Insider NM Politics

Insider New Mexico Politics

New Mexico politics are always interesting.   And especially with the change from the corrupt Richardson Democrat administration to the new Republican Governor-elect Susana Martinez.    One of her campaign themes is to clean up Santa Fe.    And based on what some of the Albuquerque, NM TV stations are running and stories we've heard out of Santa Fe in the last year of "Big Bill", it is a mess.     Add in the dramatic NM budget crunch (the shortfall was estimated at $300MM, but may actually be closer to $450MM) when the legislature gathers in January.    With the new Guv in town, less money means big changes.  

One of the best insider NM blogs is by Joe Monahan  http://www.joemonahansnewmexico.blogspot.com
This week he has been blogging on the changes in the NM House, as the Republicans picked up 8 seats and the Democrats cling to a narrow 37D to 33R majority.  While Speaker Lujan (R-Santa Fe) is still the Speaker nominee in January 2011, the numbers suggest that if all the R's and 3 Democrats formed a coalition, they could swing the vote away from Lujan as the Speaker.  Somewhere in the mix is empowered House Minority Leader Tom Taylor (R-Farmington), who has a much stronger hand with new Republican Governor and 8 new GOP members.  Plenty of blogger fogger.

Meanwhile, Lt. Governor John Sanchez will be in Farmington, NM right before Thanksgiving for part of the new Republican administration's "listening tour".  

(c) 2010, Jasper Welch, Four Corners Media, www.jasperwelch.org

2010 Election Impact on State Legislatures

2010 Election Impact on State Legislatures

From blogging post on The Hill    http://thehill.com/blogs

Republicans took control of at least 19 Democratic-controlled state legislatures Tuesday and gained more than 680 seats, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The last time Republicans saw such victories was in 1994, when they captured control of 20 state legislatures. Republicans haven't controlled as many state legislatures since 1928.  Across the country, the map for state legislatures has turned noticeably red as Republicans now control 55 chambers, with Democrats at 38 and the remaining yet to be decided. At the beginning of this week, Democrats controlled 60 of the country's state legislative chambers and Republicans 36.  

From American Thinker  www.americanthinker.com

Republicans now hold 3,735 state legislative seats to 3,119 state legislative seats held by Democrats, a stunning reversal of power from 2006 and 2008. Republicans have more seats in state legislatures than at any time since Reconstruction. These gains in state legislative seats led to a number of state legislative changes flipping from Democrat to Republican. In those 87 state legislative chambers contested on November 2, Republicans captured control from Democrats in at least nineteen chambers. In stark contrast, Democrats failed to gain a single state legislative chamber from Republicans.

For a map of the State legislatures and shift in balance of power to Republicans (red states), check out the National Conference of State Legislatures.  On their web site http://www.ncsl.org  click on Legislatures & Campaigns & State Vote.

This seismic shift in state legislatures from Democrat control to Republican control is the most significant in the last 70 years.

So how did it go in Colorado and New Mexico?   In New Mexico, under the leadership of House Minority leader Representative Tom Taylor (R-Farmington), the Republicans picked up 8 House seats to gain a total of 33 as compared to 37 Democrats.    Not a majority, but the GOP has a strengthened hand as the minority going forward with the new Republican Governor Susana Martinez.    The NM State Senate is not up for re-election until 2012, when their present 4 year terms expire.

On Colorado, the Republicans picked up enough seats to gain a single seat majority (33 to 32), with the new speaker of the House Frank McNulty (R-Highlands) and a split on the Joint Budget committee (3 Republicans and 3 Democrats) who will preside over recommending $1 Billion in cuts to a $19B budget for FY 2011/12.  The Colorado State Senate has 20 Democrats and 15 Republicans, with Ellen Roberts (R-Durango) being the single GOP pickup.

            Finally the most significant aspect of the shift in the balance of power in state legislatures in that the Republican majorities will oversee redistricting in states based on the 2010 census.    This will give the GOP an advantage at the state level (and presidential level) over the next 10 years.

© 2010, Jasper Welch, Four Corners Media, www.jasperwelch.org