One of the more important state Senate appointments by a Governor in recent years is about to unfold, so there's  plenty of drama over who Gov. Lujan Grisham will choose.

In question is the unexpired term of northern Dem Senator Carlos Cisneros who died in September. The Santa Fe County Commission and the Los Alamos County Council have nominated Taos Land Trust Director Kristina Ortez for the post while the Taos County Commission selected 25 year state Rep. Bobby Gonzales to replace Cisneros.

Ortez is the progressive. Gonzales is the centrist. The Governor's appointment could have major impact on whether the conservative coalition made up of GOP senators and several Democrats continues to hold sway in the Senate. Our  analysis comes from a Senior Alligator:

MLG is in a quandary over who to select to replace Sen. Cisneros. If she appoints Bobby she sends a legislative dinosaur and a bit of a wild card to the Senate. Remember, he challenged Rep. Egolf for the speakership and is friendly with long-serving conservative Dems in the Senate and aging Dems in the House. 

Cisneros was cozy with conservative Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Arthur Smith, a leader of the coalition. Gonzales may be less cozy, but not much. He has a lifetime voting average of 76% from Conservation Voters Alliance--which is on the lower end for Dems. A Gonzales appointment won’t make progressives happy. 

If MLG appoints Ortez, she gets a progressive in the Senate, increases the number of women Senators and pleases progressive interest groups. But under that scenario MLG would make an enemy of Gonzales, a House committee chairman who is known to carry a curmudgeonly grudge for those who cross him. Gonzales might then run against Ortez in a bloody primary next June. 

All 42 Senate seats are up for election next year. If a couple of the conservative Dems lost to progressive primary challengers, it could spell the end of the coalition and if the coalition survives the challenges, it could gain strength.

DOWN SHE GOES

Happier Times

While MLG works to craft a legacy as she comes up on her first full year in office, her predecessor remains mired in scandal and disgrace. . .

The long unwinding of what certainly is in competition for being the worst gubernatorial administration  in New Mexico history continues. State Auditor Brian Colón is the latest to come with an assessment.

He reports on those lawsuit settlements that cost NM taxpayers $2.7 million in what appears to be a shake-down to prevent disclosure of damaging personal information about now former Governor Susana Martinez. It's pretty outrageous stuff, most of it centered on an alleged sexual affair she had with her state police bodyguard. Colón has forwarded his audit of the lawsuit settlements which he says are "an abuse of power" to Attorney General Balderas and the Santa Fe County DA's office, but the AG has been quiet, showing little interest in a possible further investigation.

The dubious achievements of Martinez are long and sorrowful. They include the down and dirty Downs deal, the cruel disruption of the behavioral heath care system, the blatant racializing of state politics over driver's licenses and her incessant intimidation, bullying and vindictiveness towards even mild political foes, And that's only a part of her ignominious legacy.

Even as she falls, the state GOP, now led by her longtime rival Steve Pearce, could not help piling on:

The Party believes all public officials should be held accountable for their actions, held to the highest standard and that all governmental activity should be honest and transparent. No one is above the law. In addition, it is imperative that any such settlements never be a burden on New Mexico taxpayers.

Now the insiders report that Martinez has moved to ABQ and is living in the house of former ABQ GOP state Rep. Monica Youngblood who has moved to Wisconsin after her political career also ended in disgrace and humiliation when she was busted for DWI. How fitting.

We can't say we're surprised in the least by the destruction of Martinez politically and personally. We long ago predicted her demise. It just didn't come soon enough to spare the state. And we didn't imagine that her inevitable downfall would be so profitable because of a secret tape recording of her own husband, Chuck Franco, in which he delves further into Martinez's personal life.

The fact that the state says it can't find that recording that cost it so much and that the AG is not trying to find out why, shouts out for further inquiry.

As for Susana Martinez she's been thrown to the Alligators and now lives with the fishes. RIP or something, Guv. . .

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019