Bregman and Haaland

As we take the first look of the year at the '26 Dem Guv chase we find Sam Bregman still seeking to shake up his race with Deb Haaland while she continues her run out the clock strategy, saying little but staying busy doing it. 

Bregman is regularly pressuring her for debates but so far that's like swinging at the wind. 

He also picked up a third tribal endorsement--Ohkay Owingeh--in a bid to portray her as weak and ripe for an upset.

The progressive Dem dominance seen in the December win of ABQ Mayor Keller shows how long the odds are for centrist Sam. As one of our Senior Alligators puts it: 

Democrats don't want to run to the middle and independents who are now allowed to cast ballots in primaries are not trained to do so.

So what's a BernCo DA to do? A couple of things. First raise a lot more money and use it to get up on TV and stay up. The aim being to exceed expectations at the Dem Party's March pre-primary nominating convention and resetting the table for the June 2 primary. But where to get the green fuel? Well, there is this:

Third baseman Alex Bregman and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a five-year, $175 million contract sources told ESPN Saturday, as the three-time All-Star joins the club one year after its failed pursuit of him in free agency. Bregman, 31, opted out of a $40 million player option with the Boston Red Sox to hit free agency again after his first foray as a free agent last year. 

If Bregman's son Alex and friends got involved in a PAC for Pop Sam could they attract big dollars and big baseball names? If so, it could help level the playing field with Haaland who at last report led Bregman two to one in cash on hand.

Although his campaign would not be allowed to direct the messaging of any PAC, it could potentially put Bregman on nearly equal financial footing with Haaland and force her to stop her clock watching and maybe even debate.

Oh, one other thing. Lose the black hat and horse--before it's too late.  

KEN LAGS

Former Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima--the third candidate in the Dem field--is becoming an afterthought. He can't raise sufficient money, can't get his nominating signatures done early and is splitting Dems and indys with Bregman. Maybe he should switch horses and run for the Dem Lt. Governor nod against SOS Maggie Toulouse  Olvier? His chances might not be half as bad as they are now. 

MONDRAGON MEMORIES

Old timers who remember him continue to reflect on the death of former Lt. Gov. Roberto Mondragon who died at 85 lat week. He served two terms as lieutenant governor in the 1970's in addition to many other accomplishments. One of those with memories is longtime Dem player Jon Hendry of Santa Fe:  

Joe, Roberto was responsible (inadvertently) for the start of former US Sen. Tom Udall's congressional career. When Roberto won 10% of the vote running for Governor in '94 as a Green Party candidate, he secured an official ballot line for that party for 4 years. 

When then-Rep. Bill Richardson resigned in 1997 to become UN Ambassador, the Dem Central Committee named Eric Serna as thir candidate for the special election--even though he was not the preferred candidate of progressives in the heavy Dem district. That didn’t sit well so we bolted and backed Green Party candidate Carol Miller. Bill Redman was the lucky Republican who took advantage of the split and won. He got 43%; Dem Serna 40% and Green Carol Miller 17%. 

But the world returned to normal in 1998 in the Dem primary when Tom Udall soundly defeated Serna and went on to win the general election against Redmond, starting his long and illustrious career. 

I got to know Mondragon later in his career as a musician and he was indeed a great guy. 

A pub­lic memorial ser­vice for Mondragon will be held Jan. 27 at Santa Fe's Cathed­ral Basilica of St. Fran­cis of Assisi. The time of the service is pending. 

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.