New Mexico’s governor didn’t keep up the pace

When he became New Mexico’s governor in 2003, Bill Richardson — former Energy secretary, U.N. ambassador and freelance diplomat — vowed to shake up this sleepy state.

Richardson cut taxes and revamped energy regulations. He gave raises to teachers and driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. He legalized medical marijuana and suspended the death penalty.

In 2006, he won reelection by a 2-1 margin. Then he sought the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, leading many to think he could become the first Latino president or vice president.

FOR THE RECORD:
New Mexico governor: An article on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in the Dec. 30 Section A described a train that links Santa Fe and Albuquerque as a light rail. The train is a commuter rail. —

But now, Richardson’s approval rating is in the low 30s. His hand-picked successor, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, was trounced in November. Her Republican opponent tied her to the unpopular governor so often that Denish aired an ad noting that Richardson was not on the ballot. And as Richardson cleared out his office last week, the most momentous decision left for this onetime giant on the national stage was whether to issue a posthumous pardon to Billy the Kid.

“It’s been like one of those elevators where they cut the cord from the 60th floor,” said Joe Monahan, a respected New Mexico political blogger who carefully tracked Richardson’s career. “Second terms are rough.”

Richardson is one of a long line of elected officials — think California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — who came in with a bang only to exit with a whimper, laid low by the economy.

Richardson also was wounded by a federal investigation into whether a financial services firm donated to his political committees to win a bond contract. No charges were filed against him or his staff, but the controversy tarnished his image.

In an interview in his now-bare office shortly after returning from an unofficial diplomatic foray to North Korea, Richardson said he would stay in New Mexico and start a nonprofit institute for international peacekeeping.

Richardson allowed that his relentless style might have worn out the public.

“People get tired of politicians,” he said. “I’ve been around eight years.”

Born in Pasadena, Richardson is named after his father, an investment banker who married a member of Mexico City’s elite while working there. Richardson grew up partly in Mexico and partly in New England. In 1980, he ran for a seat in Congress representing northern New Mexico and lost, but won two years later.

In the 1990s, Richardson caught the eye of President Clinton, who tapped him to travel to Iraq and negotiate the release of two American aerospace workers held by Saddam Hussein. He also went to North Korea, where he secured the release of an American. Clinton then appointed Richardson ambassador to the United Nations, and later secretary of Energy.

When Clinton left office in 2000, Richardson turned his ambitions toward the governorship, winning easily.

“A lot of things happened. He was good at making things happen,” said Lonna Atkeson, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico. “He was willing to take positions on issues — some of them controversial. He would sometimes punish people, it seemed, if they didn’t take his side.”

Richardson made little secret that he wanted to run for president. But in 2008, “the people wanted Obama,” Richardson said. “They wanted inspiration, not resume.”

When the governor finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, he withdrew and endorsed Obama — a shock, given Richardson’s long association with the Clintons.

President Obama tapped him as Commerce secretary, but later asked Richardson to take himself out of the running after the administration learned more about the federal investigation into New Mexico’s bond deals.

A federal grand jury was investigating whether laws were broken when New Mexico gave California-based financial services firm CDR a $1.4-million contract shortly after the firm and its top executive donated $110,000 to several of Richardson’s political committees. No charges were filed against Richardson or his staff, but CDR executives were indicted last year for alleged pay-to-play violations in other states.

“It was just politically motivated charges that went nowhere, but when they’re broadcast, they stick in the public’s mind,” Richardson said in the interview.

And as New Mexico’s economy foundered, Richardson was stuck in the state Capitol. At the end of summer, a poll put the termed-out governor’s popularity at 33%.

Republican Susana Martinez won the governorship by 7 percentage points. Observers expect her and the state GOP to try to reverse some of Richardson’s initiatives, such as driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.

Richardson, however, said he expected his legacy to survive because Democrats still controlled the Legislature. He ticked off a list of achievements, including sometimes quixotic efforts to revive the perennially impoverished state — a muscular film program, a light-rail line linking Albuquerque and Santa Fe, a state-funded spaceport to launch tourists into orbit.

“Was I hyperactive?” Richardson said. “Yes. Did I try to do too much? No. There was a lot to do.”

nicholas.riccardi@latimes.com