It's hard to believe, but veteran legal insiders from both parties tell "New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan" there is a possibility that Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg could go unchallenged in her bid for a second four year term this year. So far, she has no announced opposition among her own Democrats or in the GOP. DA races here have traditionally been hot and heavy. Just four years ago Kari ousted fellow Dem DA Jeff Romero in a bitter primary, and then beat out the GOP's Skip Vernon when his campaign imploded when he wrote her a note that appeared to say he had a crush on Kari!
One reason the legal beagles tell me Kari could waltz to another four years is money. "That race now costs well north of $100,000 and Kari, if necessary, has the personal wealth to finance her own campaign. I think the money is why you are not seeing any opponents," our beagle barked.
But DA has been a launching pad for political careers. Steve Schiff went to the U.S. House, Bob Schwartz ran for mayor of ABQ and is now a crime advisor to Gov. Bill and Ira Robinson is now a judge on the state Court of Appeals. Back in the 70's, Kari's father, Jim Brandenburg, served a term as DA before being ousted by Robinson. Maybe today's up and coming lawyers have different ideas on the political worth of being DA.
Kari Brandenburg is a former Republican, turned Dem, which may also dampen GOP opposition a bit. But she has a few blotches on her record, according to legal observers, that could make it a race, They mention high staff turnover, a high-profile DWI case that went haywire and her success, or lack thereof, in DWI and other prosecutions.
One thing they can't accuse Kari of is grandstanding. Unlike past DA's she is rarely in the news, but that's a double-edged sword. If a candidate with high name ID gets into the race, Kari could find herself scrambling to remind voters that she's the top law enforcement officer in the state's largest county. Meanwhile, all you politicos who relish nothing more than a battle over crime and punishment can only cross your fingers that something develops. For now, Kari Brandenburg is thriving on the lack of apparent interest in her political future and quietly making plans for her re-election.
BREATHLESS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Senator Kerry is sucking up all the oxygen in New Hampshire with tracking polls showing another possible blow-out like his Iowa rout. He has it all riding there with no NM TV up and apparently little, if any, in the other states that make up the so called 'super seven' that will cast votes February 3.
KOB-TV's Neil Simon, hot on the campaign trail, wonders about the impact of Rep. Gephardt dropping out. For sure, it makes his home state of Missouri much more prominent in the Feb 3 battle, and lowers the importance of NM just a notch as Missouri will contribute many more delegates to the national convention. South Carolina is the other big prize Feb. 3. NM Gephardt heavy Jamie Koch is now backing Gen. Clark, but so far none of Gephardt's other prominent NM supporters have joined him, particularly big-name Hispanic supporters.
Simon also reports that Dennis Kucinich, who garnered a suprising six percent in the Journal poll, is having cash problems and some staffers are no longer on the job here. Kucinich is the kind of candidate who "lives off the land' and will stay in the race to make a point. Will his six percent hold without money to promote? His supporters are ardent and maybe a couple of personal appearances will shore him up. But it's all eyes on New Hampshire this primary eve and whoever wins there is sure to get a shot in the arm here. Kerry is bringing more people on board here and I suspect polls taken today would show him on the move in NM as they do elsewhere.
ZOGBY ZEROS OUT NEW MEXICO
Late word comes to us that the Zogby Poll will NOT be conducting any surveys for the February 3 New Mexico prez caucus. Zogby's Chad Bohnert tells me the firm had initially planned to poll our state (as we reported here) but the poll's sponsors, MSNBC and Reuters, decided to direct their resources to Missouri and pull out of NM. Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt recently withdrew from the race making Missouri a battleground state in the prez race. It has a lot more delegates at stake than our state. Of course, there may be private polling going on here by some of the campaigns.
The ABQ Journal has come out with one poll, showing Dean slightly ahead of Clark. They will have one more just before the February 3 in-person voting.
PRC: WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN
That 90k a year job on the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) has the combatants starting early. The race threatens to draw a dozen contenders to replace Jerome Block. One of them, Ben Ray Lujan, son of the State House Speaker, broke the news of his candidacy on this web site, (see stories below) but has a different take on the meaning on exactly what he told me. I wrote that Ben Ray wanted to meet with the other Hispanic candidates in the race to see if he could clear the field and become the one Hispanic thus avoiding throwing the nomination to Anglo Bob Perls. Ben Ray says that is not what he intended to impart; that he does want to meet with all the candidates but only so they can "communicate about the issues." As the line from 'Cool Hand Luke' goes: what Ben Ray and I had was clearly "a failure to communicate."
Meanwhile, down Las Cruces way, comes word that another Dem PRC combatant, Johnny Montoya, husband of State Rep. Rhonda King, was actually a Republican before getting hitched to Rhonda. Also, our Las Cruces wire sends news that Johnny's Republican brother, Rick, actually ran against Senator Bingaman a few years back. Welcome to the race Johnny.
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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