Unfriendly Fire

By Jacob V. Lamar Jr

Young, brash and full of unabashedly liberal ideas, Toney Anaya was considered one of the Democratic Party's brightest lights in 1982 after he won the Governor's seat by a landslide in conservative New Mexico. Anaya, now 44, immediately presented the legislature with sweeping plans for educational innovations, prison reform and economic development geared to high-tech industries. As the nation's only Hispanic Governor, he spoke out frequently on minority issues, and was known to entertain dreams of someday winning a Cabinet position, perhaps even the vice presidency. "My political options in New Mexico are limited," said Anaya less than a year after taking office. "I don't want to stop here."

Today Anaya's options seem more limited than ever. Much of the Governor's proposed program remains unrealized; he has been vilified by lawmakers; his cabinet has been racked by a dozen firings and resignations. Worst of all, two former state Democratic officials have been convicted of attempted extortion and three others have been indicted for taking bribes, including Anaya's secretary for health and environment, Joseph Johnson, who was charged last week. Although state law forbids a Governor to succeed himself, Anaya would probably not run for re-election if he could: a poll of voters taken last year indicated that his approval rating was an abysmal 23.4%.

How did things get so bad so fast? Many attribute Anaya's troubles to his combative personality. He had made his name as the state's attorney general, battling white-collar corruption and crusading for consumer and environmental causes. Once he became Governor, Anaya, an achiever accustomed to getting his way, found his power diluted by scores of boards, commissions and independent-minded elected officials. His impatience with back-room deal cutting did not help to promote his costly liberal programs in a legislature dominated by Republicans and conservative Democrats. Says Republican State Senator Les Houston: "He didn't know how to compromise, and he didn't know how to learn."

Soon after taking office, Anaya also began exasperating New Mexicans by barnstorming the country as head of Hispanic Force '84, an organization designed to increase Latin influence in the Democratic Party. Nor was he helped by the recession that hit New Mexico as its mining industry, notably uranium extraction, continued to decline. Moreover, the Governor was faced with severe revenue losses caused by a wholesale tax cut enacted the year before he was elected. Anaya was forced to ask for a $97 million tax increase that he had campaigned against, and he quickly found himself at odds with lawmakers over nearly every element of the state budget.

Anaya believes that his problems stem from a conservative campaign to undermine him. Says he: "Our agenda was aggressive and progressive, and anytime you shake up the status quo, you catch flak." As his term winds down, Anaya told a newspaper interviewer that "history will be nice" to his administration. Whatever the future brings, leaving the statehouse can only be a plus for Toney Anaya. --By Jacob V. Lamar Jr. Reported by Richard Woodbury/Santa Fe

With reporting by Richard Woodbury/Santa Fe