GOP Has Attorney General Candidate

A political newcomer from Albuquerque announced today he is running for the Republican nomination for state attorney general.

Baiamonte

He's lawyer  Jim Baiamonte, who says he's a lifetime New Mexico resident.

In a news release, Baiamonte said:

“With decades of legal experience—criminal, civil matters, and family law—I have an in depth working knowledge of our legal system, and I possess a strong moral code and commitment to doing the job correctly. Our state has suffered greatly under too many attorney generals who have developed a ‘do-nothing’ approach, and we are in great need of genuine leadership and a commitment to doing the job correctly.”

Baiamonte holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and a law degree from the University of Wyoming. He served in the U.S. Army for eight years. He practices criminal law, family law, and civil matters.

On the Democratic side, State Auditor Hector Balderas is running for attorney general.

Weh to Challenge Udall

Former state Republican Party Chairman Allen Weh has hired a campaign manager and will announce Thursday he will seek the GOP nomination to challenge incumbent Democrat Tom Udall for his U.S. Senate seat.

Weh will make his announcement via live video stream tomorrow morning, campaign spokeswoman Chelsea Stallings told me.

Las Cruces lawyer David Clements, a libertarian Republican and political newcomer, also is running in the GOP Senate primary.

Weh, a retired military colonel who served two tours in Vietnam and with the British Royal Marines in Malaysia, ran for governor in 2010.

In that five person race, Weh came in second behind Susana Martinez in what turned into a heated race with both candidates running negative ads against each other. Weh's campaign that year largely was self funded.

Weh is founder of  CSI Aviation, an Albuquerque aircraft company.

More in tomorrow's New Mexican.

CORRECTION 11:35 a.m.: The otiginal version of this post identified Stallings as campaign manager. Actually she is the campaign's communications manager. Weh's campaign manager is Diego Espinoza.

Greta's Eyes Are on NM

About a year ago, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren did an interview with Gov. Susana Martinez that wasn't exactly hard-hitting.

This week's issue of Politico Magazine shows Van Sustern still is fond of the governor. Van Sustern and several other pundits were asked which elections will be the most interesting this year. Greta chose the New Mexico governor's race.

My eyes are on New Mexico—whether Republican Gov. Susana Martinez wins or not … and if so, by how much. The margin is important. It is expected that the Republican governor will win her re-election in the blue state of New Mexico, which President Obama won in 2012 with about 53 percent. Why is the margin of a win so important? Because it will indicate whether she is a powerful “player” in the veepstakes in 2016 (or maybe president).

You can read the rest HERE:

Gov Won't Push for Gay Marriage Amendment

In case she wasn't clear about her position before, Gov. Susana Martinez, at a news conference this afternoon said she won't push for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in New Mexico in the upcoming legislative session.

"I think what I said before was that yes, the people should have decided on it, but the Supreme Court has decided. And it's now the law of the land."

Asked if that meant she wouldn't push for the Legislature to pass a measure like Sen. Bill Sharer's Senate Joint Resolution 6, Martinez said, "It's the law of the land. The Supreme Court has spoken."

On the day of the high court's Dec. 19 decision, Martinez released a statement saying:

"While there will surely be intense debate about this decision moving forward, I encourage New Mexicans to continue to respect one another in their discourse, as this is an important issue for many New Mexicans on both sides. As we move forward, I am hopeful that we will not be divided, as we must come together to tackle very pressing issues, like reforming education and growing our economy, in the weeks and months ahead.”

Is "Decriminalization" the "Domestic Partnerships" of Marijuana

Rep. Kane

I spoke with state Rep. Emily Kane, D-Albuquerque this weekend after I'd filed my story about Colorado's embarking on legal retail sale of marijuana for recreational adult users.

Kane last year sponsored a bill, which passed the House, that would have reduced penalties for possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana to a civil penalty with increasing fines, and would have eliminated the potential for jail time for anyone caught with up to 8 ounces of pot. I asked her if she intended to introduce that bill in the upcoming session.

No, she said. House Democrats are discussing whether to get behind Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino's proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana, like Colorado did. If that passes state voters would decide the issue in November.

Personally, I'm doubtful that the Legislature will pass Ortiz y Pino's legislation this year. (But don't put too much stock in my power of prediction. I didn't think Kane's bill would pass the House last year.)

But I do think marijuana eventually will be legal here, especially if Colorado's experiment goes well and the dire predictions of the Reefer Madness crowd don't come to pass in the next few years.

Something tells me that because of Colorado, the efforts of drug-law reformers, in this state and elsewhere, will be focusing on legalization, not decriminalization -- as as gay-rights activists here at some set aside their effort to establish a "domestic partnership" law here and focus on actual marriage equality. Domestic partnerships" was an attempt at compromise that became less and less relevant as events unfolded.

With the new marijuana laws in Colorado and Washington state, the "decriminalization" compromise is starting to look the same way.

ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Did SOS Letters Confuse Green Voters Before ABQ Abortion Vote?

SOS Dianna Duran

In early November, members of the New Mexico Green Party received a letter from Secretary of State Dianna Duran’s office that caused some confusion — right before a high-profile election in the state’s largest city.

“Dear Green Party registered voter,” the message began. “In the 2012 General Election, the Green Party’s candidate for president of the United States did not receive the required percentage required by law for the Green Party to remain an active political party in New Mexico.”

The state election code says a party shall “cease to be qualified” if its candidate for president or governor fail to receive at least one-half of 1 percent of the total votes cast for president or governor, or if the party doesn’t have any candidates on the ballot in two consecutive general elections. Green Party candidate Jill Stein received just above one-third of 1 percent of the vote.

“The Secretary of State’s Office is required by law to notify all registered Green Party voters that the party is no longer a qualified political party,” the letter, signed by Elections Bureau Director Bobbie Shearer said.

To read the rest, check out the version on The New Mexican website

LFC Proposes $6.15 Billion Budget

The Legislative Finance Committee is proposing a $6.15 Billion budget with $50 million earmarked for state employee raises.

The raises include a 1.5 percent across the board raise for all state workers and another $40 million for schools and state agencies to use for hard-to-fill positions, to reward "deserving employees" and to fix other pay issues.

State police would get another $3 million to implement a new pay plan and CYFD would get $1 million to recruit and retain child protective services and juvenile justice employees.

Meanwhile, the budget would set aside $35 million for early childhood education initiatives, including $12 million for literacy programs.

About 58 percent of the budget ($3.55 billion) would go to education. Public schools would get $2.7 billion, an increase of nearly $143 million.

Gov. Susana Martinez is expected to unveil her budget proposal in the near future.

Read more in tomorrow's New Mexican.

UPDATE: 3:25 pm Here's the LFC handout of budget highlights (shamelessly stolen from NM Telegram)

LFC Budget Highlights by Matthew Reichbach