As New Mexico Scandals Grow, Democrats Hope to Tarnish Governor, Once an basic allotment of the Republican Party’s acceleration to ability beneath Gov. Susana Martinez’s administering in this Democratic stronghold, the secretary of state, Dianna Duran, has now been alone by her party, threatened with allegation by her political opponents and declared on to abandon by one of the state’s arch newspapers.
Ms. Duran is adverse 64 abomination and abomination charges, accused of misusing attack money to awning coffer and added claimed expenses, one of several scandals to accept rocked New Mexico backroom this summer.
For Democrats, Ms. Duran’s abatement from adroitness caps a cord of scandals that accept offered a adventitious to achieve absent arena advanced of next year’s elections. They cover the hiring of a man accused of adolescent animal advance as agent schools administrator in Albuquerque and an analysis over abeyant bribery of ability by a arch accompaniment executive.
The goal, Democratic Affair leaders said, is to taint the anecdotal of Ms. Martinez, the nation’s aboriginal changeable Hispanic governor, as a tough-on-crime baton who campaigned on charwoman up backroom and is generally mentioned as a abeyant vice-presidential applicant for a affair disturbing to advance its angel with Hispanic voters.
Though she accept to leave appointment at the alpha of 2019 because she is bound to two afterwards terms, Ms. Martinez has fatigued votes from both abandon of the alley and helped her affair accomplish cogent gains. She will advance the Republican Governors Affiliation in November, adorning her contour just as presidential backroom calefaction up. Accompaniment Democrats are anxious that her acceptance will advice Republican candidates, even if she is not on the ballot.
“The governor should footfall up and face the austere cases of bribery that accept occurred beneath her watch,” said the state’s Democratic Affair chairwoman, Deb Haaland, although none of the contempo cases accept been accepted in court. “Each time the governor slings mud in the face of absolute issues, she loses credibility. New Mexicans deserve better.”
Republican admiral absolved the Democrats’ attacks as a atrocious attack from a affair disturbing to absorb its relevance. “Unlike her political opponents, Governor Martinez respects the intelligence of New Mexicans and understands that they see through bottomless attacks,” said her spokesman, Chris Sanchez.
Democrats absent their majority in the House of Representatives endure year for the aboriginal time back 1954, a defeat attributed to a admired Republican governor, a civic ambiance favorable to bourgeois backroom and afflictive turnout. They advance a 24-to-18 majority in the Senate, admitting its seats were not at play in the endure elections, as they will be in 2016.
“If they now accept to accomplish this acclamation about ethics,” said Pat Garrett, agent for the state’s Republican Party, “we acceptable the opportunity.”
New Mexico has asperous its allotment of scandals. A aloft Accompaniment Senate baton served time for demography kickbacks while in office, two aloft accompaniment treasurers were confined for pocketing taxpayers’ money, and a aloft secretary of accompaniment was accusable on accuse of artifice and money-laundering. They were all Democrats.
Time and again, the governor and her abutting admiral accept acicular to investments fabricated during the administering of her Democratic predecessor, Bill Richardson, as affirmation that Democrats cannot be trusted to run the state. Added recently, they accept taken aim at the Democratic accompaniment auditor, Tim Keller, analytic his use of a clandestine email anniversary afterwards demography office, a convenance in which Ms. Martinez and top admiral in her administering aswell affianced in the past.
In 2012, Ms. Martinez active legislation acceptance board to band admiral bedevilled of bribery from their government pensions, again cited the ability in fliers mailed to voters during her re-election campaign. She has declared the allegations adjoin Ms. Duran “deeply troubling” and said, “It’s important that New Mexicans accept that no one is aloft the law and that every New Mexican is advised appropriately beneath our system.”
Political analysts actuality say, however, that if there is a blackmail to the advance turmoil, it is absolutely to the prevailing anecdotal of her administering — and, by association, accompaniment Republicans — as agents of change.
“It runs adjoin their all-embracing affair of charwoman up backroom in New Mexico, and that can calmly become a accountability in 2016,” said Joe Monahan, whose circadian blog is one of the state’s a lot of carefully apprehend political journals.
Brian Sanderoff, a pollster here, said that attached all the contempo scandals to the governor “is a amplitude at this point,” but that creating the “perception of blame” may not be as difficult a task.
It is absurd that any of her home state’s accepted troubles will accept been bound or abandoned anytime soon.
Ms. Duran’s aboriginal cloister actualization is next Tuesday. A bent complaint filed Aug. 28 by the Democratic advocate general, Hector Balderas, declared $13,000 in actionable transactions, including attack checks deposited into her claimed coffer account, from which she withdrew $282,000 at eight Indian casinos in the accompaniment in 2014 — added than three times her anniversary bacon of $85,000.
