New Mexico

[Midnight toker]

GOVERNOR'S RACE: Damron out, Dendahl in


By Steve Terrell | The New Mexican
June 18, 2006

ALBUQUERQUE -- Following the abrupt withdrawal of Republican gubernatorial candidate J.R. Damron from the race, GOP leaders meeting behind closed doors Saturday named former state party chairman John Dendahl to run against incumbent Gov. Bill Richardson.

<img class=postimg src='http://images.freenewmexican.com/2006/06/17/34227_210x1000.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='157' align=right title="Dendahl">Dendahl described the nomination by the state Republican Central Committee as a "wonderful homecoming." Three years ago, the committee ousted Dendahl as state chairman in a bitter contest.

Dendahl was nominated by acclamation, state GOP chairman Allen Weh told reporters following the meeting. He noted that many present who voted for Dendahl on Saturday had voted against him in 2003. "This party is very, very unified," Weh said.

Damron, a Santa Fe physician and political novice, mailed a letter Friday to the secretary of state officially withdrawing from the race, Weh told reporters.

Damron, who left the meeting before reporters were allowed in, didn't explain exactly why he decided to quit the race. One campaign staffer said the move was "100 percent voluntary."

In recent weeks, some Republicans have complained privately that the Damron campaign had not been aggressive enough in the race against Richardson, whose poll numbers remain high and whose money-raising ability has dwarfed Damron's.

By the first of June, the incumbent reported about $5.7 million in the bank. Damron had just over $43,000 and campaign debts totaling $120,000.

"I've got to start at scratch," Dendahl said Saturday. "We have to find out whether there's serious Republicans in this state and out of state who will help finance this campaign."

But Dendahl said he doesn't have to match Richardson "dollar for dollar" to run a credible campaign.

<img class=postimg src='http://images.freenewmexican.com/2006/06/17/34226_210x1000.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='146' align=right title="Dr. J.R. Damron, (R) candidate for governver speaks in the rotunda of the capitol after New Mexico Governer Bill Richardson gave the annual state of the state address to a joint session of the state legislature at the state capitol on January 17, 2006.">Dendahl has written a political column for The New Mexican and other newspapers in recent years. "I'm able to make terse, clear statements to clearly and concisely articulate why Bill Richardson's approach is so bad for our state," he said.

Dendahl, 67, headed what was then the Tourism and Economic Development Department in the 1980s under the Gov. Garrey Carruthers. He ran for the GOP nomination for governor in 1994, losing to Gary Johnson in the primary.

While Dendahl has never been afraid to take off the gloves with any political opponent, Democrats on Saturday didn't hesitate to attack Dendahl's nomination.

"For the Republicans to nominate a negative-campaigning partisan in a last-minute political deal strikes me as an act of desperation," said Dave Contarino, Richardson's chief political adviser. "A lot of right-thinking Republicans are going to scratch their heads. Dendahl has been divisive in his own party."

One Republican at the meeting was less than enthusiastic about Dendahl. "We couldn't have chosen a more divisive candidate," said former Gov. David Cargo, long known as a party maverick.

In an e-mail statement, state Democratic Party chairman John Wertheim called Dendahl, "a venomous and divisive radical."

Both Contarino and Wertheim immediately seized upon an issue that got Dendahl in trouble with his own party: drug-law reform. During the last term of Gov. Johnson's administration, Dendahl strongly backed Johnson's efforts to decriminalize marijuana.

On Saturday, Dendahl said he'd told state party leaders that his gubernatorial campaign would not "have the luxury of pioneering new policies" because he'll be too focused on pointing out flaws in Richardson's policies.

Polls in New Mexico, however, show strong support for at least one of the ideas Dendahl backed -- making marijuana legal for treating certain serious illnesses. Richardson this year endorsed a bill that would have established a state medical-marijuana program.

Though Contarino said Richardson is looking forward to "a public debate" over the issues during the campaign, he said it's too early to say whether the governor would debate Dendahl one-on-one.

Dendahl said he first heard about Damron's decision to withdraw early last week. Lieutenant governor candidate Sue Beffort Wilson said she only learned about it Friday.

Damron's withdrawal comes only two weeks after he won the Republican primary. He only had a write-in opponent in the primary.

Also about two weeks ago, Damron announced he was closing his medical practice in Santa Fe. He is president of Santa Fe Radiology.

Though Damron was considered a political unknown, he'd been active in county Republican politics, serving as treasurer of the Santa Fe County GOP.

He started out the year aggressively campaigning against Richardson. Shortly after Richardson's state-of-the-state address on the first day of the state Legislature's session in January, Damron came to the Capitol Rotunda and gave a response, blasting Richardson for traveling too much and for increasing the governor's staff as well as for transportation proposals including the planned spaceport and passenger-rail system.

In May, he made a speech blasting Richardson for running "the most corrupt administration in our state's history."

At least one of his attacks proved untrue, however. Damron recently claimed Richardson had convinced the Legislature to increase the number of days the governor could travel out of state. No such legislation ever passed.

Damron's campaign manager Greg Graves quit in April, and no one was hired to replace him.

There appeared to be personal animosity between Damron and Richardson. In April, Damron's wife, Barbara, said she had been "pressured" to resign from the St. Vincent Regional Medical Center's governing board by hospital officials who feared retribution from Richardson.

