
WINNERS
Yankees
Dem voters in Eldorado woke up Nov. 5 to a post-election O'bummer: Their McCain-supporting neighbor, Steven Ruud, had replaced his Old Glory with a dag blum Confederate flag. Ruud removed the flag—temporarily, he says—after the New Mexican ran some angry letters and he got a call from Eldorado Community Improvement Association Manager Bill Donohue. "I just took it down because the guy asked me nicely," Ruud says. "Whether it was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do, it all comes down to a freedom of speech thing."
Dem donors
So much for keeping money out of politics. Poll-watchers say New Mexico offers one of the best "returns on investment"—$1 spent here was six times more likely to influence the election's outcome than $1 spent in Florida. So New Mexico's top Dem contributors got their money's worth. According to opensecrets.org, they were: Santa Fe property mogul Garrett Thornburg ($62,250) and author Sallie Bingham ($47,000), plus Albuquerque real estate agent Kevin Calnan ($35,000).
Nonprofit agitators
In August, three failed state Democratic candidates—state Reps. Dan Silva and Shannon Robinson and state Sen. James Taylor—sued several non-profits, charging "widespread conspiracy" to defeat their primary candidacies. The defeated pols said the groups—including the Center for Civic Policy, the SouthWest Organizing Project and Conservation Voters New Mexico—illegally funded "partisan attacks" against them in the form of mailers criticizing their voting records. Last week, Judge Linda Vanzi dismissed the suit, writing that the lawmakers not only failed to meet the basic requirements of an election contest claim, but got the defendants' names wrong.
LOSERS
Water drinkers
You might've heard the Santa Fe City Council might increase water rates by 9.5 percent every year for the next five years. You haven't yet heard that a bookkeeping snafu is partly to blame. Councilor Matthew Ortiz blames former City Finance Director Katherine Raveling for a $25 million error in the water account. Her replacement, David Millican, calls the mistake a "classic communication mix-up" that "for reasons that are not completely clear" wasn't double-checked until after he took over the finance office in June. The upshot: The city has millions less than previously thought to fund the Buckman Direct Diversion—which means water rates must go up faster in order to cover the additional debt needed to finish the project.
GOP donors
Who wasn't cheering last Tuesday night? New Mexicans who bet big on the Republicans. Top GOP donors in the last election cycle: Sundance Services, a Eunice-based oil waste disposal company (affiliates Michael Patterson, Donna Roach and Hanif and Sue Mussani gave $74,200 to the Republican National Committee). The Yates oil family of Artesia kicked in $37,900 to the RNC. Albuquerque Ford dealer Don Chalmers gave $30,000.
Nonprofit budgets
Santa Fe's 1,000-odd non-profits fear a weak holiday giving season, according to Community Foundation Development Director Valerie Ingram. "It's very scary," Outside In Director David Lescht says. "All these foundations have their endowments locked up in the stock market." Arts groups may suffer most, but even food pantries are stretched.
Ingram's suggestion: "Instead of giving your sister another bottle of perfume that she's not going to wear anyway, you might give to a non-profit organization here in Santa Fe."