Two down and one to go. That's the count for Ben Ray Lujan Jr. as attorney Carlos Fierro backed out of the hotly contested race for the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) up North. Tuesday was the last day for candidates to withdraw their names from the June 1 primary ballot. Ben Ray, son of powerful House Speaker Ben Lujan, earlier scored when Johnny Montoya, husband of State Rep. Rhonda King, also dashed his bid for the Dem nomination. When I talked to Ben Jr. months ago he said he was going to "sit down" with all the Hispanic candidates in the race and see if "they could agree" on just one of them running.

Whether he, his father or Big Bill has been doing the "sitting down" is not known, but today Ben Ray and former State Sen. Art Rodarte of Espanola are the only two Hispanics left in he race for the 90K a year job. Ex-state Rep. Bob Perls and former Bruce King aide Keith Dotson also remain in the hunt.

Fierro, ex-legislative aide to U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, came back from D.C. with his eyes on launching a political career, but Big Bill's unprecedented public endorsement of Ben Ray put a cramp on Fierro's ability to raise the money to get in the game. Fierro, a Santa Fe native, was spotted at the Guv's office this week. Was there talk there of him getting out and endorsing Ben Ray? That's what Johnny Montoya did. Fierro was playing his hand close to the chest Tuesday telling me he is not "ready to endorse" anyone, but did not rule it out.

Perls and Dotson are hoping that the Lujan's are overplaying their hand and that their aggressive campaign to clear the field of challengers will create resentment and benefit them. But Tuesday was a good day for the junior Lujan. Like Fierro, his base is in Santa Fe County. But the stakes are high for the young hopeful and for his dad and Big Bill too. They are pulling out all the stops and their failure to deliver would be seen as a major political coup. Fierro is just 31 and, if nothing else, he is learning some important lessons in the game of power politics as practiced by those political Ph.D's Big Bill and Big Ben. Perhaps the next time he runs, they will be on his side. Now, that wouldn't surprise you, would it?

MANNY'S MINIONS

More candidate intrigue in the ABQ Valley, this time in the North Valley where Dem State. Sen. Dede Feldman was drawing a primary challenge from Carlos Cordova. But a district court judge kicked Carlos off the ballot because he did not file enough valid petition signatures. Speculation swirled that Cordova was another candidate from the camp of Senate and Valley powerhouse Manny Aragon, who earlier this week was dealt a blow when Sen. Linda Lopez successfully thwarted a primary challenger in court who was widely thought to be a Manny supporter. Feldman, like Manny, is a liberal, but she has not been close to him. With Cordova off the ballot Dede gets a free four year ride, and Linda continues to work her for support for her run for Senate President Pro Tem. No R is running in the sold D district.

Manny is batting 0 for 2 this week, giving rise to speculation that his heart is just not in it anymore; that he is fixated on the presidency of Highlands University and will grab the appointment if and when it is offered.

GOP CURRY'S SOME FAVOR

It's been the most turbulent couple of months in the history of the NM Republican Party, but there was some good news for the R's during the final days of turmoil of Ramsay Gorham's reign. They became the majority party in Curry County in Eastern NM. The latest figures give the GOP a nearly 300 vote edge over the Dem's. That gives the R's a majority of voters in nine of our state's 33 counties. It's the first time in Curry County's 95 year history that the GOP has come out on top there.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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