New Mexico Political Journal

Volume I, No. 3

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Sunday, March 28, 2004 Roswell
Circulation: 4,441
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• Can Gorham Primary a Fellow Republican?
• What to Do?
• How did we get Here? Did Gorham Fumble the Hand-off?

• Ed Cassidy and Walter Bradley Put Heads Together
• Marge Teague Shoots the Messengers

• State Party Employees involved in Primaries
• Executive Committee Members running wild
  

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State Republican Party:
Issues to Sort Out

Here's the situation we learned of last week: Ramsay Gorham is running in a primary against another Republican for the State Senate. Six members of the Republican Party of New Mexico (RPNM) Rules Committee sent out a letter stating that Gorham is violating a party rule that prohibits party officers from
being involved in primaries.

The letter apparently had wide circulation, as we have been inundated with questions about it. We also have received quite a few e-mails and phone calls about follow-up letters by Ed Cassidy and Walter Bradley, as well as articles in the press and quotes from Chairman Gorham and others.

We will try to sort them all out as best we can.

In this issue of New Mexico Political Journal we will analyze this situation and then ask you to weigh in with your opinions.

Keep these questions in mind as your read the issue, and then write us back to express your views:

1. Can a Republican Party officer, at any level, run in a primary against another Republican without violating party rules?
2. Are Gorham allies honestly debating the issue, or engaging in tactics designed to deflect attention away from the real question at hand?
3. Is the State Party operation remaining neutral in primaries?

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Can Gorham Primary a Fellow Republican?

In interpreting the letter from the six Rules Committee members, it appears all was well with Gorham (who is also a state senator) serving in two roles until she found herself involved in a Republican Primary. This, according to the authors, led to an automatic violation of the state rules. They cite an RPNM State Party Rule, 1-4-3, which is very short:

"Party officers shall not publicly endorse one Republican candidate over another Republican candidate."

In their reading of the rule, a candidate-just by being a candidate-is publicly endorsing himself or herself. Let's reflect on it for a moment: How can anyone reasonably argue that a person who gathers signatures, files for office, goes door-to-door, asks for votes, runs ads, asks for contributions, sends direct mail, makes speeches, and runs a campaign of any kind, is not publicly endorsing himself or herself?

We put the question to a number of lawyers. Thus far, it is unanimous. You cannot run your own campaign without endorsing yourself. Not that we need lawyers to figure this out. Common sense confirms it. We looked up "endorse" in the American Heritage Dictionary: "To give approval of or support to." There is no way to get on a ballot, let alone campaign, without a candidate "giving approval of or support to" himself or herself. That much seems clear.

The letter asked Senator Gorham to do as her counterpart in the Democrat Party has already done, to make a choice. When the Democrat State Chairwoman decided to run for the legislature a couple of weeks ago, she announced her resignation as party chair. The letter quotes her:

"It’s pretty black and white, I can’t promote myself during the primary."

It would appear the authors feel some discomfort about the fact that the Democrat Party is seizing the higher moral or ethical ground, leaving the Republicans violating the Rules. In New Mexico at least, this is rare, if not unprecedented.

The letter writers did not ask Senator Gorham to quit the primary or to resign as party chairman, but they did say she had to do one of the two, and that, according to the rules, she could not be both the chairwoman AND run against another Republican in a primary.
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What to Do?

We aren't sure there is much anyone can do. The Rules are there for a purpose. It is not in the Republican tradition, either in New Mexico or in the country at large, to flout the rules. A State Central Committee meeting can be called, and apparently will be. There, the issue can be discussed and perhaps a resolution or two can be drawn up urging some course of action, most likely either 1) Asking the State Chairman to follow the rules, or 2) Deciding not to ask her to follow the rules.

The latter decision is very possible if the meeting is viewed by the state chair as merely some kind of "power struggle" to be "won" rather than as a means of trying to enforce the rules. We would hope that everyone's focus would be on Rules rather than personalities and personal conflict.

Remember this issue is not about whether a person can be both a state officer AND be a state legislator. A person can do both-as long as he or she does not have primary opposition. The Rules simply don't allow any of the eight state officers (chairman, five vice-chairmen, secretary and treasurer) to be involved in a primary election against another Republican.

