"Pardoning--smardening--I don't care." That is the unforgiving position of prominent Republican Shirley Leslie on the state senate candidacy of fellow R John Ryan who was pardoned by Gov. Johnson for the crime of breaking and entering into Leslie's ABQ North Valley home back in 1980.

Leslie made her comments in an interview with the Weekly Alibi's Tim McGivern, who further quoted Leslie as saying, "I think it would be a sorry thing to put him in there. It would certainly degrade the office."

The proverbial straw that has broken the camel's back on this one is the attempted extortion Ryan and two other men tried against Leslie. They stole paintings of her dead husband and son and wanted money for their return.

"It was no child's play, it was a dreadful thing," Leslie recalled and added that police had to live with her and her children for several months while she received numerous threatening phone calls.

Leslie also disclosed that Ryan, a former executive director of the state GOP and ex-staffer for Senator Domenici and the late Congressman Skeen, "came and rang my doorbell, but I had no interest whatsoever in talking to him."

All this adds fuel to the fire blazing in this senate district which is being vacated by State Sen. and ex-GOP Chair Ramsay Gorham who Ryan declared he would run against, but Ramsay left the seat and her chairmanship, making Ryan the sole GOP candidate on the June 1 primary ballot. Ryan was fired by Gorham as ex. director shortly after she took over as chair.He will face ex-Los Ranchos mayor and Democrat John Hooker in the November election.

WILL VOTERS FORGIVE?

Political pros commented to "NM Politics with Joe Monahan" about the heated contest earlier (see July 20) and said the race could be influenced by Leslie's willingness to forgive and forget. Her unwillingness to do so gives Hooker, or other parties, an opportunity to try to tilt the seat to the Dems.

Ryan, 42, issued a letter to 10,000 households in the district earlier this month in an effort to take the issue off the table. But Ryan's letter did not detail the blackmailing charge. He says the charges had been fully reported in the press, but State Dem Party Chair John Wertheim latched on to that and dubbed John "sweep it under the rug" Ryan.

Leslie is a former GOP National Committeewoman and a heavy contributor to GOP causes. Domenici has stuck by his former aide, helping him raise funds at a party in D.C. earlier this year. Ryan, a lobbyist/consultant, will have a well-financed campaign while Hooker still lags in the money department. But the emotional statements by Leslie put this race front and center regardless of who has the biggest campaign kitty.

Leslie gave no indication that she would take further public positions against the Ryan candidacy, such as writing her own letter, but her public statement, sure to be widely circulated by Ryan's rivals, is damaging enough.

Meanwhile, former State GOP Chair John Dendahl is sticking by his guy calling Ryan a man who has "grown up to be a class act." Leslie is a close friend of Gorham's so the race could be a replay of the bitter party fight of late last year when the Dendahlites forced Gorham's resignation. In turn, the GOP State Central Committee ousted chief Dendahlite Mickey Barnett as GOP National Committeeman, replacing him with ex-state Rep. George Buffett.

The bottom line on all this: Shirley Leslie will not forgive John Ryan. Will the voters? Stay tuned.

INSIDE THE LOS ALAMOS SCANDAL

The Los Alamos security scandal has the defense-oriented politicos hungry for the very latest. I have the place where they can find it. defensetech.org is a blog run by freelance reporter and defense specialist Noah Shactman who also writes for the Chicago Tribune. Nineteen Los Alamos employees were placed on leave as the investigation widened Thursday. The director of the lab said some employees were in "suicidal denial" about what was happening at the facility. Shactman is deep into this one and will keep you updated on all the angles. A tip of the hat to KKOB's Larry Ahrens for the alert.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT.....

The ABQ Tribune did an in-depth feature on our blog Wednesday. Because of you, we are read widely and having more fun than ever. Thanks for making it possible and remember to e-mail me or phone in (505)243-4059 your political tidbits so we can keep up on the fast-spinning world of our beloved La Politica. Here's the Trib story.

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