Marty Chavez is a strange man. I find it hard to see him as a "centrist" when he sounded like a left-wing kook when he ran for Governor against Gary Johnson in '98. My liberal relatives who live in Albuquerque described Chavez as almost right-wing, which gave me a chuckle.
How are you seeing the NM GOP's ability to win any of the other downballot statewide offices ? I think it's appalling that they've failed to make a strong bid for these offices. You'd think the Michael Montoya-Robert Vigil scandals would serve as a wake-up call.
I tend to agree with your opinion on the down-ballot races, that the GOP is missing good opportunities, not to mention their usual lousy showing against Bingaman. But with Richardson winning easily up-ballot this year, it might be tougher than it looks anyways to translate down-ballot.
Anyway, my real expertise is mainly with Texas politics. I really only follow NM politics as a side-sport, especially since I know someone who's well-versed in the state and I find it a fascinating state politically.
And of course, since the topic of NM-1 came up in this thread...
In New Mexico, Republicans have a shot at winning state Attorney General and Secretary of State.
In the Secretary of State, the GOP nominee is Albuquerque City Councilwoman Vickie Perea, a recent party-switcher.
In the Attorney General race, the likely GOP nominee is former Albuquerque District Attorney Bob Schwarz (unfortunately, he may be a RINO).
The race for state Auditor is still taking shape.