One thing became clear as a result of the just concluded hyperactive session of the NM Legislature: New Mexicans have a governor who is a lot like the one they replaced. "What?" you say. "Big Bill like Governor Gary?" Yup. It was Gary who constantly threatened the lawmakers with his veto pen and now it's Big Bill threatening them if they don't pass bills. Both headstrong men eventually prevailed; Johnson by issuing a record number of vetoes; Big Bill by winning, if not record amounts of legislation, certainly many sweeping measures. Ironically, Bill has a reputation as a suave international negotiator, but to get his way with the Legislature he does not negotiate very much. He seems more akin to some of those foreign strongmen he has sugar-talked in years past. Given his negotiating background everyone expected he would be a consensus Guv. But it turns out that Gary's "my way or the highway' philosophy matches perfectly the current chief exec. It wore thin for Gary after eight years, and after three sessions Bill also may be reaching the limits.

The Republicans, seemingly on Sominex for most of the 30 days, turned up the volume the last few, and seem to have muddied the waters enough to deny the Guv any upswing in his polling numbers. His hard-fought battle over the food tax had the R's in full battle cry, winning enough coverage to raise doubts and unite rank and file GOP voters. They can credit Sen. "Lightning Rod" Adair and his sidekick, Rep. Dan Foley, for giving the wake-up call. The bedrock conservatives were out on the limb by themselves all session long until the moderate wing finally picked up the drumbeat. Because of the disorganized way the GOP conducted itself speculation about leadership changes, particularly in the House, is in full swing.

YEAR OF THE THREATS

This will be remembered as anything but "The Year of the Legislature" as Big Bill touted it in his state-of-the-state speech. This was raw executive power being exercised. He threw lobbyists out of his office, threatened a special session, and according to the R's, threatened members of his own party with the withholding of "pork" money for their districts. His not so secret weapon was the election. All 112 lawmakers are up this year. No one wanted to risk too much wrath from the Big Fella, who does not have to face voters and who has the war chest to make their bids more difficult.

Thus, the Guv used up a lot of his political capital to win the day. Gary Johnson did that too, but he did not care about advancing to higher office. In this modern era, the Legislature is easily outgunned by a Guv determined to dominate them via the media. But the decision to throw consensus-building out the window often has a long-term price, and the betting in this corner is that Big Bill may have seen his best days with the Legislature. To his credit, he has gotten mostly everything he wanted so it will be the impact of those measures and whether they start pulling NM out of the 50th in everything rankings, rather than future legislative sessions, that will likely define his success. Like a good basketball team, the Legislature will eventually find out how to work the ball around him. There were signs of that this session. Next time they could be ready for the big leagues.

THE IMPLOSION OF KEN MARTINEZ

Dem State Rep. Ken Martinez of Grants pulled off the political equivalent of Howard Dean's scream this legislative session. And, like Dean, it could haunt him the rest of his political career. Martinez, son of the legendary lawmaker Walter Martinez, was the godfather of the ill-fated ignition interlock bill which would require every car in NM to have a device installed to make sure no one drove drunk. It was one of the biggest political blunders and legislative overreaches seen in New Mexico history.

Martinez was scorned from Cruces to the Colorado line. When it was widely reported that he was a trial lawyer, the derision grew even more fierce as he was accused of using the bill as a smokescreen to avoid true DWI reform. It was a mighty fall for Martinez, who has been touted as a possible future speaker of the house. In days of yore, when these legislative movidas were conducted in a much lower-key atmosphere, he could have limited the damage, but in the hypermedia age you can get scorched alive before you even realize you lit the match. Martinez may survive all right in his hometown, but his political blunder will forever be an obstacle to overcome if he chooses to advance up the political ladder. And to think he's going to introduce it again! Does he have a death wish?

GODBEY'S GOODBYE

The GOP's Seth Heath reports from the Roundhouse that lawmakers were suprised when State Rep. Ron Godbey of ABQ's East Mountain area rose at the end of the session Thursday and announced that due to his wife's ill health he will not seek re-election this year. We reported on the primary challenge Godbey was to receive from Mario Burgos, who lives down the street from Godbey and is associated with the forces of former state GOP chair John Dendahl. Godbey fought bitterly with Dendahl over the years and will try to hand off the seat to Kathy McCoy, a neighborhood activist who has worked for Godbey at the legislature. But his withdrawal could attract a few other contenders as well. We'll keep you posted.

FINAL TAKE

Join me on 770 KKOB-AM Radio Saturday at noon with host Greg Payne for more on the lively legislative session.

Make our site one of your 'favorites.' Bookmark it now and send a link to interested friends. Interested in advertising to NM's large political community? Email me or call 505-243-4059 for details.

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
Not for reproduction without permission of the author