According to Barbara Damron, hospital president Alex Valdez told her that her presence on the board might jeopardize state funds for St. Vincent. When asked about that statement, Valdez said, "I don't respond to rumors." A Richardson spokesman denied the governor forced Barbara Damron off the board.

Prior to J.R. Damron's announcement, Graves, a former executive director of the state Republican Party, said before he left the Damron campaign in April, he advised the candidate to "think very strongly if he really wanted to do this or not." J.R. Damron at the time said he wanted to go through with the campaign, Graves said.

Also on Saturday, the GOP chose another candidate for the state auditor's race. Albuquerque accountant Lorenzo Garcia will replace Daniel Alvarez, who withdrew his candidacy. Garcia is up against Democrat Jeff Armijo in the general election.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.

[Midnight toker]

<span class=postbold>See Also:</span> Electing Compassionate Reps in New Mexico
<span class=postbold>See Also:</span> Richardson rakes in campaign funds

Roundhouse Roundup: Governor's name to grace movie screens


By STEVE TERRELL | The New Mexican
October 12, 2006

Everyone knows Gov. Bill Richardson loves Hollywood. And soon his name will be appearing in movie credits.

No, major studios aren't clamoring over rights to a feature-length version of the Richardson campaign's "sheriff" commercials on TV.

The rules for a recent competition in which young filmmakers are seeking state grant money require that credits on any film they submit have to thank the governor.

On the state Film Office Web page announcing the program, potential applicants were told, "Awardees will acknowledge Governor Richardson and the New Mexico Film Office's New Visions/New Mexico Program in the end credits of the completed film."

The New Visions/New Mexico program, according to a news release earlier this year, offers a total of $160,000 in contracts "for New Mexico-based producers and directors to create narrative films, documentaries, animation and experimental works." Individuals can get up to $20,000 for a project.

A total of 230 filmmakers applied, Film Office Director Lisa Strout said Wednesday.

Not all were seeking the maximum amount. "I heard that one was asking for $100," she said.

The deadline for submissions was last week.

Funding recipients will be announced in December.

As for acknowledging Richardson, Strout said she wasn't aware that was a requirement.

"What's important is acknowledging the state," Strout said. Specifically mentioning the governor, she said, "isn't a requirement in my mind."

Who knows, maybe one of these films acknowledging Richardson will go on to win the next Bill Richardson Film Achievement Award -- the annual award established this year by the College of Santa Fe for outstanding national and regional contributions to film.

Oughta be in pictures: Richardson, of course, won't be the first New Mexico governor to see his name in film credits.

Former Gov. David Cargo oversaw creation of New Mexico's first state Film Office in 1968. According to its Web site, this was the first state agency in the country "whose primary goal was to enhance economic development via motion picture production."

But Cargo didn't stop there. He actually appeared in some movies made in the state.

According to the Internet Movie Guide, Cargo's roles were as follows:

He played a lowly newspaper reporter in The Good Guys and the Bad Guys in 1969 -- though his name didn't appear in the credits. Some names that did appear in the credits in this Western were Robert Mitchum, George Kennedy and David Carridine.

The next year, Cargo had a bit part in a comedy called Up in the Cellar, which starred Larry Hagman and Joan Collins.

Cargo played a state trooper in Bunny O'Hare, a comedy that starred Bette Davis and Ernest Borgnine as a pair of golden-aged bank robbers.

And he played "Cpl. Benton" in a Western called The Gatling Gun, (shot in 1969, but not released until 1973). Unfortunately, it appears Cargo was the biggest name in that movie.

What's in a name?: A little mea culpa here. In Wednesday's paper, I reported the Drug Policy Alliance contributed $25,000 to Richardson's re-election campaign. Reena Szczepanski, who heads the local DPA office, says that's not quite true. It actually was the Drug Policy Alliance Network that gave him the money.

The DPAN is affiliated with DPA, but they are funded separately. As Szczepanski explains it, donations to DPA are tax deductible, but donations to DPAN aren't. Thus, DPA is not legally able to contribute to political candidates while DPAN is.

Also, billionaire George Soros -- who as an individual gave Richardson $25,000 -- sits on the DPA board, but not the DPAN's.

Got all that?

Of course, all this only begs the question: Why is this drug-law-reform group giving so much money to Richardson?

True, Richardson came out this year in favor of a medical-marijuana bill -- though he didn't twist enough arms to get the bill through the House.

But Richardson frequently has criticized his predecessor Gary Johnson for advocating marijuana decriminalization. Richardson has made it clear he doesn't want the state known for wanting to legalize drugs.

During his first month in office, Richardson stood side by side with national drug czar John Walters, a committed drug warrior, calling the visit "a symbolic meeting to show we support (Walters') mission."

And just last summer when John Dendahl got the GOP nomination for governor, several members of Richardson's team attacked the Republican for his past support of several of DPA/DPAN's basic positions on liberalizing marijuana laws.

"We welcome the opportunity to hear John Dendahl explain his pro-drug legalization plan throughout the campaign," read a Richardson press release hours after Dendahl was nominated.

Of course, the $11.6 million Richardson campaign also welcomes the opportunity to collect campaign contributions.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com .