Some New Mexico Democrats “wonder whether the governor portrayed in the national media is the same Susana Martinez they know. At the least, they paint a picture less rosy than the ones published outside the state extolling her bipartisan success,” the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

“There have been pieces of legislation that Martinez was able to pass with the cooperation of Democrats… But there also have been bruising legislative fights in which, Democrats say, Martinez has shown little if any willingness to compromise. And the harsh attack ads and mailers Martinez ran against some Democrats during the 2012 election still are fresh on the minds of lawmakers.”

“More than half of those surveyed in a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll say they approve of the job Brown is doing as governor — the highest rating since he retook the governor’s office in 2011. Yet only 32% say they are inclined to vote for Brown if he seeks an unprecedented fourth term as California’s chief executive next year.”

“Moreover, respondents give Brown little credit for what is widely considered as his signature achievement since returning to the governor’s office in 2011 — erasing a $26 billion state deficit. Only 38% say they approve of the way Brown has handled the issue; 47% disapprove.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R ) “dodged questions across the Sunday shows about his presidential aspirations, but left the door open to leaving his current position before his next four-year term is up,” The Hill reports.

Said Christie: “Listen. Who knows? I don’t know. I’m going to continue to do my job and finish the job, but everybody’s trying to figure out what life is going to bring you a few years from now. I didn’t expect to be sitting here four years ago, George. So nobody can make those predictions.”

Politico profiles Tom Steye, the California billionaire who pumped more than $8 million into Virginia’s gubernatorial race tp defeat Ken Cuccinelli (R).

“The sum is more than three times the investment that’s been previously reported, and it nearly matched what the Republican Governors Association, the largest GOP outside spender, put into the Virginia governor’s race. It is more money, on a per-vote basis, than the famously prolific conservative donors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson spent in the 2012 presidential election.”

Ron Fournier: “The election is three years away. It might as well be three decades away given the speed of modern culture. In 2005, three years before the Obama-McCain general election, USA Today published the result of a poll showing New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as the front-runner for the 2008 GOP nomination.”

“Among Democrats, Clinton lapped the pack with 40 percent support. She led both Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards, the 2004 ticket. Obama was not even mentioned. That raises the question: Who is the 2016 dark horse?”

Noam Scheiber speculates that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) might challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination if even it’s an uphill fight.

“All of which is to say, if Hillary Clinton runs and retains her ties to Wall Street, Warren will be more likely to join the race, not less. Warren is shrewd enough to understand that the future of the Democratic Party is at stake in 2016. At 64, she knows that if Hillary wins and populates yet another administration with heirs to Robert Rubin, it will be at least eight years before there’s another chance to reclaim the party.”

Said one former Warren aide: “Yeah, Hillary is running. And she’ll probably win. But Elizabeth doesn’t care about winning. She doesn’t care whose turn it is.”

“The 2013 elections amounted to a nightmare scenario for Republicans who had hoped the results might provide some resolution to their ongoing intraparty squabble,” Chris Cillizza writes.

“The end result is that both sides of the GOP argument live to fight another day, each emboldened by the election in their own way. That ‘next day’ will be in a series of Republican Senate primaries over the first seven months of 2014.”

“The first — and most telling — will be in Kentucky, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell faces wealthy businessman Matt Bevin in May… Then come two critical summer primaries: one in Mississippi and one in Georgia.”

In an interview on ABC News, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) brushed off criticism reported in the new book Double Down from a member of Mitt Romney’s 2012 vice presidential vetting team, saying his advice was not something he should “give a darn about.”

Said Christie: “First off, political advice from people who ran the Romney campaign is probably something nobody should really give a darn about, so let’s start with that.”

He added: “I’ll take Mitt Romney’s interpretation of all this, rather than some,
you know, paid political consultant who was, you know, trying to make
himself famous obviously in the book.”

“A dominant re-election victory in hand, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is pursuing a path to bolster his resume as a get-it-done Republican leader and to broaden a national network of political allies,” the AP reports.

“This aggressive course is designed to strengthen his appeal as he considers whether to run for president in 2016… Christie’s advisers suggest he has a one-year window to stack up more accomplishments before lame-duck status — and a prospective White House campaign — interfere.”

“Business leaders are plotting to take down Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) as part of a broader effort to punish lawmakers over the government shutdown,” The Hill reports.

Prominent Michigan donors are requesting financial backing for Amash’s primary challenger, Brian Ellis (R), arguing that Amash “and others have effectively nullified the Republican majority in the U.S. House.”