Thoughts on a Nomination Few Vote On

 

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Judicial elections differ from other elections; and one Magistrate Court nomination race apparently has some of my favorite political folks misbehaving.

Local lawyer Rosenda Chavez-Lara and full-blooded Chickasaw Jannette Mondragón both seek the judicial nomination. Our Governor appointed Mondragón to fill the vacancy from April 27 to the end of the year. Democratic Central Committee members vote July 10-12 on the nomination for November’s election to a four-year term.

The Rules require a judicial candidate to act with the highest integrity and not “misrepresent the candidate's or the candidate's opponent's identity, qualifications, present position or other material fact.” And to try to keep supporters avoiding misrepresentations.

I think some Mondragón supporters have tried to mislead voters. She and supporters have claimed that Rosenda’s election would present a conflict of interest because her husband, Robert Lara, is a district judge. Both the presiding judge and the state have said there’s no such problem. Mondragón herself ceased making such statements after being advised. But supporters reportedly accused Rosenda and Robert of trying to build a judicial empire. Nonsense! More reasonably, one strong Mondragón supporter argues that since the district court’s chief judge supervises magistrate court, Robert would vote on who’d be Rosenda’s boss. That’s a fact. Different folks could give it different weight.

One supporter’s Facebook post (“The New Mexico Observer”) dismissively called Chavea-Lara “a judge’s spouse,” naming her only in the third paragraph. The post portrayed Rosenda as an outsider who’d handled just 50 cases in several years.

Living in El Paso during her childhood, Rosenda spent much time in our county, visiting paternal and maternal cousins and helping her father, who opened a tax office to serve folks in Sunland Park. She hung our her shingle here in 2015. Mondragón is the relative stranger. She was appointed two months ago. The Bar Directory still lists her office in El Paso, though she’s litigated cases here the past few years.

Chavez-Lara has handled hundreds of cases; but because she mostly represented the children in abuse and neglect cases, we don’t get the details. Ex-Judge Marci Beyers presided over many of those cases and has endorsed Rosenda, praising her professionalism, compassion, and ability to do a hard job well.

Jannette says her campaign had nothing to do with that post. I believe her. One local lawyer who strongly supports Mondragón invited folks to “like” it. But he’s not part of her campaign.

My first reaction to Mondragón’s appointment was that I questioned an out-of-area appointment but liked the idea of a fully Native American judge.

But inaccurate personal attacks shouldn’t be part of a judicial campaign. One central committee member complained, “Team Mondragón is really upset, and trying to stifle the democratic process. They’re acting as if Rosenda is coming after something that’s rightfully Jeannette’s.”

Powerful friends calling committee members for Mondragón can’t be doing it because they know a lot about her judicial performance. She’s been a judge two months. They prefer her politically. If they feel that the Governor’s preference deserves some deference from Democrats, I agree; but central committee members should do what seems right to them.

I lunched recently with each candidate. Both are serious, compassionate women. Rosenda has demonstrated she cares about our county, particularly our poor; and I’m convinced Jannette would exhibit those same qualities. Both are tough. Both seem to be truth-tellers.

I hope Central Committee consider all the facts and make an independent judgment.

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[The above column appeared Sunday, 7 July, 2024, in the Las Cruces Sun-News and on the newspaper's website on the newspaper’s website and on KRWG’s website, under Local Viewpoints. A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version will air during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM, streaming at www.lccommunityradio.org/). For further information on the topic of this column, please go to my blog, https://soledadcanyon.blogspot.com/ .]

[As columns do, this one changed significantly from my initial concept what I submitted to the Sun-News. I was chagrined by the Facebook post. It was obviously by someone knowledgeable, because few citizens even know the nomination contest exists. (Ironically, in a much earlier post, from 2021, I saw my own face, as NMO reposted a column I’d written.) Although I had limited information, I was also troubled by what big fish in our small pond (Democratic elected officials with whom I agree on much) appeared to be saying to the central committee members who’ll bote on the thing.

But I can’t link the NMO post to the campaign. Sure, Mondragón’s sister liked it and a strong supporter invited folks to like it; but I can’t say who posted it, let alone opine that the candidate had prior knowledge or control. Too, meeting Mondragón I instinctively trusted her; and while she admitted saying some questionable things in early calls to committee members, she’d ceased once she was informed about the subject; and I could hardly blame her for not urging NMO to withdraw the post, since I couldn’t establish who that is. I also learned that Mondragón has handled some cases in this district, although her office was in El Paso.

But the post and some aspects of phone calls seemed inaccurate, unfair to Chavez-Lara, and perhaps violative of the rules.

So I hope voters turn off the noise and consider this one fairly. We have two reasonable candidates for the nomination. One has far more experience with our county and its courts, and had demonstrated compassion and, per Judge Beyer, competence and dedication. The other is also a compassionate and dedicated person – and we are unlikely to hear what the local judge thinks who has most frequently heard her cases here, because that’s the Hon. Robert Lara. He’d best keep his opinion to himself. Voters must each decide how much weight, if any, they choose to give the Governor’s appointment – and the fact that one candidate would be our first judge from a federally-recognized tribe.]