Wednesday, May 10, 2023Former GOP State Senator Looks For Comeback And Could Have A Good Shot, Plus: Pirtle And Texas And A Ridiculous Tax Increase?
Former Republican state Senator Candace Gould may have found a way back to the Roundhouse. After being defeated by Katy Duhigg in 2021 in her reelection bid for Senate District 10 she now tells us she will be running in the new Republican leaning Senate District 12.
The current District 12 in ABQ is represented by retiring Democratic liberal Sen. Jerry Ortiz Pino. It was chopped up in redistricting to benefit other Democratic senators, putting the new District 12 in the growing northwest metro area including parts of Rio Rancho. Gould or whoever secures the Republican nomination will have an excellent chance of going into the Senate. The new district is 37% Democrat and 37% Republican. It doesn’t get much better for the GOP than that. Other Republicans may be eyeing the opportunity but Gould may have the inside track given her name ID and solid fundraising record. As we finished writing this, we learned that GOP Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block has also joined the senate district 12 race. Should be a good one. WHY NOT HERE? First, this news out of Austin, Texas then some local reaction: A Texas legislative committee recommended Saturday that GOP Rep. Bryan Slaton be expelled for inappropriate sexual conduct with a 19-year-old intern. Slaton, from Royse City, could face an expulsion vote by the full House. Slaton, 45, has declined to comment but his attorney last month called the claims “outrageous” and “false.” The House General Investigative Committee said Slaton gave the 19-year-old intern and another young staffer alcohol at his home, that he had sex with the intern after she was intoxicated, and that he later showed the intern a threatening email but said everything would be fine if the incident was kept quiet. Slaton also asked a fellow lawmaker to keep his behavior secret, the committee said. In New Mexico it is not known if the woman that NM GOP state Senator Cliff Pirtle of Roswell was having an extramarital affair with is a Senate staffer but the rumor mill points in that direction. Pirtle’s wife .confronted the couple at a Santa Fe apartment and has since filed for divorce. In the wake of the scandal Pirtle has said he will not seek reelection next year but plans on staying in the Senate until then. Here’s reader Dan Klein with his take:
I hate to give Texas credit for anything, but they are about to expel a lawmaker who had sex with a 19 year old intern (she wasn’t his wife). So what is wrong with New Mexico? Why aren’t they doing the same to Cliff Pirtle? By not acting it just reinforces the view of many citizens that our citizen legislature is just a bunch of good old boys and girls getting drunk and having sex with interns and staff and there are no consequences. It doesn’t matter if they are Democrat or Republican, they are all just there for the party. There’s been talk of a possible state Ethics Commission investigation of the Pirtle situation but nothing has surfaced yet. THE RIDICULOUS FACTOR Is it ridiculous to raise taxes to safeguard irrigation in the middle Rio Grande Valley when the state literally has billions upon billions in surplus revenue? Well, taxpayers are going to have to prepare for the ridiculous: The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District Board of Directors voted 5-0 Monday in favor of a 1 mill tax increase that will generate $4.3 million a year to be used solely for capital investment in equipment and infrastructure in the district’s nearly 100-year-old irrigation system. “The goal of this mill increase is to move us away from being reactive to the next infrastructure break,” said Jason Casuga, MRGCD chief engineer…The increase will affect all property owners within the Conservancy District’s boundaries, whether they are irrigators or not. It will cost the owner of a property assessed at $200,000 an additional $67 a year. Money resulting from the increase would be used to pay for some of the $175 million in priority projects. Those voting for the mill increase were Vice Chair Karen Dunning and board members Barbara Baca, John Kelly, Glen Duggins and Michael Sandoval. MRGCD could not line up area legislators to get more capital outlay in a year when the capital outlay budget almost busted through $1 billion? Did the Board even try? Chief Engineer Casuga, consider yourself the victim of an Alligator strike. We only wish the Gators had gotten wind of this ill-advised tax hike earlier so they could have participated in a preemptive strike. Ditto for the asleep at the switch conservancy district board. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023 |
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