By Sarah Welsh
SUN Assistant News Editor
In overwhelmingly Democratic parts of northern New Mexico, where electoral winners are usually crowned in primaries rather than general elections, the party's nominating process serves as the first real public battle between would-be candidates.
That process kicks into high gear now that the holidays are over, and at its center sit local party leaders.
"I've had a lot of letters sent to me," Rio Arriba County Precinct 40 Democratic Chair David Chavez saidPrecinct chairs like Chavez, a former County clerk, are crucial because they help select delegates to the state party convention, scheduled for March 15. In addition, they often serve as delegates themselves. The convention determines which state and federal candidates will appear on the primary ballot in June, and because of a new state law, candidates must win over at least 20 percent of the delegates in their districts. Otherwise, they're off the ballot — they no longer have the back-up option of collecting signatures from party members.
Chavez said his precinct, which contains over 1,000 voters in the Fairview area of Española, typically sends four delegates to the state convention. Rio Arriba County as a whole will be allowed 37 delegates, based on its voter turnout in the last gubernatorial and presidential elections. The Third Congressional District has 712 delegates total.
With so much riding on so few votes, candidates are already voicing concerns that delegates — influenced by County party chairs — will simply fall into lockstep with the party establishment. In the race to replace United States Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM) in the House of Representatives, state Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Lujan has virtually been anointed as the front runner, and he seems likely to tap into the broad support enjoyed by his father, longtime House Speaker Rep. Ben Lujan (D-Nambé).
Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya and Los Alamos-based attorney Jon Adams, two of Lujan's challengers, both said they believe delegates are looking at the merits of individual candidates when making their decisions. But Adams expressed concern about the convention nonetheless.
"It's possible that someone will come along and lock up all the delegates and get 90 percent of them and bar everyone else from participating," Adams said. "I think if that happens, a number of people will be upset about that, and they would feel their choice of candidates is limited. It will certainly be interesting to see how that plays out."
Democratic Congressional candidate Don Wiviott is taking a more active approach — he filed a lawsuit in state District Court Jan. 3, asking the court to declare the 20-percent provision unconstitutional since there are no alternate ways onto the ballot.
"This seems to be restricting options for voters and options for potential candidates," Wiviott said. "If you had six or seven people running, you could preclude anyone from getting on the ballot, theoretically, and that would be bad news for the Democrats. The second thing is, I just think people need to be heard. If you've got people that are willing to alter their lives, quit their jobs, run for office, I think they should be given a fair shake."
There are currently six declared Democratic candidates in the House race: Lujan, Montoya, Adams, Wiviott, former state Indian Affairs secretary Benny Shendo and attorney Rudy Martin. Statistically, it is impossible that all six can receive enough delegate votes to get on the primary ballot in June.
The Third Congressional District includes most of Northern New Mexico.
Martin, who lives in Dixon and runs a private law practice in Española, said he plans to join Wiviott's lawsuit. The case could receive a hearing soon, but any decision is likely to be appealed all the way to the state Supreme Court, Martin said.
Wiviott said he hopes the lawsuit will bring more attention to the issue and kickstart a legislative solution.
"I do know there's a number of legislators that are concerned with it," Wiviott said. "Hopefully they will be doing something about it as soon as the session hits."
Ben Ray Lujan's campaign manager Carlos Trujillo said Lujan acknowledges there are flaws in the new law, but the campaign will leave any fixes to the legislature.
"We're going to follow the law, whatever the law is," Trujillo said. "I think we'll let the legislature decide what's going to happen, let the governor decide what's going to happen."
Sen. Michael Sanchez (D-Belen) has already drafted a bill that would allow state and federal candidates to collect signatures from 4 percent of party members in their district, as an alternate way of getting onto the primary ballot. That language was removed from the original law in last year's bill.
Governor Bill Richardson's spokesman Pahl Shipley said the governor will back legislation to make the change. The 30-day legislative session began Tuesday.
Neutral?
