EDITORIALS.(Opinion)

The Tribune recommends

First in a series.

The Tribune today begins publishing its endorsements in the June 2 primary elections. We are recommending only in contested races affecting Albuquerque-area voters.

Supreme Court Democrats -- Dan A. McKinnon III

McKinnon has served on the state Supreme Court since his latest appointment there in April 1997. (He served on the court briefly before that, too, from July through December 1996.) By all accounts, he is taking the job seriously, working hard and issuing thoughtful opinions. For one example, he voted with the other justices against Republican Gov. Gary Johnson on welfare reform, ruling that the governor couldn't veto the Legislature's welfare act and then write his own without legislative approval. This, though Johnson had appointed McKinnon (a Democrat) to the seat and though McKinnon had worked for Johnson's construction company. McKinnon had been a lawyer in private practice in Albuquerque for three decades before becoming a justice. …