The head of the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission is leaving that job to become the state’s elections director weeks before the Nov. 4 general election.
Jim Noel was hired late Friday by the secretary of state, the New Mexico Independent is reporting. The position has been vacant most of the year.
The elections director oversees elections and ethics issues including campaign-finance reporting.
Noel, who is the son-in-law of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Udall, has been executive director and general counsel for the Judicial Standards Commission since 2004. During that time, the commission has taken a more active role in policing the judiciary — a topic I took an in-depth look at in 2006.