APO And MLG

The spat between Dem Guv nominee Michelle Lujan Grisham and Jeff Apodaca, who she soundly defeated in the June primary, has grown into a feud.

The MLG camp, responding to a Facebook post from Apodaca that was carried here Tuesday and that claimed MLG told Apodaca to "fuck off, you cost me $2 million in the primary" at a post-primary meeting, takes him down hard.

This is not an off the record response. It is an official response and comes from Lujan Grisham campaign manager Dominic Gabello who said he was at the June 15 MLG-APO meet. Buckle up for this one:

Joe, I was in the room when Michelle met with Jeff so I have a first-hand account to what actually transpired. . . Jeff’s fictionalized portrayal of that meeting with Michelle couldn’t go unanswered any longer. . . I took detailed notes of the meeting.

For starters, Jeff was less than gracious after his humiliating defeat. On election night, he refused to call Michelle to congratulate her and pledge his support unlike (primary opponent) Senator Joseph Cervantes who called that night and who is fully supporting Michelle.

When Jeff showed up at our campaign office, he lectured us on his policy positions and gave us his stump speech, apparently unable to accept the fact that his campaign was over. He did not "offer to work together to get her elected" as he claims. That’s a flat out lie. His entire demeanor was not that of a candidate who was conceding or willing to endorse the opponent who vanquished him rather easily. It was clear that Jeff was putting Michelle on notice, that he is watching the candidates and will be deciding which way he and "his" voters were going to go in the general election as if he had some magic power over the 22% of the primary electorate who voted for him. 

Throughout the meeting, Michelle was kind, engaging and friendly. She never used the vulgar language that Jeff purports she did, although I wouldn’t blame her if she was thinking it. His entire characterization of the conversation is false. Michelle talked in detail about how she wants to turn out every possible voter, especially young, rural, and Hispanic voters. And she sat there for 45 minutes, with restraint, and listened to the absolute arrogant bullshit Jeff was spewing, yet she continued to treat him with respect, something he has never shown her. 

Gabello

She asked Jeff what a productive role for him in our campaign would be – and he didn’t have an answer other than ‘wanting to hold our state accountable – whether he was in a public or private role." What motive would she have to do so – we won! And we had already moved on to Steve Pearce. 

I get it. Jeff thought he should have won--he had the last name, the Republican-front group tearing down Michelle with lies. . . and his money connections in California and New York from his years in business there. Yet, when it came to the voters, they saw through this empty suit, and sent the most qualified candidate into the general election with an overwhelming mandate. And, contrary to Jeff's claim, Michelle doesn't take a single vote for granted. She is fighting to earn every single vote. . .

I’ve already spent too much time on this and need to get back to focusing on defeating Steve Pearce, who would be an even worse governor than Gov. Martinez has been, if that’s possible. Perhaps if Jeff were a true Democrat, he would stop his pettiness, get over his defeat and do the same.

Pretty stunning stuff as was Apodaca's version of the meeting. By putting their response on the record, the MLG camp is signaling that if she is elected Governor she is unlikely to humor her harshest critics, even if they come from the same side of the political aisle.

It has been middle-aged and older Hispanic men like Jeff Apodaca and his former Governor father Jerry Apodaca, who has endorsed Steve Pearce, who have been the wing of the party most troublesome for Lujan Grisham. But with a recent poll showing her getting 87 percent Democratic support the trouble has been more like a pin prick rather than a deep wound. Still, if she is victorious the feud could follow her into the Fifth Floor and maybe on to the floor of the Senate. Here's how. . .

HISPANIC DISCONTENT

Sen. Padilla

A big day in DC today for the Supreme court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh as well as the #MeToo movement. And we have a bit of news lingering from that moment right here in River City.

Sources close to the State Senate Democratic caucus are reporting that ABQ Senator Michael Padilla appears to be preparing to try to win back the position of Senate Majority Whip.

That's a real eyebrow raiser because Padilla was stripped of the post after being forced to withdraw from the lieutenant governor race last November after Lujan Grisham publicly called on him to quit. In doing so, she cited years-old sex harassment charges against Padilla that had been legally settled but were surfacing as a political issue. As her running mate, the baggage would have weighed her down considerably, especially considering the ongoing revelations of the national #MeToo movement.

But the potential Padilla power play is not a revenge move on MLG, the insiders say. It's about the continuing dissatisfaction of Hispanic senators with their lack of leadership positions in the Senate.

The all Anglo leadership team is: Senator Peter Wirth as Majority Leader, Mimi Stewart replaced Senator Padilla as Whip, Mary Kay Papen is President Pro Tem and John Arthur Smith is chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. In a majority-minority state and in a body where in the past Hispanic leaders have been omnipresent, their current absence is notable. In fact, this year Senator Jacob Candelaria was instrumental in forming a first of it's kind Hispanic Caucus in the Legislature.

If Padilla were to make a comeback it would come at the Senate caucus meeting following the November election. To pull it off he would have to make sure two other Hispanic Senators--ABQ's Candelaria and Linda Lopez--who both ran for Whip when Padilla was ousted but lost to Stewart--and did not run again. You have to wonder how the MLG forces would take to a resurrection of the man who was one of the first to fall to #MeToo. But then Governors don't run the Senate and if they do not for long.

Padilla did not respond to questions about a possible run for Whip but sources say he has met with Senators about a comeback. He recently endorsed MLG during a radio interview. Sen. Stewart is expected to again seek the post.

And there you have two big stories today on the intricacies of New Mexican politics that only those most schooled in the fine art of La Politica can navigate.

THE BOTTOM LINES

A reader who calls himself "The Geography Geek" writes of our error in a first blog draft Wednesday when we described State House District #68 where GOP Rep. Monica Youngblood is seeking re-election:

Your description of Youngblood's district is wrong. It is basically North Taylor Ranch to Cottonwood area. It stops at Coors, never gets to the river. Here's the map. . .

But can they get Dion's?

Worried about morale, the Army set out on a long-term effort to upgrade the menu with items that the troops might actually like. And its food scientists have finally hit on what many say is the holy grail of field rations: the M.R.E. pizza. Now being shipped to military bases around the world, the newest of 24 current M.R.E. options is a humble three-by-five-inch Sicilian-style slice, scattered with melt-proof shreds of mozzarella and pebbles of mild pepperoni, sealed in a dun-colored laminate pouch.

Of course, the New Mexico soldiers are waiting for the green chile topping.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN