District 38 Rep. Dianne Miller Hamilton was honored.

By Margaret Hopper

Saturday evening, May 14, saw Republicans gathering for the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, which was held at the Western New Mexico University Mustang cafeteria. The early hour, before 6:00 p.m., was unstructured, where local members could visit and get acquainted with candidates they had not personally met in the past. Master of Ceremonies Scott Terry convened the meeting with his general welcome and calling for the presentation of colors.

Ben Collins and John Sterle of the Gaffney-Oglesby Marine Corps League, Detachment 1328 brought the flags to the front, and Sherry and Bryce Wooton sang GǣThe Star-Spangled BannerGǥ in harmony. Pastor Joseph Gros gave the opening prayer, and Terry introduced the visiting officials, dignitaries and candidates before people received their plates.

 Among those present were Billy Billings of White Signal, running for County Commission new District 4, Grant County; Henry Torres, to replace Commissioner Ron Hall in District 3, and Harry Pecotte, in the new District 5. Silver City Mayor Ken Ladner put in a brief appearance before heading out to other commitments. Appointed Supreme Court Justice Judy Nakamura, running to retain her seat on the state Supreme Court, was introduced; two candidates running for Hamilton's district 38 legislative seat, Rebecca Dow of T or C, and Daniel Galindo, of Silver City, were given a minute.

By 7:00 p.m., three children, Priscilla Stevens, Royal Stevens and Jessi Crocker shared the recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. A special tribute to state Rep. Dianne Miller Hamilton, soon-retiring legislative member of District 38, was a proclamation from Santa Fe, drawn up by friends and peers.

Included were notes from Don Tripp, House Speaker, and a long time friend in the legislature; Rep. Nora Espinosa, running for Secretary of State; Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez and Hispanos Unidos (an organization of Hispanics which has been challenging voter fraud and misrepresentation in the Las Cruces area, and which has gone on record as requesting photo ID legislation to stop the present fraud in many counties). Hamilton's major efforts were for photo IDs for voters and help for veterans with PTSD.

One comment was that Hamilton had Gǣturned the tide.Gǥ In her 18 years as a legislator, as a Republican, representing Grant County in the Round House, she had now witnessed the first Republican majority in the House in more than 60 years. She was there in Santa Fe to finally see that turning.

Hamilton responded that while she was retiring, she would still be representing District 38 through December 31 of this year. This would be her last GǣHurrah,Gǥ but Nora Espinosa, running for secretary of state, was pushing photo IDs for voters, taking over where she left off. Among her awards and notes of thanks, Hamilton, above, received a silver bracelet given by an anonymous donor, in the name of the local party.

The local party recognized Debbie and Jim Nennich, of W and N Enterprises, with a plaque, given to them by party presdient Curtis Stevens, Jr., for their contributions to the party, which named them Republicans of the
Year.

Jonathan Gardner, attorney from Valencia County, with both non-profit and private practice, introduced the speaker of the evening, Judge Judy, and now State Supreme Court Justice Judy Nakamura, a graduate of the University of New Mexico, with 17 years experience as a judge in criminal law.

She was named judge of the year by the Albuquerque Bar Association in 2006, for her work with DWI cases. She makes impacting decisions at the court every single day, he said. Recently appointed by Governor Susana Martinez to the court, Nakamura is running for retention on the court this November.

Nakamura said she had accepted the invitation to speak, wondering what she could say once she was here, as judges are supposed to be apolitical, and the laws themselves are not supposed to be either Republican or Democratic. But, getting into the speech, her thrust was to convince attendees that having a single Republican voice on the Supreme Court was an unusual event over a very long period, and she is part of the first female majority to serve on the New Mexico Supreme Court.

She retraced her commitments and relationships after high school, when others persuaded her to lead the Young Republican Party, although she had no interest in politics; her family, especially her father, was an ACLU Democrat. In the early years of her practice, she admitted her problem with the law was...judges! In an early race, she ran against a Democratic incumbent in Albuquerque. Republicans supported her and got her elected.

She had considered district court and criminal law. Most judges are commercial law oriented, she said. Recently Governor Martinez appointed her to the state supreme court. After about six months, she is seeking retention.

The present laws and make-up of New Mexico's Supreme Court were unique in the nation, because judges and justices are elected by party; no other state had this set of rules, and no other state wanted to copy them; there were definite drawbacks to the nature of the New Mexico system, she said.

An example was Judge Davenport in 1857. When a certain party appealed the judge's decision, he found himself up against Justice Davenport in the appeal. Such circumstances in New Mexico law were not unusual.

Her point was that judges and justices had more impact on New Mexico than legislators could ever have. When any branch of government wanted information or support, their work went to the Supreme Court. No matter what the problem, the issues would go back to the state Supreme Court. With five justices on the court, any three could override decisions by any other department or branch. Further, the identity of the decision makers was not made public, to avoid Gǣharassment.Gǥ

These few judges supervise the courts, write the rules for attorneys and judges to follow, give juries instructions, remove or suspend judges, so many duties. GǣPay attention,Gǥ she said. "If you want justice, be sure that that you have qualified Republican justices where they can make a difference. Send the message that times are changing, help to make history! Elect the third Republican to be elected to the Supreme Court, and the first female ever to be so elected."

History says she can't win, but she intends to do just that. And she proceeded to outline how she thought that could be done, telling what she needed from her county, and how other counties could help out. Calling herself a good investment, she continued to give statistics she thought important, and added, Gǣit's winnable.Gǥ