Mayor Miyagishima

ABQ isn't the only large NM city having a November election this year. We take you south to Las Cruces today where voters will decide city council races and mayor.

Mayor Ken Miyagishima has yet to announce whether he will seek another term, even though the election is drawing near. We asked veteran news reporter Mike Cook of the Las Cruces Bulletin for a report:

Hey Joe, Thanks for your email. I interviewed Ken a couple of months ago and he told me at that time he hadn’t made up his mind but he would let me know. I’ve heard nothing further and I’m not aware of an announcement pending. Having said that, I would bet (for whatever my opinion is worth), he will run for a fourth term. Between city council and Dona Ana County Commission, he now has almost 26 years elected service. With Gina Ortega running again for mayor and Councilor Greg Smith also in the race, it should be something. And, this will be our first ranked-choice ballot and the first time we’ve combined city, school board and soil and water conservation district. Hope you are doing well.

Thanks, Mike. A fourth term for Miyagishima? 16 years?  That could set a record for the longest consecutive stretch of mayoral terms for any of the state's four largest cities of ABQ, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe or Las Cruces. We know it would be for ABQ and Santa Fe. We'll check further while we're swinging away in the summer hammock.

GETTING CEMENTED 

One of the top tier candidates in the chase for the Dem northern congressional nomination was given a big boost this week when Emily's List, the prominent women's political group in DC, endorsed the candidacy of attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez. That means hefty campaign contributions and strategic help in winning the nomination next June in what has turned out to be a crowded field.

The seat is being vacated by Dem Rep. Ben Ray Lujan who is running for US Senate. Winning the Dem nomination in the north is essentially the equivalent of wining the congressional seat in the heavy D district. The top tier contenders in the race (as we see it) are Leger Fernandez, Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Serna and former CIA operative and author Valerie Plame. State Rep. Joseph Sanchez is another contender of note.

ONE MORE TIME

How many times have we heard this over the years? But is the long tease finally about to end?

Commercial space travel is expected to happen next year, Virgin Galactic officials confirmed at a a news conference . . Operations for the flights will be based out of the Spaceport America facility in Truth or Consequences,  Initially, 700 tickets are being sold for suborbital flights lasting about six minutes that provide what was described as a "beautiful view of earth."

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019