Apart from the 20-percent problem, the Congressional candidates have begun expressing discontent with county-level party leaders, who they say are unfairly favoring Lujan's campaign.
"According to the bylaws, they're supposed to be maintaining a neutral stance," Montoya said.
Montoya specifically cited a mass e-mail sent out by the Santa Fe County Democratic Party inviting its delegates to an announcement party for Lujan.
"I was not afforded that opportunity," Montoya said.
Santa Fe County Democratic Party Chair Minnie Gallegos confirmed that the e-mail was sent by the County Party, but denied that it intentionally favored Lujan over other candidates. Other campaigns were welcome to approach the party and make the same arrangements, Gallegos said.
"Anybody that suggests it or asks for it has the opportunity," Gallegos said.
Gallegos said she offers to help candidates in any way she can, but has not attended any announcement parties herself.
"It's really difficult because I've known a lot of the candidates all my life, especially in this congressional district," Gallegos said. "They're my friends. They have been friends of each other."
Rio Arriba County Democratic Party Chair Theresa Martinez not only attended an announcement party for Lujan held Dec. 15 in Española, but she formally introduced him to the assembled crowd.
Martin said Martinez's introduction of Lujan leaves no doubt that she is backing Lujan.
"It's unethical," Martin said. "She should not have done it. It's real sad that I can't expect any support from Rio Arriba County."
When it was Martin's turn to hold an announcement party, he said he did not invite Martinez.
"I think it would have been futile," Martin said.
Martin is the only candidate beside Lujan to have hosted an announcement in Rio Arriba. Martinez did not return calls seeking comment.
Trujillo denied that Martinez showed any favoritism.
"I'm going to assume that if Harry Montoya or somebody else asked Theresa to go to an event or to introduce them, she probably would," Trujillo said. "I think any of the chairs would. They know that they have rules they have to abide by."
Trujillo said Lujan's opponents are engaging in the politics of personal destruction, and they should focus on the issues. Lujan's campaign is garnering support because of his longstanding presence in northern politics, Trujillo said.
"Ben has been involved in the Democratic party for many years," Trujillo said. "No one's ever told his opponents they can't be involved in the Democratic party."
Martinez is the wife of Sen. Richard Martinez (D-Española). As a member of the state party's central committee, she is assured a spot as a delegate to the state convention.
Undecided
Despite the growing momentum around Lujan's campaign, at least a few Rio Arriba party leaders are still weighing issues of local importance.
Precinct 10 Chair Christine Quintana, of San Pedro, said she hasn't settled on any candidates yet.
"I'm concerned about the drug situation here in our county," Quintana said. "That's one of the main things, having rehabs to help these people."
Quintana said she hasn't heard candidates speaking about the drug issue, and that's why she's looking forward to meeting with fellow party leaders and with candidates.
Precinct 15 chair Danny Sandoval, of Cordova, said it's a little early to get his feet wet in this year's races. But he said he favors Ben Ray Lujan in the Congressional race.
"I've known (Lujan) since he was small," Sandoval said. "It's good to have somebody you know up there."
Who Are
the Delegates?
When the Rio Arriba County Democratic party holds its local convention prior to March 5, any registered Democrat can attend the meeting and ask to be elected as a state delegate in his or her precinct, Regional Field Organizer Joe Casados said.
But looking at the current list of precinct leaders, it seems clear that the County party is mostly peopled by well-established political figures, many with ties to the Emilio Naranjo dynasty. The list is a veritable who's who of Norteño politics, including State Sen. Richard Martinez (D-Española), State Rep. Nick Salazar (D-Ohkay Owingeh), State Rep. Debbie Rodella (D-La Mesilla) and a supporting cast of high-ranking County and city employees, current and former Española city councilors, and Española School District officials.
What the list doesn't include is the members of the Democrats for Progress faction, which during the last several years has systematically unseated old Party candidates to secure a sweep of the County Commission. County Commissioners Felipe Martinez, Alfredo Montoya and Elias Coriz all are normally absent from official party functions.
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