Kate Nash of the Santa Fe New Mexican wrote in her blog earlier today that “15 to 20″ people have expressed interest in succeeding Diane Denish as lieutenant governor. This would be in the event that Gov. Bill Richardson is confirmed as secretary of commerce and heads to Washington, D.C.

Nash writes:

You’ve probably heard the same names I have: Lawrence Rael, Hector Balderas, Lucky Varela, John Garcia, Joe Maestas, Dan Lopez. A new one I heard the other day is Pojoaque Gov. George Rivera, and then came Stuwart Paisano’s name as another possibility.

The New Mexico Independent has spoke to Rael and Balderas, two names not only on Nash’s list, but on many other lists.

A constitutional amendment in November passed among voters, allowing a governor to appoint a lieutenant governor if there is a vacancy in the second-in-command spot for any reason. In this case, the reason would be the resignation of the governor and ascension of the lieutenant governor.

So who will Denish choose? Your guess is as good as mine:

Denish gave no hints as to whether she had a favorite, saying simply in an interview that she is “going to appoint that person when there’s a vacancy in that office.”

Who said there wouldn’t be anything to talk about in New Mexico once the election ended?