Senator Mike Alarid

I was sorry to see the story of the passing of Senator Mike Alarid. He was a pretty good guy who helped me a lot in my early political career. It seems he always tried to be on the right side of things and managed to be there most of the time. He was supportive of my campaign to reform New Mexico Liquor laws in the late 1970's when I was Director of the Alcohol Beverage Control Department. He saw the danger in the licensing system we had, which is now resurrecting itself, where licenses cost upwards of $700K and organized crime was involved in their buying and selling.

Mike and I worked hard together to do away with the New Mexico Primary Nominating convention which put control of the picking of candidates into a few powerful hands. Both Mike and I were victims of that system. Yet, I still won my first primary after all most being run off the ballot by the liquor industry retaliating for liquor law reform. The system is back now with a vengeance and is even worse than before.

The legislature eventually undid good stuff that Mike championed when he was a state Senator. The growing power of money in politics saw to that.