I'm back at work and ready to dive into New Mexico politics.I was just looking at the U.S. Senate race campaign finance figures.HeinrichIt seems Democratic contender Martin Heinrich has raised nearly four times as much money as his primary opponent Hec... »
Venessa ChavezLess than 24 hours after longtime state Rep. Rhonda King of Stanley announced that she won’t seek re-election, another Democrat has announced she will run for King’s seat.Torrance County Commission Chairwoman Venessa I. Chavez of Tajique ... »
These are projects in Santa Fe County that Gov. Susana Martinez line-itemed vetoed in House Bill 191 (severance tax projects)* $1 million for security cameras, furniture, fixtures and other information technology infrastructure for the First Judicial D... »
Today is the last day that Gov. Susana Martinez has to sign bills. Anything she doesn't sign by noon is considered vetoed.The biggest question now is capitol outlay. She will sign the bill, but what will be interesting will be what she line-item vetoes... »
So why didn't the Legislature pass a bill to give state and local governments more power to restrict fireworks during the time of drought -- even though a big chunk of the state's forests were on fire last summer?Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, who s... »
Wasn't I just saying something about House members who want to move up to the Senate?Rep. Eleanor Chavez, D-Albuquerque, just announced she's running for the newly created west-side Albuquerque District 14 seat.Ans she's coming out swinging. Referring ... »
A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican March 4, 2012Since the end of this year’s legislative session, most of the buzz in political circles hasn’t been about what bills might be signed or vetoed, but which legislators aren’t going ... »
My music column today was about politicians who sing and play instruments. (Check that out on my music blog. Lots of cool videos there.)I didn't realize at the time we had a poet in the state Legislature. But I just learned that Rep. Bill O'Neill, D-Al... »
There wasn't much doubt that Gov. Susana Martinez would sign House Bill 2, the state budget.But in case anyone was worried, her office announced a few minutes ago that she would indeed sign it 1 p.m. today at Puesta del Sol Elementary School in Albuque... »
BoitanoState Sen. Mark Boitano of Albuquerque just announced that he'll be joining fellow Republicans Clint Harden and Vern Asbill and Democrat Dede Feldman in not seeking re-election next year. “I have always believed in term limits, and after four te... »
Sen. Sander RueI have to admit that when I just saw the email without a subject line from state Sen. Sander Rue, my first thought was, "Oh No! Another one bites the dust!"But that's not the case.The email was announcing that Rue will be running for re-... »
Sen. Dede Feldman, who has represented her northwest Albuquerque district for 16 years, will not seek re-election to the state Senate this year.In an email to constituents, Feldman wrote:Now it is time for me to move on into new fields, and clear the w... »
The story, first broken by Stuart Dyson at KOB, of Gov. Susana Martinez and the hairstylist spread all over the Internet yesterday.In short, the openly gay Santa Fe hairdresser, who has cut the governor's hair a few times in the past, is refusing to do... »
There was no serious doubt that Gov. Susana would sign Senate Bill 197 -- Sen. Bill Payne's bill anti-corruption bill. In fact she's making it the first bill she signs after the session. She's doing it today at 3 p.m. in front of the Albuquerque Metro ... »
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andres Valdez has dropped his longshot candidacy and now is supporting state Auditor Hector Balderas for the position.Here's part of his statement Valdez, a longtime Albuquerque activist, just emailed me.I have been in... »
