Sen. Cisneros

There are big shoes to fill in the state Senate following the untimely death of veteran Democratic State Senator Carlos Cisneros of Questa.

Cisneros, who died of a heart attack at 71 Tuesday morning, spent nearly half his life in the senate. One of the longest-serving senators, he was appointed to the Senate in July 1985 and went on to become a major player and respected voice on state finances as vice chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. In his nonpolitical life he was in the insurance business.

Cisneros was also known for bringing home the bacon to his multi-county district of Taos, Rio Arriba, Los Alamos and Santa Fe counties, as well as expertise on area water issues.

Each of the county commissions in Cisneros' district will send a name or names to the Governor who will make the appointment to fill out Cisneros' term which expires at the end of 2020. The person named will have the option of running in next June's primary.

Cisneros was a member of the Senate's conservative coalition. That's the group of Dem senators who band together with Republicans on key votes. If his replacement does not follow suit that would weaken the coalition.

Darien Fernandez, Taos County Dem Party chair and a Taos town councilman, has been planning a run against Cisneros for the Democratic nomination for Senate District 6. He said on Facebook in late August that he was about to make his candidacy official. He will certainly be a name to watch. Insiders say a woman or two could also surface as a possible replacement.

This is a solid Dem district and the R's are not expected to be competitive.

STUDENT OF NEW MEXICO 

From the Capitol Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued this statement on the death of Senator Cisneros:

I am completely shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the unexpected death of Carlos Cisneros. The senator faithfully served Northern New Mexico and our state for more than three decades. His leadership and friendship will be sorely missed.

The Senate was made a better place by his wealth of institutional knowledge. A senior member of the body and an important committee chairman, he played an instrumental role in delivering infrastructure projects all across the state for many decades. The senator strove for impartiality and fairness, and he was as good a listener as he was a talker. When I took office, Senator Cisneros stepped up and offered to draft our first priority bill, a piece of legislation that ultimately doubled the state’s investment in small businesses. He was a solid partner.

He began his professional career as a mine worker and became a union leader; he was a student of New Mexico all his life. I extend my deepest condolences to his family, his friends and colleagues in the Senate, and all who loved him.

WINNING BERNCO

President Trump is fond of telling his supporters that they will win so much that "they will get tired of winning." Well, probably not here. There are a multitude of reasons political pros don't see New Mexico falling into the Trump column. Our favorite is this:

In 2008 Obama carried Bernalillo County by over 59,000 votes. In 2012 he prevailed in the state's largest county by over 44,000. In 2016 Hillary Clinton won here by nearly 49,000 votes in a race that  also featured former GOP Governor Gary Johnson as a Libertarian. Even if Trump were to lose big BernCo by say 25,000, there is not much of a realistic chance of making that up in the rest of the state. . .

The state Dems have been relentless this week in pushing back against the Trump visit but they pushed too hard when they included this presidential statement on their list of "Five Lies Trump Told In Rio Rancho." Trump said:

I'll tell you what we're going to win the state of New Mexico.

The state Dems called that a "lie," pointing out that "since losing New Mexico by 8 points in 2016, President Trump’s net approval in our state has fallen 30 points, and Democrats saw increased turnout in 2018, when we won every statewide race.

Fine, but in this case Trump was making a prediction--not telling a lie.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019