Rep. Louis

This unsteady, rickety on its feet legislative session took a hard fall Monday with the aggravated DWI arrest of prominent ABQ state Rep. Georgene Louis, the launch of a national GOP TV attack campaign against MLG and an anti-crime package that has turned milquetoast. 

The post-Super Bowl, Valentine's Day Eve Santa Fe arrest of Louis shortly before midnight Sunday on Cerrillos road sucker-punched the Governor and Democratic political class that has been touting this as an anti-crime session, only to now see a chairwoman of a House committee allegedly committing a serious crime by blowing .17 on her breathalyzer test. 

That's double the legal limit and automatically earned her an aggravated DWI charge that will get her a jail sentence if found guilty. Put an exclamation point on it with additional charges for speeding, no vehicle registration and no proof of insurance. 

The arrest proved delicate for the House Dems as it involves an indigenous woman of color. Speaker Brian Egolf's instinct was to tread lightly--too lightly--in his initial comments, saying he could not really comment:

Georgene is a dear friend and a truly excellent legislator,” Egolf said. “Until I have more information about the facts of this incident or the opportunity to speak to her directly, I cannot make any further comment.” 

Later he came with this amendment:

We are aware of this developing situation and it is important that we let the judicial process take its course. In the meantime, the legislature will continue its critical work over the next 4 days. As friends and colleagues, we are equally concerned about the wellbeing of Representative Louis and her family in this difficult time.”

No-one in leadership is even "troubled" by the serious nature of the charges? What about concern for the  families endangered by the alleged drunk driving and speeding? 

That insular thinking may be fine for the House, but the Governor isn't going to get away with it. Not with the release of a new TV ad from a Super PAC affiliated with the GOP Governors Association that slams her as a failure on crime. 

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Talk about lucky timing. The ad was released Monday almost in sync with the Louis arrest making headlines, not to mention the morning national headlines of a madman riding a bike on ABQ's Central Avenue Sunday and randomly stabbing 11 people as he traveled for miles on the avenue. 

The R's say they are spending at least "six figures" on their ad. They planned it for the final days of the session as the crime bills move front and center and the tough ones melt like butter under a hot sun, only to be replaced by a new package that even the sponsor, Sen. Joe Cervantes, downplays: 

This is not a big bold change where big bold change is needed,

What a train wreck. 

MLG, apparently spooked by iffy polling numbers, decided to turn a traditional 30 day budget session on its ear and flood it with anti-crime legislation, only to see it disintegrate before her eyes in a recalcitrant Senate, a legislator in the slammer and hungry R's smelling blood and striking early. 

The decision to position her to the right on crime in a legislative body overwhelming Democratic and with outsized trial lawyer muscles may go down as "The Great Backfire."

But the record $8.5 billion budget is getting done and will soon be out the door. If only she and the Dems had stuck to playing that tune. 

Meantime, local R's, led by Chairman Steve Pearce, were sent into a frenzy by Louis' arrest and immediately called for her resignation. Predictable, but hypocritical to the nth degree. 

Remember when one of their own, ABQ GOP state Rep. Monica Youngblood, had her own sensational aggravated DWI arrest in 2018? Current GOP Chairman and then Guv candidate Pearce refused to call for her to resign. In fact, not one elected Republican official did so. The voters had to do the job and throw Youngblood out of office as she tried to defy them as well as the law. 

Nice try, Steve, but who could forget Monica prancing around in that arrest video? 

GO OR STAY?

Of course, Rep. Louis, an attorney, who is in her fifth term, should resign and spare the state the embarrassment that Youngblood wallowed in. But just two years ago Dem Senator Richard Martinez was booked for DWI and, like Youngblood, refused to go, leaving it again to the voters to oust him after an arrest video that was so demeaning heads turned away.