Justice Nakamura

Hold your horses, Victor Lopez. . .

An upcoming vacancy on the NM Supreme Court continues to provide summer intrigue.

The latest has Chief Justice Judy Nakamura delaying her planned August 1 retirement because of issues with her retirement with the Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA). But how long a delay?

If Nakamura retires after September 3--less than 60 days before the November 3 election, state law says there would be no election for her seat. The appointee picked by the Governor from the list provided by the Judicial Nomination Commission would fill out Nakamura's term and the seat would not be up for election until 2022.

Nakamura says her retirement will be delayed until "later this year." That could easily mean past the 60 day election deadline. If she leaves after the November election , that would give MLG breathing room to appoint someone who might be questioned for being too politically close, according to the Legal Beagles. Her general counsel has been mentioned as a possible appointee.

Nakamura made her delay announcement Friday, only days after Dem ABQ District Court Judge Victor Lopez announced he would seek election to the seat and asked the Democratic Party Central Committee, responsible for naming a candidate for the vacancy to name him. (Republicans and Libertarians--the state's other major political parties--would also get to name candidates for the election in the event of a vacancy.)

The Lopez jump-the-gun move was the subject of our Friday blog. It received mixed Dem reaction because Lopez seeks to make an end run around whomever MLG appoints to fill the vacancy. That appointee could also be expected to seek the blessing of the Central Committee to become the party's November candidate.

Republican Nakamura, 59, is creating plenty of twists and turns for the Dems, but the odds of the seat staying in R hands are slim. Only two R's--including Nakamura--have managed to get elected to the five member court in the last 40 years.

HAALAND AND ONATE

ABQ Dem Rep. Deb Haaland, one of two Native American women in the US House, is known for unabashedly supporting her party's left wing, but she is taking a softer approach when it comes to a thorny issue close to home that has the progressive wing inflamed. In an op-ed Haaland avoids directly answering the question of whether statutes commemorating Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate should be removed:

Should we remove statues of Oñate? Perhaps we should erect statues of local heroes who have been a strong voice or remedied injustice. Would removing the statues erase the pride that Hispanic communities should feel? No, their generations of families have made our state what it is today. We all should be proud of the Hispanic heritage in New Mexico.

The violence this month that broke out at a demonstration over the Oñate statue near ABQ's Old Town ended with a man being shot. As for the statue, the city has removed it and a committee will now consider its future. Another statue of Oñate, in Española, has also been removed--at least temporarily.

Oñate's legacy includes ordering the cutting off ankles of Acoma Pueblo men during his conquest, a shocking event that is central to the calls for the removal of the statue commemorating his journey through the state in the 16th century. But Haaland is searching for a middle ground that takes into account the centuries-long and nuanced relationship between the state's Native Americans and Hispanics. She notes how intertwined they are culturally and in many other ways. A good chunk of her political base may be clamoring for removal of the Oñate statue but it is a decision our state will have to live with for years to come. Haaland's reflective posture leans toward  understanding, not a verdict. Ultimately, that's the way forward.

ANXIOUS R'S

Republicans anxiously await a signal from the Trump campaign that it will seriously compete for New Mexico's five electoral votes. The latest from The Hill:

The Trump campaign has circled Minnesota, New Mexico and New Hampshire as blue battlegrounds it believes are primed to turn red. There is very little polling of these states but nothing yet to set off alarms for Biden’s campaig. . . A survey of New Mexico from left-leaning Public Policy Polling found Biden ahead by 14 points.

Trump's performance is key in the battle for the southern congressional district where first-term Dem Rep.  Xochitl Torres Small faces Republican Yvette Herrell. In 2016 Trump won the district by 10 points. R's fear that if he falls below that mark this year Herrell's chances will greatly diminish.

As for Trump carrying New Mexico, that remains a very long shot. The Dem bastions of ABQ, Santa Fe and Las Cruces have been reliably blue for three consecutive presidential contests. Carry them and you carry the state.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020