BREAKING NEWS: High court rejects GOP lawsuit

Justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court have unanimously denied the Republican Party’s challenge to several recent election decisions made by the secretary of state’s office.

The high court announced its decision shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“The ballot remains as it is,” said Sam Thompson, spokeswoman for Attorney General Patricia Madrid.

The Republican Party filed the lawsuit Sept. 27 against Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Madrid, whose office advises Vigil-Giron.

At issue was the secretary of state allowing Democrats to place Hector Balderas on the ballot for state auditor and denying Republican attempts to place Roger Gonzales of Mora on the ballot for Balderas’ House seat and Barbara V. Johnson of Albuquerque on the ballot for a district judgeship in Albuquerque.

“We had always felt that the Republican Party’s lawsuit was without merit, and the Supreme Court affirmed that,” said Secretary of State spokesman Ray Baray. “We will continue with the election process.”

Nina Martinez, state Republican Party secretary, was disappointed.

“They deferred to the secretary of state and accepted a press statement from Bill Richardson as a withdrawal,” she said. “Press statements now constitute withdrawals in New Mexico.”

The Democrats’ original candidate for state auditor, Jeff Armijo, announced that he would drop out of the race in late August because of allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward a campaign volunteer. Though he claims the allegations are false, Gov. Bill Richardson pressured him to drop out.

Armijo changed his mind before the deadline to officially withdraw and announced he would not file the signed, notarized withdrawal letter that had typically been required by the secretary of state’s office. The governor’s office and Democratic Party argued that Armijo’s prior public statements and actions constituted a withdrawal, and the secretary of state took his name off the ballot after Richardson’s office provided the secretary of state with Armijo’s press statement.

Armijo and his party sued each other in an attempt to resolve the issue, but Armijo gave up the fight before a court hearing. The Republican Party then filed its lawsuit.

Martinez said Vigil-Giron has changed precedent to accommodate the Democrats but is “nitpicky” with every detail of Republican attempts to get on the ballot, and said it was wrong of the justices to back Vigil-Giron.

“Now we’re appealing to voters,” Martinez said. “It’s just blatantly unfair. I think the average person out there will see that. … The Democratic Party has controlled state government for 75 years. This is the result.”