[Travis McGee]

It sounds like there are the seeds here for a decent "Kosovo" style war, or at least a novel.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Two interesting NM stats emerged last week (while Richardson was stealing the permanent fund election): 46% of all births in the state are to "single" moms (mostly young) and Rio Arriba has the highest heroin overdose rate in the nation (by 5X). The first one could relate to the intelligence of the electorate in your story and willingness for going along, and also the supply of "foot soldiers" like the young Khmer Rouge. The second that there's a old boy narco network in the northern part of the state thats pretty invisible.