NOTE: If you are a member of the Republican State Central Committee, let us know what you think about this situation. What should be done? E-mail us at nmdr@dfn.com and give us your opinion one way or the other. As is our policy, you will not be quoted.

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How did we get Here? Did Gorham Fumble the Handoff?

In the press, Gorham has stated that John Ryan created this situation by running for office. But there are differing views, with some saying Gorham was trying to hand her seat off to her close ally Judy Vanderstar Russell and Ryan was in the way, causing a fumble, and now a big pileup.

As reported by the Albuquerque Journal, Gorham's public position during her chairman campaign was that she "would seek permission from the Executive Committee" before seeking re-election to the Senate. For whatever reason, this never happened.

According to a news release on filing day, John Ryan told Gorham on a number of occasions that he wanted to run for the senate seat, if she chose not to. According to the release, Gorham refused to give Ryan a definite answer about her intentions until just days before the filing deadline. She then apparently still left open the door that she may not run, but wanted the position to be filled by the Bernalillo and Sandoval County executive committees, two groups Gorham controls. By all accounts this is the only way she believed that she could "hand off" the seat to her close ally Judy Vanderstar Russell. She knew that Ryan had been gathering signatures earlier in the winter, so if she decided not to run, he would be the only candidate, or in any case would most likely defeat Judy Russell. She ultimately decided to stay in, hoping Ryan would not file, then pull out after the primary and have Russell named as the replacement candidate. For obvious reasons, this did not sit well with Ryan--as it does not with us now that we have
heard about it.

Here's how the events were described:

"Ryan stated that less than a week ago, Chairman Gorham called to say she was filing for re-election but may not stay on the ballot. Ryan says Gorham discussed a possible scenario in which she would file for re-election and then withdraw at a later date. The Republican slot would then be filled by the party's central committee which is made-up of party insiders. Gorham's stated reason for the political maneuver was to scare off Democrat opponents.

“I filed today because I believe the voters of our district, not political insiders, should pick their candidate,” said Ryan, adding, “We should leave the backroom deals to Bill Richardson and the Democrats. Republicans in our district deserve better.”

This is an interesting account because it provides an explanation as to how this all happened. However, there is additional speculation. Others have e-mailed us stating that the reason Gorham was planning to pull out was because she and her husband are building a house in a subdivision in the farnortheast heights of Albuquerque known as High Desert. Their new house would be well outside the boundaries of Senate District 10. I do not know ifthis is true or not, but certainly one question by a reporter to Gorham asking whether or not she owns a plot of land in High Desert would clear it all up.While the reasons for how we got here might be interesting, what's important now is whether the rules of the party will be enforced.

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Others Weigh in
on the Emerging Crisis

As we have come to expect, there are no shortages of surrogates in situations like these. A number of folks can be expected to weigh in with their opinions-- or just "wade in" to trouble the waters. Unfortunately, in recent months much of the weighing in has been on behalf of "personalities" or individuals, rather than on one side of an issue or the other. In other words, there has been too much bashing of people and not enough reading, thinking and analyzing questions and issues.

Let's see what has happened so far in this episode.
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Ed Cassidy and Walter Bradley put their Heads Together

In a very odd move, Walter Bradley and Ed Cassidy both sent out e-mails and letters defending Gorham. It isn’t odd that they defended Gorham. Bradley has always been one of Gorham's biggest supporters. What’s odd is that they BOTH defended her against violating a rule that she has not been accused of violating, while not addressing the rule she IS accused of violating.

Both Cassidy and Bradley, in separate messages one day apart, ended up saying exactly the same things. They asserted that Gorham is innocent of violating Rule 1-4-1, which states that a Republican Party Officer cannot hold statewide office. We agree. In fact, we don't think anyone disagrees. But Rule 1-4-1 is NOT the rule the six members of the Rules Committee say Gorham is violating in their letter. No one is arguing whether Gorham can hold two offices at once. That is not the issue. The issue is whether Gorham can run against a fellow Republican in a primary while simultaneously serving as Party Chairman, in violation of Rule 1-4-3-NOT Rule 1-4-1.