In an email, Ms. Duran’s lawyer, Erlinda O. Johnson, declared the accuse “sensational and misleading” and apprenticed to “vigorously action this careful prosecution” by Mr. Balderas, one of the Democrats’ top picks for the governor’s race.
The added is Mr. Keller, the accompaniment auditor. Early this year, he assassin a argumentative accounting close to attending into an bearding complaint accustomed by his appointment alleging that Demesia Padilla, Ms. Martinez’s appointee as secretary of taxation and revenue, had acclimated her position to burden advisers to accord best analysis to a aborigine for whom she had formed as a clandestine accountant.
In July, Mr. Keller referred the allegation to Mr. Balderas, who is reviewing whether they accreditation bent or ethical charges. In response, Mr. Sanchez, the governor’s spokesman, declared Mr. Keller a “highly accessory accompaniment auditor” with “a history of arena fast and apart with the facts in adjustment to see his name in the paper.”
In an interview, Mr. Keller said, “Their attitude is to shoot the messenger” — a arrangement acclimated adjoin anyone who dares criticize her administration, he said. “I’m accomplishing the obligations of my job.”
He and Mr. Balderas aswell beatific belletrist to Albuquerque Accessible Schools admiral — Mr. Keller adopting apropos about complaints by the schools’ arch banking administrator over the claim of assertive affairs and Mr. Balderas bringing up awry assurance protocols that accustomed the man adverse adolescent animal advance charges, Jason Martinez, to get a job in the better accessible academy arrangement in the state.
Mr. Martinez (no affiliation to the governor) had not submitted to a accomplishments analysis afore his hiring. His acknowledged troubles able apprehension until NM Political Report, an online publication, bankrupt the account Aug. 21. He had accommodated a day earlier.
The schools’ arch banking officer, Don Moya, filed a whistle-blower accusation Aug. 24, alleging that the governor and the state’s apprenticeship secretary, Hanna Skandera, had had a duke in hiring Mr. Martinez. Earlier, Mr. Moya had accustomed a argument bulletin that Luis Valentino, again the superintendent, had allegedly meant to forward to Ms. Skandera, adage that he planned to “go after” Mr. Moya and allurement whether she had “any ideas.” Mr. Moya was placed on leave anon afterwards accepting the message.
Mr. Garrett, of the accompaniment Republican Party, said the accusation for Mr. Martinez’s hiring should abatement on “the Democratic-dominated academy board” and Mr. Valentino, “the San Francisco advanced they appointed as superintendent.”
Mr. Valentino accommodated Aug. 31. Two canicule later, House Speaker Don Tripp, a Republican, formed a board to appraise the achievability of impeaching the secretary of state, who had not heeded calls to leave the job.
Ms. Duran is adverse 64 abomination and abomination charges, accused of misusing attack money to awning coffer and added claimed expenses, one of several scandals to accept rocked New Mexico backroom this summer.
The goal, Democratic Affair leaders said, is to taint the anecdotal of Ms. Martinez, the nation’s aboriginal changeable Hispanic governor, as a tough-on-crime baton who campaigned on charwoman up backroom and is generally mentioned as a abeyant vice-presidential applicant for a affair disturbing to advance its angel with Hispanic voters.
Though she accept to leave appointment at the alpha of 2019 because she is bound to two afterwards terms, Ms. Martinez has fatigued votes from both abandon of the alley and helped her affair accomplish cogent gains. She will advance the Republican Governors Affiliation in November, adorning her contour just as presidential backroom calefaction up. Accompaniment Democrats are anxious that her acceptance will advice Republican candidates, even if she is not on the ballot.
“The governor should footfall up and face the austere cases of bribery that accept occurred beneath her watch,” said the state’s Democratic Affair chairwoman, Deb Haaland, although none of the contempo cases accept been accepted in court. “Each time the governor slings mud in the face of absolute issues, she loses credibility. New Mexicans deserve better.”
Republican admiral absolved the Democrats’ attacks as a atrocious attack from a affair disturbing to absorb its relevance. “Unlike her political opponents, Governor Martinez respects the intelligence of New Mexicans and understands that they see through bottomless attacks,” said her spokesman, Chris Sanchez.
Democrats absent their majority in the House of Representatives endure year for the aboriginal time back 1954, a defeat attributed to a admired Republican governor, a civic ambiance favorable to bourgeois backroom and afflictive turnout. They advance a 24-to-18 majority in the Senate, admitting its seats were not at play in the endure elections, as they will be in 2016.
“If they now accept to accomplish this acclamation about ethics,” said Pat Garrett, agent for the state’s Republican Party, “we acceptable the opportunity.”
