Dennis W. Montoya
The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the secretary of state’s denial of Democrat Dennis W. Montoya’s application for public financing today.
Meanwhile, the appeals judge Montoya is seeking to unseat in the Democratic primary, Linda Vanzi, came out with her third mailer attacking him.
In March, the secretary of state said Montoya exceeded the $5,000 limit on what publicly financed candidates can contribute to their own campaigns and rejected his application. Today, the Supreme Court agreed.
“Other candidates have successfully applied for public financing,” Sandra Wechsler, Vanzi’s campaign manager, said in a news release following the high court’s decision. “We believe that all candidates need to play by the same set of rules and Mr. Montoya broke those rules. The law is very clear about what you need to do to qualify for public financing.”
Montoya didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment about the court’s decision.
Meanwhile, Vanzi has sent out her third negative mailer about Montoya, who the state disciplinary board has asked the Supreme Court to immediately suspend because of multiple complaints. The board has formally accused Montoya of misconduct including fraud, deceit, lying to the court, having a conflict of interest, failing to adequately represent a client and failing to adequately account for and distinguish client funds from his own.
“Looks like Dennis Montoya’s record of lying, deceit, and fraud is finally catching up to him,” the mailer states.
Montoya has called the allegations against him baseless and tossed his own accusations at Vanzi.