The four races for ABQ City Council continue to take shape. In SE Heights. District 6 attorney Gina Naomi Dennis surprised the skeptics and qualified for public financing. She will received $32,000 in public money as will incumbent Councilor Pat Davis who also qualified.

This has now turned into a race to watch between the two Dems. The political environment in the district has been unsettled by a continuing crime wave and the controversial ART project which Davis supported and Dennis opposed.

Dennis is a well-known activist in the district. Davis was a well-known activist before he was elected to the Council in '15. No other candidates are seeking the seat. 

The City Clerk's office is still determining which candidates qualify for public financing by collecting $5 contributions from individual voters from May 1 to May 31. The election is Nov. 5.

UDALL EXIT INTERVIEW

Senator Tom Udall elaborated on his decision not to seek re-election to a third term next year in an interview with the NYT. Let's take a look and then analyze:

“This place is definitely broken,” said Senator Udall.

(He)said he had become convinced that he could do more to advance his progressive ideas on climate change, war powers and a comprehensive electoral overhaul by skipping another two years of relentless re-election fund-raising. Instead, he said, he intends to redouble his efforts in those areas in hopes of setting the stage for big changes should Democrats prevail next year, even though he won’t be back in the Senate himself. “You don’t necessarily have to be there to see that they are completed,” he said.

Well, the reality of his own mortality--he would be 78 at the end of a third term and his wife Jill is today 80--is a reasonable reason for not running and probably high on the list.

As for his wish to influence the Senate from the outside, with the national stature he commands that should not be an issue. However, it will be nothing like the influence he commands today. He may be in the minority and only one of 100, but he takes votes that conceivably impact over 320 million Americans. When he says goodbye to the Senate he says goodbye to the power. And that's the way it is.

AGENCY SKEPTIC

Critics have been few and far between when it comes to the creation of the new Early Childhood Education and Care Department during the last legislative session. But they are out there, including news commentator Walt Rubel, formerly of the Las Cruces Sun-News and now opining at KRWG radio.

The bill to provide consistent funding (via a constitutional amendment) for early childhood education by tapping into the state’s permanent fund died again this year in the Senate Finance Committee, as it does every year. 

Supporters of the new agency argue that it will improve early-childhood outcomes by taking services now provided by the state’s Children Youth and Families Department, Health Department and the Department of Education, and consolidating them under one agency. “This will eliminate that duplication of services,” said Rep. Linda Trujillo, a co-sponsor of the bill. So, to eliminate overlap among government agencies, we’re going to create another government agency? I hope that works....I hope the new department will help. But I fear that the problem is a lack of funding, not a lack of bureaucrats.

Your fear, Mr. Rubel, appears justified.

HOT CAMPAIGN

It's going to be a long hot summer for Yvette Herrell and Chris Mathys, the Republican candidates for the southern congressional seat held by Dem Rep. Xochitl Torres Small. But if one of them is going to knock her off they have no choice but to wear out their sneakers on scorched pavement. They are already making the rounds a year in advance of the June primary where it will be decided which one of them will take on the congresswoman in Nov. 2020. Here's what they are saying.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019