To the Point with Mick Rich

When Rules Matter More Than Voters: The Decline of RPNM

Bu Mick Rich

Lake Berryessa's Glory Hole sucks water out / RPNM Glory Hole sucks the life out of New Mexico

The RPNM held its State Central Committee (SCC) meeting in December 2024 in Truth or Consequences to choose the leader who would continue the Pearce agenda, and it succeeded. In July 2025, at the Farmington SCC meeting, they attempted to enact rules to stifle opposition but failed. Now, another SCC rules meeting is scheduled for Hobbs this September. Does the RPNM leadership believe it can best the DPNM without Republicans in the Albuquerque Metro area?

Does RPNM Have a Plan Beyond "Pro-Trump, Pro-Gun, Pro-God"?

While Gary Johnson seized the Governor's Office in 1994 with the support of Native Americans the Republican Party of New Mexico (RPNM) lost a golden opportunity to build lasting relationships with Native Americans.

1994: Indian Gaming as the Defining Issue

In 1994, political newcomer Gary Johnson defeated Democratic heavyweight Governor Bruce King. His victory wasn't luck—it was strategy. Johnson recognized that Indian gaming was the defining issue for Native Americans.

Our politicians don't want you to believe it. But to them, the recent murder of a fourteen-year-old on the University of New Mexico campus is just another day in Albuquerque. These politicians are going to beat their chests, wail, offer condolences, and promise they will make changes. But they are not going to risk their political capital on people they would not socialize with.

Our politicians want you to believe the financial incentives enticed Breaking Bad to Albuquerque, but. .. Just as the best crime noir television show in the 1960s was "The Naked City," which took place in crime-ridden Las Vegas. The best drug crime television show in 2020 was "Breaking Bad," which took place in drug-infested Albuquerque.

Breaking Bad came to Albuquerque because we are 'that city."

What it is like living in the real "Breaking Bad the City?"

I will never forget Jackson Weller (UNM Baseball player from Texas), who was executed (I viewed the security video before the APD and the DA office), blocks from the UNM campus. Brandon Travis (UNM student on a scholarship from California) was shot and killed on the UNM campus in a dispute with an NMSU basketball player. The Albuquerque Journal celebrated UNM Football signing a kicker from New Zealand. But doesn't ask the hard questions, "Why does UNM have to recruit from out of the country, or players and coaches transfer to other universities as soon as they have proven themselves at UNM.?"

While UNM freshmen were attending their two-day Orientation this summer, fourteen-year-old Michael LaMotte was shot and killed in a UNM dormitory room. UNM provided mental health support for the traumatized orientation attendees, canceled that orientation session. Not surprising orientation attendees are now considering transferring to another university when possible.

While the UNM Medical School is educating the next generation of physicians, these future physicians are getting their first-hand experience in Albuquerque. The last two years of medical school the medical students rotate through the various hospital departments, which includes the emergency department. It was just a few years ago that the emergency department had eleven gunshot victims. They learned how to treat the ones you can save, pray for the ones you cannot, and how to keep the gangs from finishing off the survivors in the hospital. An emergency doctor in Charleston, SC who did a rotation at the UNM-H Emergency Department, shared that the weather was good, rock-climbing opportunities in the Sandias were great, and no better place to learn how to treat violent crime victims, but not where he would want to live.

Albuquerque Choose the Writer, Director, and Actors for the real "Breaking Bad the City"

The Writers (the city council) write and pass the laws and regulations for the City. I still cannot understand how the council supports fining people for parking-meter violations but not the homeless camping out on our streets and sidewalks. Or fining people who did not pick up their dog's poop while spending tens of thousands of dollars picking up the homeless' excrement from our doorways and sidewalks.

The Director (the mayor) supports a Police Chief, who doesn't just drive away from crime but runs down a law-abiding citizen in making his escape. The mayor believes the ending of the Federal DOJ's oversight of APD was an endorsement when it was a philosophy, "You broke it. You fix it". The mayor had no idea his APD officers were on the take, too.

The Lead Actor (the district attorney), who sits on the sidelines while the Trump DOJ goes after the significant cases and ignores the sex trafficking of our young women in our neighborhoods. To stop the trafficking, look for an illuminated "Massage / Open" sign at 11:00 in the evening. He will be perfect for the next Governor and the next owner of the Epstein Zorro Ranch.

The Extras (all the powerful and wealthy who don't socialize) are also known as unseen and unclean; the criminal and violent illegal immigrants are given sanctuary in our neighborhoods and schools; the homeless who are mental-illness scary, drugged-out scary, and whose diseases we track into our homes on the bottom of our shoes; the transnational criminal organization members, who we can't quite get a handle on, but leave a bloody trail.

We can hope for the sequel, "Breaking Bad: The City Two." New Mexico and Albuquerque politicians hope that the voters have forgotten the promises of four years ago, believe this year's window dressing is more than skin deep, and still believe "Hope Springs Eternal."

For those readers who are thinking, "Thank God I don't live in Albuquerque," I am sorry to inform you, rural New Mexico has the same challenges, but not to the same extent as Albuquerque. I learned that from working with the hardworking people of rural New Mexico. They shared with me what they have seen and heard that goes on, but they don't talk much about it.

2015 Headline “Can New Mexico Break Its Cycle of Corruption?” 2025, Didn’t Happen

2020 Corruption Report: New Mexico Top Five Most Corrupt State, Scoring High for Illegal and Legal Corruption

A Culture of Corruption

I moved to New Mexico in 1980 as a Democrat. A few years later, I switched to Republican after the details of Governor Tony Anaya’s “Pay to Play” scandal became public knowledge. In retrospect, Anaya’s scandal seems almost quaint compared to what followed.

New Mexico needs new political leaders for the upcoming financial crisis.

Gottheimer, Lance Announce "Anti-Moocher Bill" to Claw Back Tax Dollars. New Jersey Democrats Rep. Gottheimer and Rep. Lance have introduced the "Return on Investment Accountability Act," which targets so-called "Moocher States"—like New Mexico—that receive more in federal funds than they pay in taxes. Has our delegation's obsession with "bringing home the bacon" without delivering national value made us a target for federal budget cutters (DOGE) and equity activists (the Squad)?

The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) recognized Alex Thompson of Axios for his hard-hitting article on President Biden's cognitive decline in his June 2024 Axios article. For the WHCA members, this was a big acknowledgement, for the American people (at least for the conservatives), this was too little and too late.

In his acceptance speech, Alex Thompson addressed the WHCA's biases. What I found far more damaging is that the WHCA recognized Thompson as the hero, but he was no better than the rest of the WHCA members, who failed to tell the truth and prostrated themselves to the court's favor of the liberal establishment.

Hard-Working New Mexico Deserves a Governor Who Works for Them.

Once again, New Mexico ranked 49th in the nation — this time by MSN and WalletHub in 2024. It takes effort to fall this far behind, especially as one of the states with the highest tax revenues, thanks to oil and gas. Instead of addressing the root of the problem, our leaders launch campaigns like the Governor’s anti-litter “Breaking Bad” initiative — embracing blight instead of fixing it.

I spoke with thousands of New Mexicans when I ran for U.S. Senate in 2018. Their needs were simple: safe neighborhoods, schools that taught their children reading, writing, and arithmetic, and good-paying jobs to support their families. Compare that to Governor Lujan Grisham’s acceptance of Breaking Bad’s portrayal of New Mexico, crime-ridden, failed schools, and job opportunities that lead to prison.