Powell previously halted three of the four land swaps in January. Tuesday’s actions brought an end to the final of the four deals involved in the controversial land swap.

The state Supreme Court halted the land swap earlier this year. Attorney General Gary King had challenged the swap, saying it violated the Enabling Act.

The land swap, with The Stanley Ranch, was opposed by sportsmen and then-Gov. Bill Richardson in 2009. The land is considered by sportsmen to be prime land for hunting.

The state’s highest court agreed. The Enabling Act created the Land Grant Permanent Fund when New Mexico became a state in 1912.

Powell campaigned on more openness in the State Land Office and cited the White Peak land swap as a questionable deal that he did not agree with.

In addition to Gov. Susana Martinez, two other new statewide officials were sworn in on Saturday. Ray Powell officially became State Land Commissioner for a second time, and Dianna Duran became the state’s first Republican Secretary of State since 1930.

Powell served as state land commissioner from 1993 to 2002. Powell took over for Pat Lyons, a Republican who was elected to the Public Regulation Commission in November after being term-limited as Commissioner of Public Lands. Powell promised to make the State Land Office “as transparent as possible.”

Duran replaced controversial and scandal-plagued Democrat Mary Herrera, easily beating the incumbent in the general election. Duran says that one of her main priorities will be lobbying the legislature on controversial voter-ID requirements.

The other statewide positions were won by the incumbents. Hector Balderas retained his position as State Auditor, James Lewis retained his position as State Treasurer and Gary King retained his position as State Attorney General. All three are Democrats.

All were sworn in for their second term on Saturday.

Powell told The Independent that he wants to make the office “as transparent as possible.”

“We’re going to really look at the land office and make sure we make it as transparent and as accountable as we can and really collaborate and cooperate with 103 communities and 33 counties to create jobs, particularly in renewable energy.”

The race was for an open seat after Pat Lyons was term-limited after two consecutive terms as Commissioner of Public Lands.

Secretary of State Mary Herrera

Five influential New Mexico newspapers have all endorsed Democratic State Auditor Hector Balderas, Treasurer James B. Lewis, and land commissioner candidate Ray Powell in next Tuesday’s elections.

The Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, Taos News, Las Cruces Sun-News and Espanola-based Rio Grande SUN all agreed the three Democrats were the better candidates in their respective races.

But in a sharp rebuke of Democratic Secretary of State Mary Herrera (whose office will announce next Tuesday’s election results) four of the five papers also backed former Otero County clerk and state Sen. Diana Duran, Herrera’s Republican challenger.

Herrera’s office has been beset by allegations of mismanagement and controversial firings in recent months.

The Rio Grande SUN’s endorsements for governor and secretary of state will appear in Thursday’s paper, editor Lou Mattei said Wednesday morning. The Sun, which recently broke several stories about allegations of mismanagement and corruption in Herrera’s office, will likely endorse Duran as well.

Endorsements for governor were evenly split between the four other papers, with the Taos News and New Mexican backing Democrat Diane Denish and the Albuquerque Journal and Las Cruces Sun-News endorsing Republican Susana Martinez.

Only the Santa Fe New Mexican and Taos News endorsed Gary King‘s reelection as N.M.’s attorney general.

“(King) isn’t willing to say a culture of corruption has developed here even as he investigates millions in missing voter education funds,” the Journal endorsement states. “Let’s face it: Pay-to-play has become a way of doing business, and New Mexico simply can not move forward with those blinders.”

Overall, the Albuquerque Journal — the state’s largest newspaper — appears out of step with the state’s other newspapers, with only 36 percent of its endorsements going to Democratic candidates, compared to an average 75 percent for the other four papers reviewed.

The Santa Fe New Mexican generally favored Democrats and the Albuquerque Journal favored Republicans — but the two papers reversed roles when it came to endorsements for Public Regulation Commission (PRC) District 4. The Journal endorsed Democrat and Gov. Bill Richardson-appointed Commissioner Theresa Becenti-Aguilar, while the New Mexican backed Gary Montoya, her Tea Party-affiliated Republican challenger.

The New Mexican dismissed Becenti-Aguilar as a “political appointee” and noted Montoya’s recent endorsement by the Northern Navajo Agency Council.

“Montoya brings a vast blue-collar experience in the very industries regulated by the PRC,” the New Mexican’s endorsement states.

The Journal, in contrast, urged voters to “keep (Becenti-Aguilar’s) commitment to honest, integrity and ethics” on the Commission.

Becenti-Aguilar has emphasized a commitment to consumer protection, even at a recent PNM-sponsored shareholders’ meeting. At the same meeting, Montoya questioned PRC regulation of the state’s energy monopolies and insurance companies as “micromanaging.”

PRC district 5 Democratic candidate Bill McCamley was endorsed by the Journal and Las Cruces Sun-News. Republican Patrick Lyons won the Journal’s endorsement for his PRC district 2 race against Stephanie DuBois.

The Las Cruces Sun-News inadvertently left DuBois’s name out of its voter guide, Editor Jim Lawitz confirmed Tuesday.

Balderas received one of the year’s most enthusiastic endorsements from the Rio Grande SUN.

“We have an almost $3.4 million theft in the Jemez Mountains School District,” editor R. Braiden Trapp’s endorsement of Balderas notes. “The city of Española has such poor or nonexistent financial record-keeping, auditors can’t form an official opinion and the city is behind in audits. Had Balderas not stepped in a year ago, we wouldn’t have an inkling of the financial condition of the city. Balderas has made huge strides in clamping down on schools, cities and counties performing their audits on time. It’s a gargantuan task.”

