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More news reports indicate trouble in Herrera’s office

By │ 9/03/10, 11:25 am │

Secretary of State Mary Herrera

Two new media reports indicate trouble in Secretary of State Mary Herrera’s office, with one quoting former employees about the issues in her office and the other citing e-mails that indicate that some office employees were being paid by taxpayers while they worked on Herrera’s campaign.

The Rio Grande Sun came out with the report about the e-mails. From the article:

“A New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office administrator scrutinized fellow employees for campaigning on state time and complained of apparent political favoritism before he turned over information to federal investigators last month, according to documents obtained by the SUN.

“Office email shows Administrator Manny Vildasol caught resistance from other staff in April as he verified Office employees were on the clock while they prepared for Secretary of State Mary Herrera’s past campaign events. He also complained in later emails that the Office’s formal inquiries into election law violations were handled out of order, giving the appearance that certain cases were given priority for political reasons.”

Read more here.

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KUNM radio in Albuquerque has the other report. From KUNM’s Jim Williams:

“As KUNM has reported previously, some former Secretary’s office employees say they left because of mismanagement and a lack of professionalism in the office. In recent weeks, some of those former employees have come forward with specifics. But first: this story is as much about the people who would not speak on the record as those who would. I spent countless hours on the phone and in person with well over a dozen current and former employees of the Secretary of State’s office. Each spoke at length of cronyism, incompetence, and humiliation, and each was overwhelmingly certain there would be retaliation if they spoke out. But that didn’t stop some of them.”

Read or listen to the story here.

Herrera’s problems appear to be turning into an avalanche. In the monthly NMPolitics.net that went out to qualifying donors on Tuesday, I moved the race between Herrera, the Democrat, and Republican Dianna Duran from leaning in Herrera’s direction to being a toss-up. I’m considering ranking the race as leaning in Duran’s favor when the next newsletter goes out on Sept. 30. What do you think?

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5 comments so far. Scroll down to submit your own comment.

  1. wedum59
    September 4, 2010 • 11:52 pm

    As a candidate in 2006, 2008, and 2010, all I can say is that under Vigil-Giron (whom I nicknamed “Vigil-GROAN,” the SOS office was a mess. I would call to ask questions about how to fill out my forms and would leave a message and NEVER get a call back.

    I think that Herrera is still trying to get rid of the deadwood (or rottenwood) from the V-G era, and they (ALL Democrats) are fighting back by slandering her.

    What nuts. Do they think that a Republican (Dianna Duran) is going to hire them back?

    Herrera has introduced improved campaign finance reporting software that makes it easier to file. She has a kid’s page. And HER photo is a small one, in the upper right hand corner of the home page. V-G had a HUGE photo of herself in the middle of the home page.

    Cleaning up corruption includes fighting off the attacks of the beneficiaries of the corruption. That is what I think is going on here.

  2. Dr. J
    September 4, 2010 • 7:32 am

    Exactly source and ched. We had another prosecutor who refused to prosecute and diddled while corruption spread and compounded, and Iglesias was fired. Time to do the same with King.

  3. Caren
    September 4, 2010 • 7:17 am

    How many times have we been embarrassed by corruption in our State officials even in the highest offices? As a Senator since 1993, Dianna Duran has a proven record of honesty and intelligence. She has exemplified what public service means. New Mexico needs a Secretary of State who will bring these qualities to our elections process and honor back to our State.

  4. ched macquigg
    September 3, 2010 • 11:11 pm

    How bad must the truth be, for King to say he has no intention of speeding this up to finish before the election? How bad must things be, when as arrogant a position as that, is better than voters knowing the truth before balloting begins?

    I hope voters take him up on his offer and vote for his opponent.

  5. source1
    September 3, 2010 • 4:32 pm

    In this same article, from the Rio Grande Sun, Gary King said, “If voters think I’m not pursuing this aggressively enough, they can vote for my opponent.” Thanks Gary we will do just that and vote for Matt Chandler.

    The portion of the article about Gary not doing his job reads…

    AG Lax in Investigation

    Besides accusations against Herrera, Martin has also accused state Attorney General Gary King of neglecting to properly investigate allegations against Herrera, including those made by Salazar more than six months ago. Both King and Herrera are Democrats, and both are up for re-election this year.

    Martin said Salazar was interviewed after he resigned by attorneys at the Attorney General’s Office, but nothing had been communicated to Salazar since about the investigation. He did say Flores was contacted by King’s office about the allegations, but not until Monday.

    King confirmed Monday his office has indeed opened an investigation into Salazar’s claims about wrongdoing in the Secretary of State’s office. But King was quick to emphasize that just because an investigation has begun does not mean Herrera has done anything illegal.

    Instead, he said the investigation will proceed as normal, and there will be no time line imposed because of the November general election in which both King and Herrera are seeking re-election.

    “If voters think I’m not pursuing this aggressively enough, they can vote for my opponent,” King said. “That’s how our system works.”

    Rank-and-file lawyers and investigators in the Attorney General’s office often aren’t replaced with a change in administration, so the investigators working on the Herrera case won’t be influenced by politics, according to King.

    Even if investigators hand over to King what they say is a complete case file, it’s not uncommon for King or other attorneys working on the case to raise further questions that require further investigation, King said.

    “People watch ‘CSI’ on TV and think you can solve a case in one hour,” King said. “That’s just not the case.”

    In one of the only public comments Herrera has made about the issues, she said the accusations were completely false and politically motivated. At a press conference Aug. 25 she was reported in the Albuquerque Journal and the Santa Fe New Mexican as saying the allegations were “thrown at the press like red meat in an election year.”

    When asked if he was involved in any campaigning against Herrera or King, Martin responded: “If reporting corruption of a government figure such as Mary and Don Francisco and raising hell about an Attorney General that has not done anything except conduct an investigation and nothing else — if that is campaigning for their opponents, then I guess we’ve done a lot of campaigning.”

    Like it or not, Gary and Mary are tied together in this one, and the ship is sinking.

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