3RD DISTRICT PRC RACE: Dem ward chairman quits to help Lass
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Block Jr.'s campaign wanted official removed for comments supporting Green candidate
8/27/2008 - 8/27/08
Given the choice between helping a Green Party candidate or keeping his volunteer position with the Democratic Party, ward chairman Bernie Logue y Perea of Santa Fe decided to go Green.Logue y Perea, who until this week represented Ward 47A in the Bishops Lodge Road area, said he announced his decision Wednesday after learning that Democratic state Public Regulation Commission candidate Jerome Block Jr.'s campaign was trying to get him removed as chairman.
Logue y Perea last week had announced he and other Democrats were forming a political action committee to help PRC candidate Rick Lass of the Green Party. Democratic rules state that officials can't campaign for members of another party.
"I'm not heartbroken or shocked or disappointed, because this actually frees me up to do something I want to do," Logue y Perea said. "Rather than stay as ward chair and back someone I don't believe in, I'd rather drop the ward chair and continue my support of Rick Lass."
His defection is the latest sign that some Democrats, particularly progressives, have become disenchanted with their party's nominee to the body that regulates industries including utilities, telecommunications and insurance. Some criticism was generated by the fact that Block, who faces no Republican opponent, didn't fully disclose his arrest history prior to the June primary, a six-way race he won with 23 percent of the vote.
However, Jerome Block Sr., who once held the PRC District 3 seat, said he doesn't see widespread discontent with his son among Democrats in the PRC district, which stretches well beyond Santa Fe into heavily Democratic rural areas of north-central and northeast New Mexico.
The elder Block said the opposition amounts to a "handful" of dissenters. "You know, these guys are just disgruntled because it's their candidate that lost," Block Sr. said.
Logue y Perea acknowledged his help for Lass violates party rules and said he wanted to beat to the punch Block Jr.'s attempt to have him ousted. However, he said he plans to remain a Democrat. He was a chairman for about three years, a job that involves coordinating campaign volunteers and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Efforts to reach Block Jr. or his spokesman were unsuccessful, but Block Sr. said he had notified Santa Fe County Democratic chairwoman Minnie Gallegos that Logue y Perea was breaking party rules. "They should've thrown him out a long time ago," the senior Block said Wednesday.
Last week, Logue y Perea told The New Mexican he heard from many people who claimed to be confused about whether they were voting for the Block Jr. or his father, and some people thought the son wasn't bright enough to hold the $90,000-a-year PRC job. Many noted Block Jr.'s campaign signs didn't say "Jr." or "Sr.," according to Logue y Perea.
"Bernie should know better, but he's just pulling stuff out of his ass," Block Sr. said. "That must be a person that doesn't read a newspaper."
"Nobody's ever told me that (about voter confusion)," he added. "There would be just as many people voting against (Block Jr.) because they thought it was me. ... You're in politics for 23 years, you don't make everybody happy."
As for campaign signs, Block Sr. said his son didn't use any leftovers from when he held the office. "I've never gone by senior, and he's never gone by junior," he said.
Block Jr., who has refused to debate Lass, began losing Democratic support after the primary, when it was revealed he didn't tell the whole truth about his arrest record. He admitted before the primary to being arrested for drunken driving in 1998 and said he was found not guilty. It turned out the charge had been dropped because he wasn't prosecuted in a timely fashion. Block Jr. also never mentioned a later arrest and conviction for riding with a drunken driver.
Meanwhile, Lass has been attending Democratic events since joining the race against Block Jr.
Gallegos, the county's Democratic Party chairwoman, said she's seen Lass on the campaign trail more often than Block Jr. "I mean, Lass has been all over — parties, openings of headquarters, parades. I mean, he's there," she said. "I think it would behoove Mr. Block to attend all of them and show that he's a Democrat and continue to be a loyal Democrat."
Lass has said he believes he can win and take a third to half of the Democratic vote.
Contact Doug Mattson at 986-3087 or dmattson@sfnewmexican.com.
