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Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Dem Joins Attacks on Denish?
By Sean Olson
Journal Staff Writer
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has been hearing Republicans chastise her for not doing her part to stop corruption in state government for months. It's the primary tactic the GOP has used in its attempt to derail her 2010 bid for governor.
Still, she probably didn't expect a Democrat to chime in.
State Sen. Tim Eichenberg, D-Albuquerque, said he dropped out of the race for lieutenant governor due to Denish's "complacency or complicity with the pay-to-play" culture in Santa Fe, Republican blogger Mark Bralley reported on his Web site.
Bralley reported that Eichenberg went on to say that he didn't want to raise $500,000 to be part of a losing campaign and that he told Denish "I didn't think she was going to win."
In a Journal interview Monday, Eichenberg wouldn't confirm or deny making the statements. He did say he spoke with Bralley at a weekly bipartisan discussion group held by Republican gubernatorial candidate Janice Arnold-Jones, but didn't know Bralley was a blogger or that the conversation was part of an interview.
Arnold-Jones, a state representative, began the discussion group two years ago to open a dialogue with constituents and other elected officials on state issues.
Eichenberg said the comments shouldn't be misconstrued as him supporting a Republican candidate.
"I am voting for Diane Denish. I think she will lead us to transparency and accountability in government," Eichenberg said, adding that Bralley wasn't doing Republicans any favors.
"I'm sad for (Bralley) because I think his advocacy for Janice Arnold-Jones would be better served by being positive ... rather than bashing the lieutenant governor through me," he said.
Bralley says on his Web site that he has been hired to provide photographs for the Arnold-Jones campaign.
Denish spokesman Oren Shur said Monday that the comments attributed to Eichenberg were the same, wrong-headed attempts to tarnish Denish's reputation. He said Denish has led the way for Democrats by proposing ethics reform legislation.
"We're not putting much stock into comments that were caught by a blogger at a Republican candidate's event, but Lt. Gov. Denish has a record that speaks for itself, and she's the only candidate in this race who has outlined a meaningful ethics reform agenda," Shur said.
Eichenberg said he dropped out for a variety of reasons, the biggest being his chances against fellow Democrats in June.
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