Egolf Wants Hometown Redistricting Referees

State Representative Brian Egolf of Santa Fe knows how to try to stack the officiating of the political games with his favorite referees. And he will accomplish just that, if he gets his way with the NM Supreme Court. The court is considering whether it will consolidate several redistricting lawsuits around the state to local Santa Fe courts. And the high court instructed all lawyers to submit their arguments on the proposal by Oct. 10th. Egolf's tactics come as no surprise. Within hours of the end of the special legislative session last month, he and a few of his buddies went to work. Within hours they were asking the high court justices to "consolidate" all redistricting cases filed around the state and appoint one judge from the notoriously partisan big government town of Santa Fe. Clearly Egolf wants local partisan help to retain his region's iron grip on power over the rest of the state.

Brian Egolf

Unfortunately for fair-minded citizens, in recent months New Mexicans have learned that our state is one where lawyers and district judges give and receive campaign contributions as a matter of routine. And somehow normal conflict constraints and ethics rules that the state bar usually abides by, seem to be tossed out of the window.......especially in Santa Fe.
In the legal maneuvers associated with redistricting, the Egolf camp did not even bother to disguise the goal of strong arming opponents that file claims against what they feel was an unabashed partisan redistricting process. Forcing his opponents into his jurisdiction seems to have been the Egolf plan all along. And moving the final decision on redistricting to Santa Fe will most likely continue the process of concentrating power far away from those New Mexico citiznes most affected by the big government forces in New Mexico.

For those who find themselves arguing their cases before what figures to be a party activist that happens to be a judge, they may soon learn the hard way that the "one man-one-vote" ideal is actually an idealistic myth. Take heart....an ace of hearts. There is an additional bonus in all of this for the Egolf crowd. The taxpayers will fund what columnist Jay Miller calls the "full employment act" for lawyers. New Mexico can do better.

Egolf Wants Hometown Redistricting Referees