Let's pick up up where we left off Wednesday, with more action in the state House primaries that were finalized on filing day Tuesday. 

District 2--In the Four Corners GOP state Rep. James Strickler is calling it quits after 17 years at the Roundhouse but there is no scramble to replace him. Republican Mark Duncan was the only candidate to file for the seat and will be elected without primary or general election opposition. It appears Strickland managed to keep his retirement plans close to the vest. Duncan is a former San Juan County Treasurer who will pick up the conservative spear where Strickland put it down.

District 51--It's Black vs. Block in this conservative Alamogordo area seat. Rep. Rachel Black is going for her third term while John Block, editor of a conservative news site, is mounting an aggressive challenge saying Block isn't conservative enough. There is a Dem in the race but the GOP winner is assured of November victory in this all R all the time region.

District 53---One of the state's longest House rivalries is still alive in this Las Cruces area district. In 2016 Republican Ricky Little beat Willie Madrid to get a ticket to Santa Fe, but in '18 and '20 Madrid returned the favor and beat Little both times. Now it's '22 and Willie and Rick may face each other again. Little faces another Republican in the primary but is the favorite. Madrid is the lone D. Who knows who will come out on top this time but we're putting our money on yet another rematch in '24.

District 56--Here's another quiet hand-me-down move. GOP state Rep. Zach Cook is leaving this Otero/Lincoln seat but as in District 2, he will be succeeded without a fight. The only candidate to file for the seat is Republican Harlan Vincent, the Ruidoso fire chief. Say this about Harlan--he knows how to put out fires even before they start. 

District 64--Sure, we've been accused of being conspiratorial, but come on. Here's a third House seat where a Republican is leaving and where only one candidate filed. Leaving is Rep. Randall Crowder and coming in without opposition is Andrea Reeb of Clovis. Reeb announced her retirement as District Attorney from the Ninth Judicial District late last year after seven years of service. At the time she  said nothing about running for the Legislature of which she will be soon be a member. Nothing like knowing how to keep a secret in politics--or should we say conspiracy?

District 68--ABQ Dem Rep. Karen Bash is done but she did the state a service when she stepped into replace her predecessor who was disgraced with a DWI arrest accompanied by an embarrassing video. Bash won the Republican district because of that controversy but can Dem Charlotte Little hang in there and beat Republican attorney Robert Moss to keep the seat in the Dem column? Those are the two candidates who have filed for the seat. The district's performance is rated at a cliff-hanging 50.1 percent for the Dems. Little is going to have to think big. 

District 70--We're back with yet another conservative versus progressive in a Dem House race. This time in the Las Vegas area where freshman Rep. Ambrose Castellano is being challenged by progressive Anita Amalia Gonzales. This pair needs no introduction to each other. In 2020 Gonzales narrowly lost the Dem nomination to Castellano in the San Miguel County centered district. And we mean narrowly--41.0 to 39.9 percent in a three way race. Is another late primary night in store? No R's need apply in this heavy Dem district. And none have. 

District 30--Back in the big city a GOP political family is trying to renew the spark that the party once had in this NE Heights district. Kurstin Johnson, a realtor and wife of former BernCo Commissioner  Wayne Johnson, has thrown her hat into the ring--or somewhere along Montgomery Boulevard. But educator and Dem Rep. Natalie Figueroa has laid claim to this neighborhood that was once represented by GOP Rep. Nate Gentry who served as a House leader. Nate quit in '18 when he saw the Dem handwriting on the wall and Natalie took over. Can Johnson turn back the hands of time? Yes, it's that uphill. 

If all the candidates running for the Dem nod for BernCo Sheriff had voted for Sheriff Manny Gonzales when he ran for mayor last year, he might have won. There are a crowed of seven contenders for the Democratic nomination to succeed Gonzales who is termed out. And even the outnumbered county Republcians managed to round up four contestants for their party's nomination. There's even a Libertarian Party Sheriff  candidate. That's a dozen candidates willing to become the county's top crime fighter and there's always plenty of it to fight. Favorites? Give us a couple of months and we'll get back to you that--uh, maybe. (Ok, a hint. The first fundraising reports will tell most of the tale.)

It was supposed to be a smooth and quiet hand-off--like some of those GOP state House seats we wrote of today. But things got bumpy on the way to the downtown county commission chambers for Barbara Baca, the favored candidate of outgoing Dem Commissioner O'Malley to succeed her in BernCo Commission District 1 centered in the North Valley. Baca received late primary opposition from Comcast executive Erin Muffoletto, who is decidedly more conservative than the progressive Baca and who wasted no time reacting. She noted Muffoletto's past employment as a lobbyist and her former membership in the GOP. That could hurt but the attack could also be seen as a sign that the challenger has some oomph. Whatever the case, the bumpy ride should end after primary night. Republican Michaela Chavez will be the GOP nominee but this one is Dem  country through and through. 

Attorney Damian Lara once campaigned to be a congressman. That didn't work out but he would be pleased to be the next BernCo Assessor, succeeding Tanya Giddings who is termed out. He and fellow Dem Stephen Sais, who has long service in the office, will face each other in the primary. Lara is no stranger there either, having served a stint as Deputy Assessor. The poltical pros assessment of the race for Assessor? Well, they won't say. They don't want to become the first three letters of that office. 

Thanks for stopping by this week.  

Reporting from Albuquerque, I'm Joe Monahan and. . .

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