Opposition to proposed constitutional amendments

All five newspapers opposed proposed constitutional amendment 2, which would relax term limits on elected county officials, extending the current two four-year term limit to three terms, and proposed constitutional amendment 5, which would allow state lawmakers to be appointed to civil office.

Currently, legislators may not resign to seek appointment to civil office to prevent undue influence over the legislator by the appointing official, according to a Legislative Council Service’s analysis.

“That prohibition was put in place to prevent public corruption,” notes the Sun-News editorial urging voters to reject the amendment. “We are simply amazed that lawmakers would suggest voters should no longer have concerns in that regard.”

All five papers supported proposed constitutional amendment 1, which would establish college scholarships for N.M. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

The Rio Rancho Observer, Socorro-based El Defensor-Chiefton and several other newspapers across the state do not endorse candidates.

Powell meanwhile collected $33,000 in contributions during the four-week period covered by the report, with his biggest donors being the International Potash Corporation and FC Facilitator LLC, Forest City Enterprises, with each donated $5,000.

The International Potash Corporation also gave Rush money, contributing $10,000, in two $5,000 installments. The Potash Association of New Mexico donated $17,860 to the Eddy County Republican Party three days after the Eddy County Republican Party’s donation to Rush.

According to the United States Geological Survey, “Potash is used primarily as an agricultural fertilizer (plant nutrient) because it is a source of soluble potassium, one of the three primary plant nutrients; the others are fixed nitrogen and soluble phosphorus.”

Most of the money that Rush spent went to Elliot Marketing for advertising. Rush paid Elliot Marketing $20,000 on September 21 for advertising, $110,414.12 on September 28 and $8,000 on Sept. 15. These three expenses represented the vast majority of the $153,537.98 Rush spent in the campaign reporting period.

Powell spent $49,500 on media buys from Caldwell Media, representing the bulk of the $56,866.73 that he spent during the campaign finance period.

New Mexico’s state land commissioner oversees a vast amount of public land—about 13 million acres—with a constitutional mandate to manage the land in a way to benefit public education in the state.  In creating the office, the state constitution gives almost sole authority over state trust land to the land commissioner, although the methods which the office can use to develop state land to bring in revenue are limited by the constitution.

Historically, the land has been leased for grazing or oil and gas production. In recent decades, the office has entered into controversial leases for planning and development work on land it owns in urban areas. In addition to leasing the land to raise revenue, state trust lands are valued by sportsmen and environmentalists alike for their contribution to recreation and conservation efforts.

Now, the office is up for grabs, due to term limits that prevent current commissioner, Pat Lyons, from running again. There are five hopefuls up for election in the June 1 primary, three Democrats and Two Republicans.

The Democratic slate includes former land commissioner Ray Powell, who held the office from 1993 to 2002; Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya; and Sandy Jones, who currently holds a seat on the Public Regulation Commission.

The two Republicans vying for the seat are Bob Cornelius, a long-time Republican party activist, and Matt Rush, a farmer and rancher from Roosevelt County.

Among the video clips are discussions of the at times controversial land swaps engaged in by the land office with private parties; wolf reintroductions on public lands; and the role of public participation in the decisions made by the land office about how land should be used.

The candidates also addressed environmental regulations called by some the “pit rules,” which govern the lining of oil and gas pits in order to protect groundwater. The land commissioner sits on the Oil Conservation Commission, which may be asked to review the rules due to complaints by the oil and gas industry.

Registered New Mexico will be able to vote in the primary elections of their respective parties next Tuesday, June 1, which will determine in part which of these candidates will face off in the general election next fall.

“Powell claims he knows how to generate more money for our schools,” Lyons wrote. “During my eight-year tenure I have more than doubled the amount of money his administration earned in 10 years.”

Powell responded by noting that much of the money depends on oil and gas revenues. “During Mr. Lyons’ tenure, the price of oil and gas has been much higher,” Powell wrote. “To take credit for this increase in revenue to the State Land Office is disingenuous at best.”

The two also sparred on renewable energy, conservation and economic development.

Lyons says that when Powell left office, “not a single wind turbine or solar panel existed on trust lands.” Powell responded by noting that he had negotiated with energy companies to put wind turbines on state trust lands but was “term-limited out before construction could commence.”

It is an interesting back-and-forth between two two-term state land commissioners. It does seem unusual that Lyons would jump into the Democratic primary fray so close to the primary election, especially when he himself faces a primary in the Public Regulations Commission District 2 seat next week.

The Reporter also said she is the “least polarizing candidate” on a number of issues, though admitted Susana Martinez and Allen Weh are the frontrunners “if polls and dollar signs are the best indicators for such things.”

In the 3rd Congressional District’s Republican primary, the Reporter endorsed Adam Kokesh over Tom Mullins.

“While his campaign hasn’t won him fans in the party base, we find his independent thinking more interesting than that of his opponent,” the Reporter wrote. “Kokesh’s appeal has been across party lines, and his disinterest in pleasing the Republican establishment bodes well for voters who are sick of party ideologues on both sides.”

For Lt. Gov., the Reporter endorsed Jerry Ortiz y Pino in the Democratic primary and Brian Moore in the Republican primary.

For State Land Commissioner, the Reporter endorsed Ray Powell in the Democratic primary and Matt Rush in the Republican primary.

You can see more videos from the forum here.

The Jones campaign also released another couple of nuggets of information:

• Voter interest in the 2010 Primary is at an all time low. Less than half of the voters have an interest in voting in the 2010 Democratic Primary.
• Voters believe that New Mexico is headed in the wrong direction (54% wrong direction, 42% right direction).
• Jobs is the major issue of concern (41%), followed by education (27%), government corruption (8%), and environment (4%).

The primary election is in less than a month, on June 1.