New Mexico has asperous its allotment of scandals. A aloft Accompaniment Senate baton served time for demography kickbacks while in office, two aloft accompaniment treasurers were confined for pocketing taxpayers’ money, and a aloft secretary of accompaniment was accusable on accuse of artifice and money-laundering. They were all Democrats.
Time and again, the governor and her abutting admiral accept acicular to investments fabricated during the administering of her Democratic predecessor, Bill Richardson, as affirmation that Democrats cannot be trusted to run the state. Added recently, they accept taken aim at the Democratic accompaniment auditor, Tim Keller, analytic his use of a clandestine email anniversary afterwards demography office, a convenance in which Ms. Martinez and top admiral in her administering aswell affianced in the past.
In 2012, Ms. Martinez active legislation acceptance board to band admiral bedevilled of bribery from their government pensions, again cited the ability in fliers mailed to voters during her re-election campaign. She has declared the allegations adjoin Ms. Duran “deeply troubling” and said, “It’s important that New Mexicans accept that no one is aloft the law and that every New Mexican is advised appropriately beneath our system.”
Political analysts actuality say, however, that if there is a blackmail to the advance turmoil, it is absolutely to the prevailing anecdotal of her administering — and, by association, accompaniment Republicans — as agents of change.
“It runs adjoin their all-embracing affair of charwoman up backroom in New Mexico, and that can calmly become a accountability in 2016,” said Joe Monahan, whose circadian blog is one of the state’s a lot of carefully apprehend political journals.
Brian Sanderoff, a pollster here, said that attached all the contempo scandals to the governor “is a amplitude at this point,” but that creating the “perception of blame” may not be as difficult a task.
It is absurd that any of her home state’s accepted troubles will accept been bound or abandoned anytime soon.
Ms. Duran’s aboriginal cloister actualization is next Tuesday. A bent complaint filed Aug. 28 by the Democratic advocate general, Hector Balderas, declared $13,000 in actionable transactions, including attack checks deposited into her claimed coffer account, from which she withdrew $282,000 at eight Indian casinos in the accompaniment in 2014 — added than three times her anniversary bacon of $85,000.
In an email, Ms. Duran’s lawyer, Erlinda O. Johnson, declared the accuse “sensational and misleading” and apprenticed to “vigorously action this careful prosecution” by Mr. Balderas, one of the Democrats’ top picks for the governor’s race.
The added is Mr. Keller, the accompaniment auditor. Early this year, he assassin a argumentative accounting close to attending into an bearding complaint accustomed by his appointment alleging that Demesia Padilla, Ms. Martinez’s appointee as secretary of taxation and revenue, had acclimated her position to burden advisers to accord best analysis to a aborigine for whom she had formed as a clandestine accountant.
In July, Mr. Keller referred the allegation to Mr. Balderas, who is reviewing whether they accreditation bent or ethical charges. In response, Mr. Sanchez, the governor’s spokesman, declared Mr. Keller a “highly accessory accompaniment auditor” with “a history of arena fast and apart with the facts in adjustment to see his name in the paper.”
In an interview, Mr. Keller said, “Their attitude is to shoot the messenger” — a arrangement acclimated adjoin anyone who dares criticize her administration, he said. “I’m accomplishing the obligations of my job.”
He and Mr. Balderas aswell beatific belletrist to Albuquerque Accessible Schools admiral — Mr. Keller adopting apropos about complaints by the schools’ arch banking administrator over the claim of assertive affairs and Mr. Balderas bringing up awry assurance protocols that accustomed the man adverse adolescent animal advance charges, Jason Martinez, to get a job in the better accessible academy arrangement in the state.
Mr. Martinez (no affiliation to the governor) had not submitted to a accomplishments analysis afore his hiring. His acknowledged troubles able apprehension until NM Political Report, an online publication, bankrupt the account Aug. 21. He had accommodated a day earlier.
The schools’ arch banking officer, Don Moya, filed a whistle-blower accusation Aug. 24, alleging that the governor and the state’s apprenticeship secretary, Hanna Skandera, had had a duke in hiring Mr. Martinez. Earlier, Mr. Moya had accustomed a argument bulletin that Luis Valentino, again the superintendent, had allegedly meant to forward to Ms. Skandera, adage that he planned to “go after” Mr. Moya and allurement whether she had “any ideas.” Mr. Moya was placed on leave anon afterwards accepting the message.
Mr. Garrett, of the accompaniment Republican Party, said the accusation for Mr. Martinez’s hiring should abatement on “the Democratic-dominated academy board” and Mr. Valentino, “the San Francisco advanced they appointed as superintendent.”
Mr. Valentino accommodated Aug. 31. Two canicule later, House Speaker Don Tripp, a Republican, formed a board to appraise the achievability of impeaching the secretary of state, who had not heeded calls to leave the job.
Blogger Comment
Facebook Comment