John Blair

Fair warning. The first blog item today is X-rated. It's a fund-raising pitch by northern Dem congressional candidate John Blair who says he would be the state's first LGBTQ representative in Congress:

I have received so much love and support in this race. But, there’s always a few bad apples to remind me that the fight for equality and acceptance isn’t over. Here's just a sample of a few real messages my campaign has received:

"F*** you f******"
"Take your gay dog and go away"
"I want your f***** a** to stop emailing me!"
"I don't vote for gay f*****"
"Not voting for a confused gay boy"

Blair did not say what form the homophobic messages took, whether by phone, email or in person. It's hard to believe many of them came from likely Dem voters in the liberal northern district. Whatever the case, Blair will get divided opinion on this one--sympathy from voters offended by the hateful comments and want to push back or criticism for going too far exploiting his sexuality to raise campaign money.

The northern Dem primary, the winner of which is almost certain to win the seat in the general election, is hotter than a Tucmucari parking lot in July. But only three of the candidates have broken into the top tier--ex-CIA spy Valerie Plame, Santa Fe County DA Marco Serna and attorney Teresa Leger Fernandez. That's why you're seeing eyebrow raising emails as others try to break through. The election is next June. The last we looked there were around ten candidates, but don't hold us to that number.

There's an election right here in ABQ that will be happening a lot sooner than next June. It's the Nov. 5 balloting in which voters will choose city councilors in four of the nine districts.The battle for the Downtown/North Valley seat held by incumbent Councilor Ike Benton has been one to watch. Well, you can't call it much of a battle. The five contenders haven't thrown as much as an eggshell at one another--at least not yet. They get another chance to mix it up Thursday:

District 2 City Council Candidate Forum: Thursday, October 3, 2019 at Washington Middle School from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. All District 2 candidates have agreed to attend. Steven Baca, Isaac Benton, Joseph R. Griego, Robert Raymond Blanquera Nelson, Zachary A. Quintero and Connie Vigil

STATE SENATE WATCH

Will there be another hat in the ring for that coveted gubernatorial appointment to the state senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen, Carlos Cisneros? Insiders are now talking up longtime Taos area State Rep. Bobby Gonzales for the slot. He's long on experience and knowledge of the north. The four county commissions in Senate District 6 will send names to MLG from which she will pick the appointee.

Okay, filling the senate seat is important but perhaps of more importance is who will take over the position of Vice-Chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, a post long held by Cisneros. Will it be someone who shares the conservative fiscal views of Chairman John Arthur Smith? Of course not, it will go to a wild-eyed liberal who will shake Senator Smith to the core and completely change the committee's views. Now you know. . .

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019