"It's done." That's what one top Democratic Party source says about the selection of Diego "Dickie" Gallegos to fill the ABQ South Valley House Seat vacated by James Taylor who was appointed to the state senate seat when Sen. Manny Aragon became Prez of NM Highlands University.

Another source, in Santa Fe, confirmed that Big Bill's stamp of approval is on Gallegos, the brother of Bernalillo County Commissioner Steve Gallegos and a high-ranking Albuquerque Public Schools employee. "The (Democratic Party) Central Committee members are lined up for Dickie. Bill has put the word out and they have fallen in line. There will be no big shoot-out in the Valley over this," declared my D insider in the know.

Speculation went wild over the Taylor House seat when Big Bill appointed Taylor (see my August 4 report) but Steve Gallegos
has established ties to both Manny Aragon and the Guv. At one time, Aragon named him Senate Seargent-at-arms and under Big Bill Steve has a nice job at the NM Labor Department.

The Bernalillo County Commission does not have the House appointment on its meeting agenda for today and will apparently wait until after the central committee members from the Taylor district officially select Diego before they name him to fill out the unexpired portion of Taylor's two year term. Whatever, my deep insiders say this is one cake that is baked and adorned with the initials "D.G."

WHOSE THE BIG CHEESE?

Yesterday we told you about GOP U.S. Rep. Steve Pearces's plan to pursue a position on the high-powered House Appropriations Committee if he's re-elected in November. Now comes word that Pearce has been spreading his wings in New Mexico---into the district of fellow Rep. Tom Udall whose supporters are not happy about it.

Pearce made a late July campaign appearance with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman in Clovis to tout the new cheese manufacturing plant out there. Trouble is Clovis is in Democrat Tom's district, not Steve's.

"Udall's people think it's part of Steve's plan to get his name out statewide in preparation for a future run for the U.S. Senate seat when Pete Domenici leaves. But Pearce had a few negative comments about the federal government and how it can do more to help projects such as the cheese factory. That did not settle well with Udall's supporters," reports our reliable D tracking the east side action.

Could it be that Udall also has his eyes on that potential senate vacancy? Geez, will the wind blow in Clovis in March?

ABQ TERROR TRACKER

ABQ's Jeremy Reynalds is well-known as director of Joy Junction, the shelter for homeless families he founded in 1986. However, there's another side of Reynalds that is not quite as well known---as a terrorist hunter.

For the last two years Reynalds has investigated a number of Islamic terrorist web sites, many of which he claims are hosted by U.S. internet service providers.

Reynalds has been looking at what he calls "a mysterious and difficult to trace internet provider called Hosting Anime, which hosts a number of al Qaeda related sites. This company is apparently being allowed to operate with impunity by the federal government," asserts Jeremy.

Reynalds, also a talk-show host at ABQ's KKNS-AM 1310 Radio, told me: "Some people wonder what the director of a homeless shelter is doing trying to close down radical Islamic web sites. Joy Junction is a faith-based ministry. Unless we start taking the fundamentalist Islamic agenda seriously and realize that its goal is to impose Islamic law over the entire world, we'll be in trouble. We won't be able to have ministries like Joy Junction – they'll be illegal."

Reynalds, a conservative Republican was recently featured on CNN. A number of his articles are available at Joy Junction

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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