Poll shows Lujan Grisham pulling away

Ten points

That's the space between Michelle Lujan Grisham and Steve Pearce as New Mexicans get set for their last chance to vote on Tuesday, according to the final poll by the Albuquerque Journal. She leads 53-43 percent. As statehouse bureau chief Dan Boyd explains, the poll says Lujan Grisham has a commanding lead in Albuquerque and Pearce hasn't been able to convince many Democrats that he'd govern with an even hand. Republicans said Sunday the poll is unreliable because voter turnout is too unpredictable.

So close

Meanwhile, we're all going to be up late following returns in the 2nd Congressional District, the southern of New Mexico's two massive, non-Albuquerque seats in the US House of Representatives. It's been held by a Democrat just once, when Harry Teague rode the Obama wave into office after Steve Pearce abandoned the seat to run for Senate. Enough history, though; Republican Yvette Herrell leads Xochitl Torres Small by a single point. That's well with the poll's margin of error. It's a hugely important seat to both parties.

Oh Susana!

Gov. Susana Martinez rode into office on a wave of anti-Richardson sentiment and Republican bounceback in the 2010 midterms. She was even more popular when she ran Gary King out on a rail in her reelection campaign. Now, she's one of the country's least-popular governors. The reasons may lie in the state's economy and in Martinez' personal style of governance. Erstwhile Southern New Mexico journalist Robert Moore at Searchlight New Mexico delivers the analysis of Martinez' fall from popular grace.

Off to trial

Martinez' tenure hasn't been entirely free of the perception of inside dealing that helped propel her to the governor's mansion. On Friday, a Santa Fe Magistrate Court judge ruled prosecutors had enough evidence to send Demesia Padilla to trial on corruption and embezzlement charges. The attorney general says Padilla stole more than $25,000 from an accounting client, then used her position as secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department to try to sidestep an audit.

Confronted

A man in Albuquerque was killed after "a confrontation" with police on Sunday. They'd been called to an apartment complex after a report of shots fired. What about that confrontation might have killed the man? A bullet from a police officer's gun. It's the sixth shooting by police this year, four of which have been fatal.

Gun issue or staffing issue

Police in Santa Fe have stopped tracking gun violence statistics ($) in any detailed way. The department says that as the economy and the tax revenue the city gets to fund government have improved, its resources have not. The department's crime analyst has "been tasked with filling a lot of administrative duties," according to a deputy chief.

Mellow Mondays

Last-minute campaign barrage got you down? Too many Christmas decorations in stores already? Is the Fed going to raise interest rates again right before you buy that RV? Mellow out. Santa Fe's normally frenetic Boxcar (BOXCAR!) brings in DJ Sato to spin tunes that will change your persuasion. Starts at 10 pm.

Full fall

The trick with fall is that it's still relatively warm when the leaves start changing. It lulls us into a false sense of ease. Fall requires coziness, though, and coziness requires chill. Temperatures around the state will stay similar to the weekend for the first three days of the week, but a cold front on Thursday will give us the requisite cold.

Thanks for reading! The Word probably needs a new sweater. The oversized J Crew cable-knit fisherman's sweater from high school is perhaps not the most stylish choice.

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