Secretary of State Mary Herrera
The state’s former elections director accused Secretary of State Mary Herrera in his resignation letter of violating the Governmental Conduct Act and election laws. And A.J. Salazar says he’s turned his allegations over to the attorney general, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting.
Salazar accuses Herrera of “soliciting money from firms that contract with her office and ordering ‘exempt’ employees to obtain petition signatures for her re-election campaign,” according to the Journal.
Salazar, a former deputy district attorney, was quoted by the Journal as saying he “has never worked in such a crooked organization.” Herrera was quoted as saying she has “done nothing wrong” and Salazar’s “unfounded allegations” are based on “twisted information.”
Salazar resigned Friday after 11 months on the job. Earlier this week, James Flores, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office, confirmed Salazar’s resignation, but when asked by NMPolitics.net if he could provide any additional information about the situation, Flores said the office had “no other information to offer at this time.”
The Journal article quotes extensively from Salazar’s resignation letter, which the news organization obtained. NMPolitics.net requested a copy of the letter – which is a public record – from the secretary of state’s office two days ago but has not yet heard back from Deputy Secretary of State Don Francisco Trujillo, that office’s records custodian.
Trujillo has until Friday to respond.
The letter, according to the Journal, states that, during Salazar’s time as elections director, “it has become abundantly clear to me as to why my predecessors have left the office.”
The position has been a revolving door in the Secretary of State’s Office. When he was hired, Salazar was the third person in eight months to take the job.
The allegations
Salazar wrote in his resignation letter, the Journal article states, that the secretary of state “insisted that we obtain ‘sponsorships’ or donations through targeted communications with firms or businesses with whom we contract” to help fund training events for county clerks.
Trujillo was quoted by the Journal as saying that, on Salazar’s advice, the office consulted a lawyer who advised against doing that.
Salazar also wrote in his letter that Herrera ordered exempts to each gather 1,000 signatures for her re-election campaign.
“Your administration engages in political activity in the office, during work hours,” the Journal quoted Salazar’s letter as stating. “This is completely inappropriate coming from any elected official – especially from the Chief Elections Officer of the State.”
Herrera was quoted by the Journal as saying a meeting was held “during the lunch hour” and some people volunteered to gather signatures, but Salazar told the Journal “nothing was ever voluntary. … We were ordered.”
“It happened with government resources, in a government office, regardless of time,” the Journal quoted him as saying.
Salazar was quoted by the Journal as saying that the Attorney General’s Office “has been made aware of these particular issues” and he will “cooperate with any subsequent investigation.” A spokesman for the AG would not comment except to say that, “If, in fact, allegations like that were to have come to our office, we certainly would look into that.”
Herrera, a Democrat, is being challenged in November by Republican and state Sen. Dianna Duran of Tularosa.