Things are starting to heat up in ABQ City Council District 4 in the NE Heights where observers expect a spirited battle between the top two contenders--Republican Brooke Bassan and Democrat Ane Romero. The sparring has already started with some Romero supporters questioning how much of a Republican Bassan really is. One of them writes:

Joe, There seems to be some confusion on the part of Brook Bassan as to her party affiliation. I went to the County Clerk's office and asked for her history. It showed that she switched to being a Republican on May 20, three weeks into the month of raising the $5 contributions toward public funding. But her yard signs are blue.

Records also show that Bassan switched from the R's to the D's in 2017. 

Bassan is counting on a solid block of GOP voters to put her over the top in the seat that is being vacated by R Brad Winter and who has endorsed Bassan. She has also won the support of the ABQ police officers union. Romero has been endorsed by Mayor Keller and US Rep. Deb Haaland. The other candidate in the race is Athena Ann Christodoulou.

A District 4 candidate forum is scheduled for tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at the North Domingo Baca Community Center. The election is November 5. City-wide in-person early voting begins October 19.

TRUMP AND NM

Veteran political pundit Larry Sabato of the University of Virgina was prompted to take a closer look at our state's presidential outlook in the wake of President Trump's recent visit here. He sees an interesting landscape but rates New Mexico as "Likely Democrat” for the 2020 race:

. . . One wild card, though, is that Libertarian Gary Johnson attracted a significant share of the vote in his home state’s presidential race in 2016 (9%) and Senate contest in 2018 (15%), a sizable bloc of voters Republicans hope will significantly break toward them without Johnson on the ballot.

Still, New Mexico also has the largest percentage of Hispanic voters of any state, a group that as a whole is considerably more Democratic than non-Hispanic whites. Clinton also won 48% of the vote in New Mexico in 2016, meaning that Trump (who got 40%) likely would have to convert the lion’s share of the Johnson voters to his side in 2020 in order to win the state. . .

We rate New Mexico as Likely Democratic for the 2020 presidential election. . . Not a total slam dunk for Democrats, but not a true swing state either. . . However, that is all a long preamble to a larger point: Trump and his team are wise to try to expand the electoral map.

ONE OF 26 

More than two dozen Democrats in the US House will not co-sponsor a bill banning assault weapons. One of them is southern NM Dem Xochitl Torres Small whose district bumps up against El Paso where a mass shooting at an El Paso Wal-Mart claimed 22 lives and injured 24. From The Hill:

Rep. Xochitl Torres Small Did not respond to a request for comment. The Las Cruces Sun News reported this month that when Torres Small was asked about her position on gun control at a recent town hall meeting, she responded, "The Second Amendment right comes with its responsibilities, and that's why I voted for comprehensive background checks. Because I think, like most gun owners do, that we have to act responsibly and make sure we're keeping our communities safe."

Torres Small is unopposed in next year's June Dem primary. Three R's are vying for the GOP nomination.

LOTS TO DO 

You can cover a lot of ground if you only have 36 hours to spend in ABQ, says this NYT report:

Get your bearings on a “Mezcla de Culturas” walking tour with Heritage Inspirations. Among its guides, Bobby Gonzales, a 13th-generation New Mexican, leads two-hour rambles ($75) through Old Town, Albuquerque’s original settlement. . .

Dating back to 1942, when drugstores commonly had soda fountains, Duran Central Pharmacy has expanded on the tradition and given it a New Mexican accent. Guests enter through the pharmacy and gift shop and follow their noses to the bustling diner on the left where orange vinyl stools line the curved lunch counter, and the griddle behind it sears hand-rolled flour tortillas. They come ready to dip into the green or red chile sauce smothering the huevos rancheros ($9.30) or concealing a chile-topped burger ($10.30). On your way out, browse the gift section for jars of the restaurant’s signature chile sauce. .

El Modelo's tamales also get an NYT shout out. And there you have your weekend marching orders. 
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019