Marty Chavez
Some big doings in the open-seat race in New Mexico's 1st District. First up, the state's former Lt. Gov. (and 2010 gubernatorial nominee), Diane Denish:
Denish told NMPolitics.net on Tuesday evening that she’s decided against running for the Albuquerque-area congressional seat.
“I’ve gotten lots of encouragement from people both inside and outside the district,” the Democrat said. “I’ve given it a lot of through and reflection.”
Ultimately, Denish said two things made her decision.
“I’ve always said that I wanted to stay home and work hard in New Mexico, and that’s still true,” she said. “I think my skills are best suited to another kind of position, more of an executive, either an executive in the private sector or in the public sector.”
Denish said she would continue to look for such opportunities in Albuquerque or around New Mexico.
Denish probably would have been the favorite to win the Democratic nomination here, but now the field is likely going to be much more open. Enter one of Daily Kos Elections' all-time least-favorite Democrats, Marty Chavez:
Former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez has joined the race for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the Albuquerque-area 1st District.
Chavez, 59, announced his candidacy Wednesday in a video on his website. It showed the three-term mayor in front of a public library that he visited a child.
"For me, it all comes back to the promise I found in this small library. If you give a child a book and a glimpse of all they can achieve, from that small beginning anything is possible," Chavez said.
Blah blah blah. If you want to know why I despise Chavez so much, have a look at some old posts from our archives, back when Chavez was angling for the Democratic nomination for his state's open Senate seat in 2007, such as this one or this one. Here's a good one, a comment by Chavez on then-Rep. Tom Udall, who was weighing a Senate bid of his own at the time:
"Philosophically, he's so far to the left," Chávez said. "I'd rather not have him in the race, but that's a challenge I'd not shy away from."
Now-Sen. Tom Udall was so far to the left that he won his race by a 61-39 margin. In addition to his habit of embracing right-wing talking points, Chavez has a long anti-union, conservaDem record; it's rare that I say such a thing, but he would be absolutely unacceptable as the nominee here. After all, this is a seat that elected Rep. Martin Heinrich, who has put together a very solid track record in his one-plus terms in the House so far.
Fortunately Chavez doesn't have the field to himself: state Sen. Eric Griego is already in the race, and several other Democrats are considering. The list includes Bernalillo County Commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham, former Sandia Pueblo Gov. Stuart Paisano, state Treasurer James Lewis, and former Jeff Bingaman state director Terry Brunner. As for the GOP, Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis is already running, while ex-Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones has an exploratory committee. Jon Barela, the 2010 nominee, is also thinking about entering the contest. I'd expect serious fights on both sides, and with Marty Chavez in on ours, a messy one for Team Blue.