The Michelle Lujan Grisham camp is not measuring the drapes at the Governor's office yet. Far from it, as she remains engaged in an intense contest with Republican Steve Pearce. Having said that, the first names are starting to float of possible cabinet picks by MLG should she win the November 6 race that is rated "lean Dem." Those names are environmentalist and recent state land commission candidate Garrett VeneKlasen and outgoing Las Cruces state representative and recent Dem State Auditor candidate Bill McCamley.

No word on what agency VeneKlasen might end up at but the environment or energy and natural resources departments are good guesses.

McCamley's name is circulating in connection with the NM Department of Workforce Solutions, aka, the old labor department. That is an agency deeply important to state labor unions who are backing MLG.

McCamley's auditor campaign was tripped up when he filed a state report that showed he had no income over $5,000 but he later revealed he had received rental income of over $5,000 on a Las Cruces house. He lost the auditor nomination to Brian Colón. He faces appointed GOP State Auditor in the election.

VeneKlasen, the former executive director of the NM Wildlife Federation, ran a high dollar campaign for land commissioner and was endorsed by Senator Heinrich, but Dem State Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard seemingly came out of nowhere in the year of the woman and took the prize from him. She faces Republican Pat Lyons in the November election.

And if Pearce wins? How about Lujan Grisham foe Jeff Apodaca as a member of the State Investment Council?

Well, the rumor mill really gets going when the leaves start to turn color in an election year.

JANICE'S TAXES

John and Janice

In that under-the-radar ABQ congressional race Republican Janice Arnold-Jones tries to surface some action by releasing the 2017 tax returns of her and her husband, John Jones, who is a GOP candidate for the ABQ NE Heights state House seat being vacated by House Minority Leader Nate Gentry. In making the unusual move, Arnold-Jones challenged Deb Haaland, her Dem opponent, to do the same, saying:

Transparency should not be just another talking point. Advocating for transparency without being transparent, is nothing more than politics as usual. We’ve had enough of that in our state. I challenge Debra Haaland to release her tax return as well.
The challenge didn't last very long. The Haaland campaign said this after it was issued:

Deb will definitely release her taxes. She's a single mom who understands the struggle many New Mexicans face, and her taxes show that. The GOP's tax cut, which Janice Arnold Jones supports, will rob New Mexicans to pad the wallets of the ultra-wealthy. This is a strange publicity stunt at a time when New Mexicans need real solutions.

The Haaland camp did not say when the campaign would release her '17 return. 

Arnold-Jones and her husband showed total income of $183,376. They listed $64,112 in pensions, $24,802 in Social Security and $86,491 in wages. He listed his occupation as a water manager. Arnold-Jones listed hers as retired. The couple paid about $31,000 in Federal tax and $7,412 in state tax on income that after deductions and exemptions came to $159,000. They reported $4,532 in charitable contributions.

The complete return is here.

The couple also reported $9,500 in dividend income of which $1,077 come from General Electric stock. The back story is that GE stock has crashed and burned, its price slashed more than half in the past year, the dividend was cut and it was kicked out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average after being in it for over a century.

Well, Arnold-Jones, 66, never said she was running to be your stockbroker but she may get points for loyalty. She says her first job was with GE in ABQ and she has a soft spot for the company.

NM congressional and gubernatorial candidates have traditionally not released their returns, but Lujan Grisham this year released five years worth of them. Now comes Arnold-Jones with Haaland to follow. Also, Steve Peace says he will release his '17 tax return at mid-month. It seems we are getting a new tradition in La Politica and not a bad one at that.

THE "ASSISTANT MAYOR"

Obama and Lee

That's the new title of the man who is about to join Mayor Keller's inner circle at City Hall, according to the Alligators over there.

That's causing a bit of a stir because the title has never been used before. "Assistant to the Mayor" is the normal nomenclature for various mayoral assistants. But Assistant Mayor Gary Lee, a former assistant staff secretary under President Obama, will not have anyone reporting to him. One of the Gators puts it this way:

He will be bird dogging policy. There are a lot of cats to herd in the administration as the pace picks up, and he has the experience to keep things on track. He helped advance Obama's initiatives and is a serious guy.

Okay, but be careful herding those cats when you're bird dogging.

