Mexico newspaper is that this probably isn’t going to be the last time I have to do it.
Regardless, several people lost their jobs and others saw their hours slashed in half in a round of cuts [...]
U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman won last week’s non-scientific poll on this site asking which member of New Mexico’s congressional delegation is the most ethical.
Of 256 voters, 87, or 34 percent, picked Bingaman, while 79, or 31 percent, picked Sen. Tom Udall. Forty-six, or 18 percent, picked Rep. [...]
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
A political phrase being used often these days is “bait and switch.” It refers to political promises to create attractive government programs that then are switched to the detriment of the citizens. The health-care debate smells of bait and switch, [...]
But was it voter fraud or incompetence that the district attorney’s office prosecuted in 2003?
Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez claims in a news release sent today that, “on her watch” as Doña Ana County district attorney, the county clerk “was successfully prosecuted for voter [...]
By Sarah Lenti
So, let’s start with the assumption that the Republican Party actually wants to take on the responsibility of being the majority party (again). And I mean what I am writing here -- the party is going to have to want, really [...]
Brian Colón, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, is seriously considering running for lieutenant governor next year and plans to make a decision in “less than two weeks,” according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
Colón did not respond to a [...]
The problems for controversial Las Cruces developer Philip Philippou are growing.
A new lawsuit accuses Philippou of fraud in promising a company he hired to help build a golf course in Las Cruces that water would be available for construction, when in fact it was not, [...]
In a letter to supporters, Arnold-Jones talks about increasing transparency, says New Mexico ‘can be so much more’
State Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, said today that she is running for governor next year and plans a formal announcement sometime in August.
[...]
By Carter Bundy
Many Americans, including myself, generally believe that strong, competitive, private free markets are effective creators of wealth. In our national health debate, a central question is whether such markets can also solve our access, cost and (to a lesser degree) quality [...]
We have come to the stage where my office’s investigations have resulted in indictments and prosecutions. One of the challenges of the attorney general’s job is to properly manage requests for information from the general public, legislators and the media about ongoing [...]
Doug Turner won the last non-scientific poll on this site, which asked, if Heather Wilson doesn't run, who will win the GOP gubernatorial primary next year.
Of 2,660 votes cast, 925, or 35 percent, went to Turner; 797, or 30 percent, went to Allen Weh; 723, or' [...]
This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
Labels [...]
This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
I consider [...]
This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
You [...]
This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
Let [...]
This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
My [...]
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
“Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.” - Marine Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper
While the legendary shooting instructor Jeff Cooper was talking about large-caliber pistols and his beloved Scout Rifle in [...]
This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
[...]
This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
I [...]
This is one of several guest columns that were submitted in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
I [...]
‘Revolutionary patriot’ takes to the campaign trail, but UNM professor says Ron Paul’s support won’t be enough to defeat Rep. Ben Ray Luján in 2010
Ron Paul and his army of supporters want Republican Adam Kokesh to be the next congressman from Northern [...]
Dominating a weekend meeting of the National Governors Association was discussion about the health-care reform proposal being debated by Congress, with governors including New Mexico’s Bill Richardson expressing concern about unfunded mandates, according to the New York Times.
The governors expressed fear “that [...]
Gov. Bill Richardson said during a meeting of the nation’s governors this weekend that he doesn’t want another federal stimulus bill.
He was quoted by The Associated Press as saying at the meeting if the National Governors Association that he believes it will take [...]
The vast majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said Republican Adam Kokesh would defeat U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., in a potential general-election matchup next year.
Of 951 voters, 749, or 79 percent, said Kokesh would win, while 202, or [...]
Republican DA pledges to end pay to play, says winning in 2010 ‘is not going to be an easy task’
One of the most noteworthy attendees at Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez’s news conference announcing her gubernatorial campaign this evening was County Commissioner [...]
After a year at Guantanamo Bay, the Republican says more time away from his family ‘is just not acceptable’
Republican Greg Zanetti, for months the only declared 2010 Republican candidate for governor, dropped out of the race today.
The Albuquerque financial [...]
What’s up with Republican Greg Zanetti’s gubernatorial campaign? I’ve been asked the question by a few people this week, because, after getting off to a quick start with travels around the state several weeks ago, Zanetti has been pretty quiet lately.
He was updating [...]
NY attorney general is pushing for a legal settlement with Rattner, who also has ties to the scandal in New Mexico
Remember Steven Rattner? He’s the man who was heading President Barack Obama’s auto-bailout program and who had been linked to a New York pension scandal that has spread [...]
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
The New Mexico 2010 election is here. The “Guess-what-bad-things-the-(fill in the blank)-have-been-doing” gotcha ads are out.
This Monday I got an e-mail from Lt. Gov. Diane Denish: “Dear Michael, It started as a pretty standard Sunday night around the [...]
Former U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce will kick off his bid to regain his old House seat on Tuesday with events in Hobbs and Las Cruces.
The Republican Pearce will begin the day at the county GOP headquarters in Hobbs at 8 a.m., [...]
Here’s your final reminder to submit your guest commentary in response to this question: How do you identify yourself politically (liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, independent, something else or none of the above) and what does that mean to you?
Commentaries should be 250-750 words. [...]
Remember the old commercial that said, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen?” The modern version might be, “When the government talks, don’t listen” -- at least, not when the government uses the words “crisis” or “emergency.”
Here’s something I should have noticed in writing last night about campaign finance reports: When Iraq war veteran turned antiwar activist Adam Kokesh filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on July 6, he stated that he will run as [...]
Former state Attorney General Patricia Madrid confirmed today that she’s considering running for land commissioner next year.
“Always thinking of options and this is one of them, but way too soon to contemplate details,” Madrid wrote in response to an e-mail asking if she’s thinking [...]
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