Gov. Bill Richardson (whom Wonkette calls “stately, plump”) is expected to be formally nominated Secretary of Commerce at 9:40 am MST and the Journal has worked itself into a predictable froth of slideshows etc. Richardson will be the first Hispanic chosen for Obama’s cabinet.

Saxby Chambliss, Republican Senator of Georgia, was reelected yesterday after beating Democrat challenger Jim Martin in a runoff election. Martin’s potential win had kept Dem hopes alive for a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Now all eyes turn to the recount in the Minnesota race between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman. For more on that, check in with our sister site, the Minnesota Independent.

And just for fun, here’s an interesting tidbit: Obama has so far had five post-election press conferences, right? Bot not once has he called on a reporter from FOX News. As SusanG says on Daily Kos, “elections have consequences.” (From FishbowlDC via DailyKos)

In Albuquerque, a non-traditional drug treatment program is under fire, educational assistants are set to get a 5 percent raise, And the owner of Club 7 cut a deal and won’t go to jail because of a zillion code violations at his downtown club. The Santa Fe Reporter explores the news that the College of Santa Fe may be brought into the state higher educational system. And speaking of runoff elections, the Gallup City Council recently changed the way that city handles runoff elections. In Clovis, the cotton harvest is wrapping up, and while production here rose, the crop is down about 30 percent nationally. (Why? King Corn.) The rookie cop who manhandled a KOB-TV cameraman was fired from APD but got a new job working in the town of Bernalillo’s police department.