If there are lingering doubts about her candidacy for the GOP nomination for the southern congressional seat former State Rep. Yvette Herrell is working to put them aside. She continues to roll out endorsements from prominent R's in hopes of avoiding a major challenge in her quest to take on Dem Rep. Xochitl Torres Small next year. Her campaign says:

Six current and former Republican members of the NM House of Representatives endorsed Yvette Herrell for Congress: Representatives Jack Chatfield (HD67), Candy Spence Ezzell (HD58), David Gallegos (HD61), Gregg Schmedes (HD22), Bob Wooley (Fmr. HD66) and Martin Zamora (HD63). They join House Republican Minority Leader Rep. Jim Townsend, who last week also endorsed Herrell.

There has been scuttlebutt that Herrell, who failed to beat Torres Small in '18, should not carry the GOP banner again but no other major candidates have surfaced and it appears she is starting to nail things down. We'll keep you posted.

Supporters of freshman State Rep. Joseph Sanchez were not happy that the handicappers on the Thursday blog did not place him in the "top tier" of contenders for the Dem nomination in the northern congressional seat which is being vacated by Rep. Ben Ray Lujan. Jerome Block writes:

Sanchez is  from Alcalde not Mora, although Mora is in his district. Besides his education (masters in engineering and MBA) he is an engineering professional at LANL, which relies on congress for funding. He is a member of family band "Los Blue Ventures" who are popular in Northern New Mexico. They could go on the road and generate a whole lot of votes. Just saying!

BENTON RETURNS FIRE

Benton

Former ABQ City Councilor and attorney Greg Payne this week scorched the idea of expanding the ABQ City Council from nine to eleven members as proposed by Councilor Ike Benton. Here's some equal time from the District Two councilor:

The proposal for 11 districts is in response to one key problem: the 2011 redistricting that packed two progressive-leaning districts, one urban and one rural, into one. In my op-ed I pointed out the unique challenges of this new district, created in order to add a west side district after a decade of sprawl growth. When I fight in the budget for basic storm drainage protection for the Broadway corridor, the response from many is that "District 2 is getting too much" of city resources. Mr. Payne once represented the Heights district with the least infrastructure and public safety needs, and his perspective exemplifies the problem. 

The 11 districts proposal has nothing to do with my office workload but is about restoring equity and improving representative democracy. While County Commissioners may represent a greater number of people, the bulk of that population lives within City limits, so demand on the County from that population is much lower.

Benton, who has been on the council since 2005, is seeking another four year term in this year's November election. He and other candidates have begun raising hundreds of the required donations of $5 each to qualify for public financing. This cycle voters can make those donations online which Benton is doing.