Bill Richardson and Arizona's Janet Napolitano are similar, but one has more grace and foresight

Steve Fox
Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Bill Richardson and Janet Napolitano, two carpetbagger Democrats elected governor in side-by-side New Mexico and Arizona, are an interesting study of contrasting styles and governing abilities. One can imagine Lt. Gov. Diane Denish looking over both sets of shoulders as she readies her run for governor of New Mexico.

Richardson came to New Mexico as a "carpetbagger," because he was born in California, raised in Mexico City and educated in - gasp! - the East at an exclusive prep school and Tufts University. He ran for New Mexico's newly-created 3rd Congressional District, where "You're not from here" is never far from somebody's lips.

Napolitano, like Richardson, was born into privilege. She is the daughter of Leonard Napolitano, who was at that time dean of the University of New Mexico Medical School. Born in New York City, she was raised in Pittsburgh and Albuquerque. She graduated from Sandia High School, then went on to Santa Clara University, "the Jesuit university in Silicon Valley," and received a law degree at the University of Virginia.

Well-traveled early in life, these two were exposed by college age to the contrasting styles and seats of power on the East and West coasts. Both were children of powerful men with money, connections, professional standing and codes of public service. Richardson's banker father and Napolitano's med-school dean dad opened doors for them - social, intellectual, financial and political.

As their public lives have played out, differences have emerged not only from personal roots, but also from the states they chose to build their careers in. Richardson chose Democratic Party politics in closely-divided, sparsely-populated but minority-majority New Mexico, while Napolitano began as an attorney in private practice and a prosecutor in strongly Republican Arizona, the fastest-growing state. President Clinton appointed her U.S. attorney for Arizona in 1993, and she won election as attorney general in 1998, a close race for governor in 2002 and a landslide re-election in 2006.

Napolitano was the first U.S. woman elected to succeed another woman as governor. Her administration has been marked by her budget expertise, sharpened under Sen. Pete Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican, in the Senate Budget Committee. In her first year as governor, she turned a billion-dollar deficit into a billion-dollar surplus. She became a popular Democratic governor in a red state by getting things done. She's been rated among the top five governors in the country by Time magazine, has chaired the Western Governor's Association and has been talked about as a future U.S. attorney general or vice-president candidate.

Richardson's policies on education, immigration reform, border issues and health care are similar to Napolitano's, but she, with a Republican-dominated Legislature, sprawling cities and people pouring in from everywhere, has often seemed to beat Richardson to the punch: calling the National Guard to the border and passing statewide full-day kindergarten and strong penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

In contrast to Napolitano's reputation for efficiency, Richardson has taken a long time to "get his shtick down" as he campaigns for president, making gaffes in several key appearances.

Now, we hear that Toby Martinez and Raul Parra, recently indicted with Manny Aragon for a kickback scheme in the financing of the Albuquerque Metro Court building, were hired to direct state Department of Transportation development projects. And Richardson's buddy and major contributor, Santa Fe gallery tycoon Gerald Peters, is involved in the company planning the $400 million DOT project.

Richardson has ordered a freeze on the suspect projects and public release of procurement documents in the DOT case. If this mess ensnares Richardson, too bad he didn't have Napolitano's prosecutor instincts and see it coming far sooner.

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/sep/05 ... net-napol/