No hiding the disappointment

Bill Richardson’s sudden exit from the future Barack Obama administration delivered dual blows to his role as the nation’s leading Latino political figure and to his foundation that funds Latino political causes, political experts said Monday.

The New Mexico governor, who had been on track to be the next secretary of Commerce, cited a federal investigation into state business for his withdrawal, saying it “would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.”

He has not been accused of wrongdoing, and at a Santa Fe news conference Monday he said he would be cleared. But the fact that he won’t be part of the incoming administration disappointed Latino advocates and experts.

“The withdrawal is a considerable setback and an incredible disappointment for him in terms of staying in the national spotlight,” said Christine Sierra, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico. “Beyond the initial shock and disappointment for him is the fact that this is also felt in Latino communities across the nation.”

The federal investigation involves a Beverly Hills company, CDR Financial Products Inc., which was paid to help the state issue road-construction bonds. The FBI is looking into whether anybody in Richardson’s administration tried to influence CDR’s selection.

According to sources in New Mexico, CDR gave $75,000 to Si Se Puede, which was formed to pay the expenses for Richardson and his staff at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, and $25,000 to Richardson’s nonprofit dedicated to Latino causes, the Moving America Forward Foundation.

And anything that taints Richardson could taint the groups associated with him and the causes dear to his heart.

Until the FBI investigation, the breadth and scope of Richardson’s career gave him a stature that few, if any, Latino politicians in the nation could match. He spent 15 years in Congress representing northern New Mexico. He served as Energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration.

In recent years, he took on ad hoc roles as a negotiator for international humanitarian crises and went on peacekeeping missions, including to Sudan. He ran for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. When his effort sagged, he endorsed Obama.

Richardson has about two years remaining on his second term as governor.

As his career prospered, he helped many aspiring Latinos who wanted to enter public service. One of them was Janet Murguia, who became deputy director of legislative affairs in the Clinton White House and who is now president of the National Council of La Raza, which calls itself the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy group.

“He is a great leader and public servant,” Murguia said. “What has distinguished him in our community is that he has opened doors for so many of us on his way up.”

Many Latinos do not recognize the important role Richardson has played, in part because of his Anglo name and his political base in New Mexico -- far from the big Latino population centers in California, Texas and Florida.

But Murguia said there was little doubt that he was the most important Latino leader in the nation, adding that his withdrawal was a temporary disappointment.

“We have no reason to doubt Gov. Richardson when he says he has not acted improperly,” she said.

But his withdrawal could set back his foundation and its role in recruiting Latino voters and aspiring politicians.

Richardson formed the Moving America Forward Foundation before the 2004 elections, during which it said it registered 100,000 new Latino and Native American voters in five key states. The organization raised $1.7 million that year, according to its Form 990 nonprofit tax return. The organization was not required to identify contributors.

Its fundraising began to fall off, and in 2005 it reported receiving $50,000 in contributions. But its assets allowed it to continue playing a role: It spent $10,460 on lobbying in 2007 and another $50,000 on what it called Project New West.

The foundation, which operates out of Corrales, N.M., is headed by Ed Romero, former ambassador to Spain and the finance chairman for Richardson’s 2008 presidential run. Richardson does not hold an executive position, according to its 2007 tax return, but the group identified him as its founder in a 2004 news release.

Murguia said it was among a handful of the most important Latino organizations in the nation. “It is important for his vision and his legacy,” she said.

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ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com