Lee, the son of Korean-American immigrants, told the WaPo that his hometown is Albuquerque so this will be a return trip home. In 2011 he talked about himself in an interview with the University of Southern California where in 2007 he graduated with a poly science degree. That makes him about 34.

His position will be unclassified which means he serves at the will of the Mayor. Because he is filling a slot normally called "Assistant to the Mayor," the bureaucracy's very sensitive antenna has picked up on it and has tongues wagging over the parameters of Lee's new position. They'll find out soon enough. Heck, Keller probably won't even know until he sees how Lee fits in.

For all you City Hall employees on edge about the Assistant Mayor here's his Twitter account and his Facebook page. But look at them on your lunch break. You never know who's watching.

SUSANA'S FUTURE

So what will she do? That's been a natural question about Gov. Martinez as she prepares to wrap up her final term in office December 31. Insiders claim she has been looking hard for a new gig, but she has announced nothing. However, Susana's hubby Chuck Franco has. The first gentleman told El Paso TV station KVIA he believes Susana will return to the practice of law when her Guv run ends:

He said the governor, formerly the Doña Ana County District Attorney, will likely return to the field of law after she leaves Santa Fe. "She's got it in her heart," Franco said. "You have to really enjoy it to pursue it the way she does. She's awesome in the courtroom. Any type of litigation, she's very good at. I don't foresee that being ruled out of her life. I don't."

Will Susana become a trial lawyer, a group she speaks of with dread and they of her? Well, the pay is good and her once rising star has fallen to the ground. She sports a very anemic approval rating of 35% in the final Journal poll. Then there was her dissing of Trump. That closed a lot of doors to high-profile jobs.

Franco has taken a three month, temporary job with the Dona Ana County Assessor's Office. A former undersheriff for the county, he says he hopes to eventually become administrator of the local jail. Susana's sister and brother are in ill health. She has said she will help tend to their care when she moves back to Las Cruces from Santa Fe.

THE EX-GUV CLUB

Former Governors usual end up doing something after the spotlight fades. Dave Cargo practiced law and ran for political office every chance he got but never caught the magic again; Jerry Apodaca tried his hand at business only to end up lobbying; Bruce King worked his ranch; Toney Anaya, an attorney, got back in that field after being Guv. Garrey Carruthers, an educator, became chancellor of NMSU; Gary Johnson became a professional candidate and Big Bill resumed his globetrotting on behalf of pet causes.

GUN TOTIN' XOCHITL

Xochitl Torres Small, on the trail and seeking an elusive upset in the southern congressional district against R Yvette Herrell, is wooing gun owners with a TV spot that shows her enjoying shooting her gun with her husband. From CBS:

Torres Small is the latest Democrat to showcase her shooting skills in a political ad, signaling to the conservative district she hopes to represent that she's not the kind of Democrat who wants to take away its guns. That's the underlying message in her new ad, "Hunt," which highlights her devotion to New Mexico's public lands. "We know what we need for a shot at a brighter future," Torres Small said in the ad, which depicts her loading and shooting a gun on a hunting trip. "Because out here makes the squabbles in Washington seem small." She even delayed her honeymoon after getting married to hunt with her father and husband. 

Not a bad play but Herrell received the endorsement of the powerful NRA in the GOP primary in which she easily dispatched Monty Newman to take the nomination. And it appears that backing is going to come in handy again.

OTHER OBAMA NODS

We inadvertently left out two of former President Obama's NM endorsements Tuesday. Here they are.

The former Prez also endorsed Melanie Stansbury, the Dem trying to unseat ABQ GOP State Rep. Jimmie Hall in District 28 in the NE Heights and Dem Karen Bash who is running against GOP State Rep. Monica Youngblood, who was found guilty of aggravated DWI and who will be sentenced today.

THE BOTTOM LINES

It being October the political news is coming like a deluge around here, making for longer hours and longer blogs, and that sometimes leads to a few missteps. Thanks to readers for pointing out that in our first draft Tuesday we obviously erred when we said US Senate terms are for four years. Of course, they are six years. And in describing Lujan Grisham we said she would be the "first female Democratic Governor." We left out the key word--she would be the first "female Hispanic Democratic Governor."

Thats it for now, kids. See ya' mañana,

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018