ABQ progressives flex their muscles

"Those (incumbent losses) are I think warning signs to people that they need to take heed," said Sen. Dede Feldman, D- Albuquerque, and a longtime supporter of some of these measures. "I’m hopeful that there will be more receptivity. I don’t know exactly what issues (the challengers) ran on, but I know open government and campaign finance reform was one of them."

As for how or why it happened, University of New Mexico political scientist Lonna Atkeson said the upsets point to something larger: A shift in the long-term tension between the very liberal wing of the Democratic party and the more moderate part, with the more liberal wing ascendant, she said.

 

It’s similar to what is happening across the country, most famously in Connecticut in 2006, when an unknown Ned Lamont knocked off Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn, in the Democratic primary. Lieberman went on to win re-election as an independent.

 

 

Atkeson said that the Republican Party has already undergone the same struggle over the past 30 years, except the fight for dominance in the GOP was between its conservative and moderate wings. The conservatives won, and with their victory Republican activists became much more conservative, she said.

"The same wasn’t true of the Democratic party," Atkeson said. "But the Democratic party may be catching up to the Republican party."

In other words, Democratic activists are becoming much more liberal and the candidates they elect generally reflect their positions, she said.

 

 

Keller, who toppled Robinson on Tuesday, seems to personify the concept, as an activist turned candidate.

 

"The difference, I think, is that I had the support early on of the neighborhood associations and local activists because I do a lot of volunteer work in the neighborhood," Keller said. "I’m new to politics but not to work in the neighborhood."

 

Keller added:

 

"To me, being progressive gets back to being proactive and trying new ideas. And it plays out nationally also—we’re seeing a desire for change play out nationally, and I think it applies to these local races also. Our three campaigns had a similar overall point: people are tired of being last in categories we care about, such as child poverty, domestic violence, education."

 

 

Atkeson noted that from a campaign perspective the challengers did what they had to do: they gave voters a reason to come out and vote against sitting lawmakers.

"The incumbent has the advantage .. (but) the thing about primaries, you are in a very small setting," Atkeson said. "You can influence that election if you can get those voters to the polls. You have to give voters a reason to vote against the incumbents. If you give them a good reason, they can be mobilized. They did that."

 

It isn’t easy to topple an incumbent, however. All three state lawmakers who lost Tuesday not only were well funded but had the support of Gov. Bill Richardson, not to mention the power of incumbency. Incumbents are generally re-elected 90 percent of the time, some analysis suggests.

 

The voters sent a strong message that they want legislators who represent working people, not powerful corporate interest. The victories we saw tonight in Albuquerque against incumbents are really significant, and should be seen as a signal to those who hold office that voters in this state are tired of all the talk. They want real action on the issues they keep telling us are important, such as health care, campaign finance reform, not to mention the need to fix our public schools. The message is clear: as a legislative body we’d better step up and stop giving the voters a bunch of window dressing.

Chavez, who is director of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees District 1199 NM, was more direct about why she beat Silva. Silva, a powerful lawmaker, chairs the state House’s Transportation Committee: “We simply needed to knock Silva out because he doesn’t represent our community.”

 

Chavez also described how personally meaningful the almost two months of knocking on doors just about every day was to her:

 

I would knock on doors and the support was just amazing. One woman just looked at me and said, “you go girl.” Another woman told me I was brave. Then an elderly man told me I made him feel very important when I asked him for his vote and asked to put my sign in his yard. I couldn’t help but think as I walked away from his house that…no, “you make me feel important by accepting my sign in your yard.”

Keller, a business planning consultant with a background in non-profit management and community activism, was a first-time candidate who set his sights on an incumbent plagued by scandal over his diversion of state money to a rugby team he sponsors at UNM, plus more than 30 misdemeanor traffic and parking violations over the past decade.

 

But Keller said something else was at work, too.

 

It’s very clear to me that the residents of my district want a responsive and proactive leader who is out there trying new things and challenging the status quo. I do want to say that Shannon worked extremely hard, we both ran a strong grassroots campaign. But the difference, I think, is that I had the support early on of the neighborhood associations and local activists because I do a lot of volunteer work in the neighborhood. I’m new to politics but not to work in the neighborhood. So I had a really good base going into the campaign. This is why my campaign was truly the "grassroots" effort of the two."