Errol Chavez
After putting 53,000 miles on his truck campaigning for commissioner of public lands, Republican Errol Chavez is switching races and will run for state auditor instead.
Chavez, 60, said in an interview that he was recruited to run for auditor by Republican State Party Chairman Harvey Yates because of his 36 years in law enforcement and his “ability to stop corruption in the state of New Mexico.”
The retired DEA agent, who lives in Las Cruces, said if he’s elected he will implement a priority targeting system, which he learned in classes at the U .S. Army War College and used to root out criminals when he was assigned to manage High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDA).
For now, Chavez is the only Republican vying for the auditor’s office. His campaign Web site has been removed while it is being redesigned for the new campaign.
James Flores, a spokesman at the Secretary of State’s office, said because Chavez is switching races he will have to collect a new round of qualifying petition signatures. Those he collected for the land commissioner’s campaign are not transferable.
Chavez, who grew up in Española, spent 31 years with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration before moving to Las Cruces in 2004 to be director of the HIDA program for the state. The program seeks to improve efforts by local, state and federal officials to stop drug trafficking through coordination and providing equipment, technology and other resources.
As auditor, Chavez said he wants to “save the money the state is losing by going after people who are corrupt.”
“We’ve seen case after case recently of how people have gotten away with the crime because no one checked on them. And if they did check on them they couldn’t identify what was going on,” Chavez said. “I’m going to come in and I can evaluate the information that is there. I can develop a case and I know how to prepare a case for a prosecution. An effective prosecution means a success and that’s the direction that I’m going.”
He said people who are corrupt should be fearful of being caught and prosecuted. Corruption in New Mexico he said “has become an acceptable practice. I want to stop that practice.”
Chavez wants financial disclosure reports to be required from both public officials and state employees.
“As a federal agent I had to routinely submit my financial disclosure reports to the attorney general’s office for review,” Chavez said. “We were monitored on the amount of money we made aside from our salaries and questioned every time there was a significant increase in our bank accounts. I think state employees should do the same thing.”
Criticizing the incumbent
Chavez didn’t waste anytime criticizing incumbent Auditor Hector Balderas, who is running for re-election.
“From my perspective there is a lot that could have been done that was not done, and that includes the State Investment Council,” Chavez said. “We had to be told from another state that we had a problem. Where was the state auditor on this?”
Chavez said he is pleased the party urged him to switch races.
“I’m in my element,” he said.
At last check the Republican Party did not have a candidate for state treasurer or secretary of state, but five people are running for governor, four are campaigning for lieutenant governor, and now three men are vying for commissioner of public lands.
Note: We have audio from our interview with Chavez and will update this post shortly. Come back and hear why he disagrees with former Gov. Gary Johnson about the war on drugs.
St. Cyr is a contributing writer for this site and a reporter at 770KKOB.com. He can be reached at peter.stcyr@gmail.com.