May 30 – The closer politicians are to private lives, the more colorful their quotes become.
State Senator Mark MoorsR-Albuquerque is not running for a fourth term, and he is not purging his comments.
Moores just donated $5,500 to fellow Republican Chad Hamill, who is in a muddy primary race for the open Senate seat in District 32 in southeastern New Mexico. Hamill’s opponent is state Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell.
I asked Moores why he helps Hamill.
“Ezzell is terrible, the least serious person in a building full of non-serious people,” he replied in a text message.
So much for Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.”
When Ezzell heard Moore had convicted her, he said at first she was surprised. ‘I don’t really understand where he comes from. I haven’t had much to do with him.’
But Ezzell then talked about clashes with Moores. According to her, he once tried to leave a hearing of the House Agriculture Committee, which she chaired, before debate ended on Moores’ bill to ban coyote-killing contests. Another time, Ezzell said, Moores confronted her in a Capitol hallway, causing such a commotion that building security officers responded.
“Agh, that’s BS,” Moores said in a telephone interview. “After twenty years of failures in the House of Representatives, she does not deserve a promotion to the Senate. I’ll say it again: she’s not a serious person.”
Moores isn’t the only incumbent lawmaker trying to defeat Ezzell in Tuesday’s primary. Republican Senators Craig Brandt, Greg Baca and Joshua Sanchez donated a total of $11,500 to Hamill’s campaign during the most recent reporting period that ended Thursday.
Ezzell did not see Hamill as a political enemy. She said she had recruited him to succeed her in the House of Representatives.
“I wanted a conservative who understands rural New Mexico. I offered to knock on his door,” Ezzell said.
Hamill’s version is different in important ways. Yes, Ezzell asked him to run for the District 58 House seat she is vacating, and she initially offered her help. But, he said, she later turned her support to another candidate, causing Hamill to reconsider his options.
Hamill said he distributed papers nominating petitions for both House and Senate seats, wondering what to do.
“I decided to run for Senate. I knew it would be a tougher fight, but I also knew my opponent had a 20-year record that she would have run on,” Hamill said.
This is his second Senate race in District 32. He lost the Republican primary in 2012 Cliff Pirtle with nine votes.
Pirtle, a farmer from Roswell, went on to win three terms in the Senate before a scandal halted his political career. His wife confronted him about an extramarital affair in Santa Fe during last year’s legislative session. Much of the tension was captured on video by a deputy.
Pirtle has since fathered a girl with the one-time legislative employee he saw while married to someone else.
Ezzell said she decided to run for Senate before Pirtle’s troubles arose. Pirtle appeared to keep open the option of seeking re-election until March. But with the deadline for submitting nominations looming, he ultimately said he would not seek a fourth term.
Ezzell offered a theory about the outgoing senator: “He conspired with someone else to run for the Senate seat,” she said, referring to Hamill.
That’s not true, Hamill said. “Pirtle had nothing to do with my decision. They’re grabbing everything because I’m a threat.”
The campaign in oil country has been rough, with a barrage of accusations and counter-accusations. Hamill claimed he recently received a call at 2:30 a.m. from someone supporting Ezzell. He didn’t answer, but he’s sure he’s right about the caller’s identity.
Ezzell, a farmer and rancher, said her opponents have repeatedly lied about her legislative record. One example, she said, is critics who claim she voted for higher purses for racehorses to make a profit. She has no racehorses.
After winning 10 terms in the House of Representatives, the last three unopposed, Ezzell received a jolt this spring.
“What’s going on sickens me. It’s gotten ugly. It really has,” she said.
Hamill said he is also under siege as false accusations rain upon him. Still, he said this experience is better in one respect than his run for Senate in 2012, when Hamill was Roswell fire chief.
City officials, he claimed, were wary of his legislative campaign. Had Hamill won the primary, he would have challenged Democrat Tim Jennings, who was president pro tem of the Senate.
Ezzell, better known and better funded, promises she hasn’t overlooked Hamill.
“There are only two ways to escape,” she said. “No resistance or fear.”
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.
