It’s been an eventful week here, with a blistering state audit of our county government then a primary election.
Folks should read the audit. It’s not good. Nor is it the end of the world. The only thing I’d add now to what I wrote last week is to applaud County Commissioner Susana Chaparro. She showed up at Progressive Voters Alliance Thursday evening to discuss the audit, saying that it wasn’t good but that she wanted the group to hear it from her, and rather taking ownership – which is right, even though a lot of what the auditors found long pre-dated the terms of any present commissioners. She didn’t dismiss the audit as “all politics,” as one commissioner reportedly did. I’ve read most of the 355 pages; and it’s detailed, factual, and professional. The problems can and should be fixed.
I was glad for many reasons that Deb Haaland whomped Sam Bregman. He didn’t deserve to be our governor. She may. I’m already hearing some feelings (in men) that she could be hurt in the general election by the disastrous governorship of a Republican woman then the highly disappointing eight years of a Democratic woman. Notably, in a primary for state secretary of state, between Santa Fe’s County Clerk, Katherine Clark, and our own Amanda Lopez Askin, who was appointed initially by our county commission to fill a vacancy, then won re-election twice. The last time a Democrats nominated someone from down here for a statewide office, it was Jerry Apodaca for governor. Ironically, as a young reporter I hung out with Jerry and Clara for most of the weekend preceding the primary. He was one of four Democrats vying for the nomination, and was not the favorite. His governorship generated a bit of national conversation about him and Clara being the Hispanic Kennedys.
If our local voting told us anything, other than the low turnout reminding us of voter apathy, it told us that voters here like a lot of the incumbents, and did not respond favorably to bunches of outside cash being spent to attack a respected local incumbent. District 33 Representative Micaela Lara Cadena won more than handily, despite vicious attacks by Jupiter Project supporters; and Daisy Maldonado, a county commission candidate who had strongly criticized the commission over Jupiter, also one. Meanwhile two incumbents – Dist. 37 Rep. Joanne Ferrary and Sheriff Kim Stewart – strongly influenced our choice of a successor. Ferrary, retiring, strongly endorsed Lori Martinez, who won a fairly close race, while Stewart, term-limited, did the same for former Anthony Police Chief Vanessa Ordoñez, who narrowly beat Jim Frietze, a strong candidate endorsed by the deputies’ union. (Martinez will face former county commissioner Isabella Solis in November, while Ordoñez will face long-time-ago former sheriff Todd Garrison. (Incumbent assessor Gena Montoya Ortega also won.)
This year’s fondness for incumbents may not extend to commissioners. The District 1 incumbent chose not to run, and recently-resigned commissioner Shannon Reynolds lost his challenge to the assessor.
“Apathy is a problem,” officials say of voters. “That county audit confirms my disgust with gov’t bodies,” texted a friend of mine, a cagey card-player. Although Cardeña, Maldonado, and Askin are activists or professionals who didn’t initially imagine seeking public office, and mean what they say, wealth has way too much influence on our politics. While I care passionately who wins some of these elections, voters’ trust and interest aren’t a given. It must be earned.
Peter Goodman's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU.