Ramsay Gorham

With the hotly contested City Council races headed into the final stretch, New Mexico Republican Party Chairwoman Ramsay Gorham emails "NM Politics with Joe Monahan" to say the GOP will NOT be getting involved. She also took time to separate the GOP from the Citizens for Greater Albuquerque Committee (CGA) which has come under the microscope for conducting negative phone calling against candidates not on their favorites list--Martin Heinrich in District Six, Debbie O'Malley in Two and incumbent Brad Winter in Four. Here is is a portion of her email:

"When I was elected Chairwoman, I wanted to set a new tone for our party, our candidates and our incumbents. I stated that the party would not be involved in primaries involving other incumbent Republicans. I will not participate in Citizens for Greater ABQ because they have chosen to recruit and run against an incumbent. This is not a front organization for New Mexico's Republican Party."

Thanks for the news Ramsay.

ANALYSIS: The incumbent Republican seeking a council seat is Winter, opposed by fellow Republican and CGA endorsed candidate Pat Milligan. Johanna Tigue in District Six is the only other Republican running for council in a contested race. We assume Ramsay's GOP non-involvement pledge extends to all council races, the bond issues and quarter-cent sales tax increase. The city charter mandates non-involvement by the political parties in city elections, which should be reason enough for the parties to keep their hands off, either directly or through a committee.

I first raised the question of possible GOP involvement a couple of weeks ago when I went over the contribution list of Greater ABQ Committee and found many names who have also donated substantially to the GOP. Also, top GOP consultant Jay McCleskey is working for Greater ABQ. Ramsay's pledge to not get the GOP involved is also noteworthy because four years ago her predecessor, John Dendahl, rocked city politics when he unleashed funds to finance attack literature on two incumbent councilors in what by city charter are supposed to be non-partisan contests. That's why I raised the issue this election cycle.

OK. So the GOP and as far as we know, the Democrats, are not in these Council fights. But Mr. and Mrs. Albuquerque are still holding their breath waiting to see the final lit pieces and hear the final phone calls from Greater ABQ committee which has raised over $90,000 to promote pro-business and "pro-jobs" candidates. Will they be "pit bull" attacks or "soft soap"? Well, a piece CGA put out in District Four today supporting Pat Milligan is NOT a below-the-belt attack. It touts Milligan's support of jobs, but does not mention Winter. Milligan promises the lit HIS campaign is sponsoring is not going to go negative. "We're going to talk about Brad's support of tax increases, (six votes to raise water and garbage rates) that's his record," Milligan told me while door-knocking in the northeast heights district. The candidate says he has lost 14 pounds and claims to have knocked on 3,000 doors. I am waiting to hear from Brad.

I will monitor CGA activity in the other districts and let you know what I hear. I am also keeping an eye on the other side. Professional politico Dan Houck is questioning 'misleading" phone calls by "liberal" groups and thinks we need to keep our eye on them, not just CGA. He's right. Misrepresentation by any side needs to be brought to the voters' attention. But the pattern has been for misrepresentation and gutter-level attacks to come on the final weekend of the campaign, making it hard for the opponent to respond.

While Milligan and CGA have yet to hit Winter hard, former GOP State Rep. Frank Bird is not holding back. He sent a letter into the district today saying, "I put my name on the line for Brand Winter in 1999...and I was wrong." Bird faults Winter on the tax issue and says Milligan has pledged to vote "against all tax and fee increases." Every one, guys? That's a pledge that will be closely watched, if Winter, the favored incumbent, is upset by Milligan. The District Four race is pitting moderate Republicans against conservative GOP'ers. It's a war that's been going on in the party for many years. Ramsay, in the midst of an intraparty meltdown, is wise to stay out of the council battles. She's going to have a lot of fence mending to do whichever way the race goes.