I had been ignoring the mud Vickie Perea was slinging at Mary Herrera in the secretary of state’s race, but it’s starting to stick.
Perea, the Republican candidate, started attacking Democrat Herrera several weeks ago after Herrera, the
If it’s true, that is an ethical lapse and a technical violation of state policy, but it was just one e-mail, so I let it go.
Then Perea sent a records request for a wide range of documents that would show whether Herrera has used the office’s resources for any other campaigning. The request is vast and the office is trying to run an election, so it’s not entirely unreasonable that, 39 days later, Herrera hasn’t yet been able to comply.
Still, the journalist in me says she should have provided the records by now.
Perea has also attacked the fact that many employees of Herrera’s office also work for her campaign. How could they be trusted to run a fair election when they have a stake in one of the races, Perea asked?
That was a valid point, so I began paying more attention to this issue. If Herrera wants voters to trust her to run elections, she should have the sense to go out of her way to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
Today, Perea made an allegation that could be damning. She claims to have in her hands a document that shows that Herrera had the government phone numbers of those in her office who also work for her campaign – including herself – blocked or altered for outgoing calls.
According to Perea’s campaign, they include Herrera’s deputy clerk, who is also her campaign treasurer, and her second deputy clerk, who lives at and helps operate Herrera’s campaign headquarters.
Perea’s campaign said in a news release that the document was leaked by “someone who expressed great concern for the procedure from within the Bernalillo County Clerk’s office.”
Perea said at a news conference today in
“In a conversation I had just this week with another county clerk, neither the county clerk nor I could understand why the activities of a government agency would ever be shielded, blocked, or manipulated by a public official,” Perea said. “It appears to me that things are happening on Mary Herrera’s watch that should really concern taxpayers in
I agree. It’s time for Herrera to answer to all these allegations. I left a phone message for Herrera. If she talks with me about this, you’ll know about it.
She should not be using
Update, 7 p.m.
Click here to read the e-mail exchange that, if the document is real, shows the clerk’s office had phone numbers blocked and changed. Click here to read the Perea campaign’s take on it.