Romero and Stansbury in DC

When ABQ Dem Rep. Melanie Stansbury invited Santa Fe state Rep. Andrea Romero to be her guest at the State of the Union Tuesday night the Alligators started splashing. 

Like many other Dems, the pair boycotted the actual speech and instead joined Epstein survivors to mark the occasion. Stansbury invited Romero because of her role as chair of the newly empaneled state Epstein Truth Commission which is charged with investigating Epstein's ties here, particularly to his now notorious Zorro ranch.

Romero's emergence on that international issue as well as on legislation banning ICE detention centers in the state have catapulted her up the food chain of La Politica. It was not entirely expected, given the heavy damage she sustained from an ethics scandal when she first ran for the legislature in 2018. 

But it was not the type of scandal that would lead to a permanent ghosting. In fact, House Speaker Javier Martinez has smoothed her entry into the limelight--and now Stansbury. 

Under scrutiny with her new high profile, Romero has acquitted herself well in fielding questions from national and local media. Danger however lurks with the Epstein matter. If her closely watched  commission doesn't perform, it could be a career threat. 

So where does the Congress part come in? Well, northern Dem Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez is 66 and certainly not ready for the rocking chair. But after another term or two she could be ready to come home permanently. That brings Romero into the succession equation. She fits the progressive bill for the Dems and if she has her eye on the prize, she is off to a solid start. Any potential rivals for that opening are on notice. 

Don't say we didn't tell you. . . 

DUKES DEM DONATIONS (CONT.)

We have a new grand total of the donations GOP gubernatorial candidate Duke Rodriguez and Ultra Health made to Democratic candidates since 2015. A Senior Alligator checked both of the totals posted here earlier and came with some minor adjustments. Donations from Rodriguez and his Ultra Health cannabis company to Democrats totals $188,150 and to Republicans $29,500. Here's that full report (and hopefully the last one).

BREGMAN POLLING 

Trying to get something started in his underdog race for the Dem gubernatorial nomination, Sam Bregman sent his pollster into the field after that news report revealing that front-runner Deb Haaland and Gary King had hitched a ride on an Epstein-linked jet in 2014 when she was the Lt. Governor nominee and King the Governor nominee. 

And surprise (or not) the poll showed Haaland taking a hit when voters were reminded of the incident and then asked who they would pick as their Dem nominee. Haaland polled at 46 and Bregman at 25. Meanwhile, Haaland's camp says her internal polling--before the Epstein story--had her getting 56 percent. (Click on posted poll for more).

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