NM Congress districts

Now comes the hard part. Not unexpectedly southern Democratic congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small reversed course and now says she supports the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump. The switch came in the aftermath of Trump refusing to cooperate with the inquiry and that left Torres Small little choice. Now comes that hard part--an actual vote on impeaching the president and sending the matter to the Senate for trial.

If there is no impeachment vote the freshman lawmaker will be off the hook, but her vote for impeachment would enrage the Trump GOP base in the sprawling district which sided with him in the 2016 election. On the other hand a vote against impeachment would turn off the Democratic base in large Las Cruces which is key to her repeating her upset win of '18.

The stakes are high. The NM GOP is almost completely shut out of power in the state after defeats in '16 and '18. Reclaiming the southern district is vital to rebuilding the party. A second win would cement the Democrats hold on the seat. After that, Torres Small would need just one more win in 2020 before the 2021 redistricting by the Legislature. Even a slight improvement in the Dem numbers could make the southern seat safe for the Democrats for ten years.

Meanwhile, also not unexpectedly, southern GOP congressional contender Claire Chase says she will report a large cash haul of over $510,000 in the October FEC report that covers the July quarter period. Chase only announced her candidacy August 27.

Chase married into the Chase oil family of Artesia whose patriarch is listed by Forbes as the richest person in New Mexico. Her close ties to the oil industry give her access to major money.

Still, Chase appears to have slipped behind her main rival, Yvette Herrell, in the aftermath of the release of old Facebook posts that had Chase harshly criticizing Trump. She will need all of her money and more to overcome that stumble out of the gate.

There is also the question of how much of the $510,000 included donations for the general election. That cash will not be available to Chase for the June primary. The FEC report will have the answer. Still, there is little doubt that Chase is going to have the money muscle to take on Herrell and Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys for the GOP nod. Chase has already collected more cash than Herrell did for the entire '18 GOP congressional primary.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019