Dysfunctional Senate Dems: Will Chaos Spill Onto Campaign Trail? Dispute Over Timing Of Caucus Meeting To Pick Leaders As Ivey-Soto Sex Harassment Controversy Rages; He Calls For FBI Probe of Sen. Stewart As She Faces Pro Tem Challenge; R's Eye Any Opportunity With MLG Harassment Case Resurfacing

Sens. Wirth and Stewart

The ultimate dysfunctional family these days is the NM Senate where a sex harassment case against a senator has spun out of control, where a leadership battle threatens to further tear apart the 26 member majority Democratic caucus and where Republicans are starting to lick their chops over the internal squabbles of their opposition colleagues.

And all of this could be exacerbated and exaggerated by an out-of-the-ordinary Senate Democratic Caucus meeting to pick leaders that is scheduled for Saturday but is usually held after the November election. 

The immediate problem is if the Dems are unable to keep their dysfunction in the family and it starts to leak onto the fiery gubernatorial and state House campaign trail. The long-term problem is a caucus ripped to shreds with hate and resentment spilling over into policy and causing the state to suffer. 

It's like Lord of the Flies. There are no adults in the room," opined political analyst and attorney Greg Payne.

We turn to one of our Senior GOP Alligators to analyze this convoluted state of affairs afflicting the legislature's upper chamber:

Joe, by holding their caucus Saturday the Dems could open the floodgates on the corruption issue for Republicans. A divisive discussion will no doubt arise over the sexual harassment charges against ABQ Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto who is being called on to resign his committee chairmanships but who is fighting the charges vociferously. 

In addition, ABQ Senator Michael Padilla has announced he will try to win back his position as Senate Majority Whip, a position he was stripped of in 2017 because of sex harassment allegations and which then governor candidate Michelle Lujan Grisham used to force him to end his 2018 candidacy for lieutenant governor. 

The Governor is now prepping for her own sex harassment problems as the Ronchetti campaign can be expected to unload TV ads over her settlement of the infamous Crotchgate case in which she paid out $150,000 from campaign funds to a former campaign staffer who says she assaulted him. That and the events surrounding Ivey Soto and Padilla could easily be used to paint a picture of Democratic corruption. And there's more. There are the pending felony kickback charges charges against former ABQ Democratic Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton and the high profile drunk driving convictions of  Rep. Georgene Louis and former Sen. Richard Martinez. 

That's a mouthful but it ably outlines the political peril that the Dem dysfunction could pose to the still not closed out Governor's race. No wonder ABQ Sen. Jerry Oritz y Pino (and other senators behind the scenes) are calling on Majority Leader Peter Wirth and Senate Pro Tem Mimi Stewart to hold off conducting the Saturday meeting.  

That meeting could be even more politically explosive because Sen. Stewart's longtime rival and current Majority Whip Sen. Linda Lopez is planning to again challenge Stewart for the Pro Tem title. That's in addition to Padilla's controversial caucus comeback play. 

Not to mention that someone could call for a vote to kick Ivey-Soto out of his chairmanships, even though the ultimate decision is made by a full state Senate committee. The Senator is so reviled by certain interest groups that they will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of him, even as his lawyerly mind seems to be crafting a trap for his pursuers. 

IT GETS BIZARRE

Sens. Lopez and Ivey-Soto

One of the more bizarre aspects of this Senate Dem turmoil is Ivey-Soto contacting the FBI to investigate his charge that he was approached by an intermediary of Senator Stewart's who urged him to resign his committee chairmanships--or else a confidential report on his harassment case from a senate subcommittee would be leaked. He said he refused and the report was indeed leaked. 

Stewart calls her actions innocuous and the natural political gesture to make--not a criminal act. 

Ivey-Soto disclosed that the senate investigation of the charges is over and found that there is no probable cause to pursue the matter. Sen. Lopez was among the four senators making that finding. 

Not a few lawmakers are mentioning Ortiz y Pino, who will not seek re-election in two years, as a possible "peacemaker Pro Tem" to end the blood feud between Stewart and Sens. Lopez and Ivey-Soto. 

The most sensational allegation in the leaked report is that Ivey-Soto, who dated ABQ Senator Katy Duhigg before she was elected, once pinned her to the floor against her will. Duhigg refused comment. 

An ally of Ivey-Soto's says Duhigg did not support the allegation when interviewed by the senator's attorney during the senate probe. 

But calling the FBI into the state Senate? That's like yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Who knows where the flames would be fanned? Senators, watch your coattails.

STILL TOPIC A

Team Ronchetti appears to need a mountain of Democratic mistakes in order to get the Guv race in play before widespread early voting starts October 22. That's because he has made his share of errors when it comes to abortion rights--and he may have made another late last week. 

Under the gun as women voters give MLG big majorities in the polls, Ronchetti came with yet another TV ad on abortion to try to break the steel ring women have formed around the Governor. This time he proposes that abortion rights be placed in a constitutional amendment and sent to the voters to decide. He says the politicians should not make the decision but, of course, constitutional amendments are written by the politicians--the members of the Legislature. 

Most concerning for the GOP nominee is his loss of trust on this issue and in turn perhaps a loss of trust in his overall candidacy. 

In 2020 when he ran for the US Senate he said he was a strong opponent of abortion "at all stages." This year that morphed into support for abortion during the first 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. Now he proposes to send the matter to the voters but doesn't say exactly what language he would like voters to decide, although it is presumed it would be the ban on abortion after 15 weeks.

Then there is the video of ABQ Pastor Steve Smotherman who told his congregation this summer that he met privately with Ronchetti "for hours" and who told him he is against all abortion but has to start slowly in banning them or else he would not be elected. The video of Smotherman has not yet been shown in TV ads but it's certain it will as Election Day nears. 

Even Republicans admit Ronchetti has lost the narrative over abortion and has to find another way to ease women's concerns over his candidacy. Now more than ever he needs MLG to stumble in her colorful cowboy boots. 

THE BOTTOM LINES 

A reader erred Thursday in identifying the construction group that Michael Puelle once worked for. Puelle is the chief of staff to Mayor Keller who last week was named the new top lobbyist for UNM. He previously worked for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) New Mexico. He was not, as the reader inferred, involved in anti-union activity. 

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2022