The Bradley/Cassidy defense is like a motorist going to court for a speeding ticket and banging his fist on the table while telling the judge he is innocent oflittering. He may be, but just how does that defend against the speeding charge? Very strange strategy.

To their credit, neither Walter Bradley nor Ed Cassidy personally attacked anyone. While they attempted to refute what Gorham was accused of, (unsuccessfully) they at least refrained from smearing the writers of the letter. Nor did they attack John Ryan. (Unfortunately Gorham and her staffers, Marge Teague and Tom Carroll, have resorted to personal attacks.)

Bradley seems to have been suddenly appointed to the position of the Rules Chairman, but that is of course the prerogative of the chairman, and Bradley is among the very strongest Gorham supporters. Still, even though the opinions of Cassidy and Bradley are not directed at the rule in question, they conducted themselves honorably.

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Marge Teague Shoots the Messengers, No Questions Asked

Now for a completely different approach.

Mrs. Teague has sent out an e-mail pretty much full of vitriol. Rather than debating the issue of whether Gorham can run against a fellow Republican in a primary, Teague has chosen the tried and true method of shooting the messenger(s).

Teague, who happens to be the State GOP's convention organizer, sent out an e-mail in which she trashed the six Rules Committee members who signed the letter. She even took a shot at Gorham opponent John Ryan, whom she accused of being fired by Gorham as Executive Director. For the record, Teague's characterization of Ryan is false. After Gorham's election, Ryan stayed on for two months to help with the transition. At the end of the transition, Gorham offered Ryan an opportunity to re-apply for the job, but he declined so that he could open up his own small business.

For the sake of party unity, let's hope the Teague blast is isolated and not just the beginning of a Gorham attack campaign designed to smear her primary opponent--or anyone and everyone who asks a question about Rules or any other matter involving the party.

If you would like to read the Teague e-mail for yourself, just send an e-mail to nmdr@dfn.com, and write "Teague" in the subject line.

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Is "Primary Fever"
Infecting the State GOP?

Most of you will recall that Gorham campaigned for Chairman promising to unite the GOP and to keep the State Party well away from primaries. In light of those promises, consider that the following has occurred in the last two weeks:

1. Paid State GOP Executive Director Tom Carroll was quoted in a news report attacking Republican John Ryan and promoting Gorham and her candidacy.

2. State GOP Secretary and paid Political Director Seth Heath is hosting a fundraiser for House Candidate Greg Payne, who is in a primary against another Republican. Payne was one of Gorham's paid operatives in her run for Chairman.

3. At the Dona Aña County Lincoln Day Dinner, the State GOP’s paid Grassroots Director Mike Laurance openly distributed campaign literature attacking incumbent Republican National Committeeman Mickey Barnett.

4. Gorham Executive Committee member Bill Davis is challenging an incumbent Republican Bernalillo County Commissioner in a primary. Gorham just appointed Davis, who is a close ally, to her Rules Committee.

5. Gorham Executive Committee member Rob Burpo is challenging incumbent Republican State Representative Larry Larrañaga in a primary. This is especially troubling since Larry is very well respected by Republicans and also happens to be one of the few Hispanic Republican elected officials. More important though, he has served ably in the House of Representatives since 1994, establishing a solid conservative voting record. There is absolutely no reason for him to be challenged in a primary by anyone, let alone a close Gorham ally. In fact, this action by such a close and key adviser of the Gorhams is particularly annoying.

6. The State Party’s Convention Coordinator Marge Teague is managing the campaign against the incumbent Republican National Committeeman, (when she is not attacking anyone and everyone who asks a legitimate question).

7. Ramsay Gorham’s State Senate Campaign Manager is regularly using the State GOP headquarters to conduct business.

8. Gorham ally and protégé Judy Vanderstar Russell has announced she will run against incumbent National Committeewoman Rosie Tripp.

9. Gorham ally Representative Earlene Roberts is part of the Barthel Group in Lea County who have put up a primary challenger to incumbent State Senator Gay Kernan of Hobbs.