Add State Rep. James Roger Madalena to the list of New Mexico elected officials whose campaign finance reports are under scrutiny.
Courtesy photo
James Roger Madalena
The Secretary Of State’s Office is inspecting Madalena’s 2014 finance reports. They include spending on “surgery expenses, attire from a Nike factory store and to help a ‘needy family’ in his legislative district,” the Albuquerque Journal is reporting.
Madalena, D-Jemez Pueblo, also reported more than $1,000 in cash disbursements last year “to pay for unspecified campaign expenses,” the Journal reported.
Here’s more from the newspaper:
The state’s Campaign Reporting Act, which governs the use of political contributions, says campaign funds can be used for campaign-related expenditures and expenses “reasonably related” to the duties of office.
It also limits the size of campaign account disbursements payable to “cash,” rather than an individual or entity, to no more than $100.
More specific state campaign reporting rules stipulate that clothing, massages, medical treatments for a candidate or any other person are not considered to be campaign expenditures.
Madalena was quoted by the Journal as saying “clerical errors and honest mistakes in my reports have been brought to my attention. I am currently working on amending these reports in a timely manner.”
He said others, including Republican Rep. Andy Nuñez of Hatch, have problems in their reports, and called for modernizing the state’s campaign reporting system to one that “could identify clerical errors and honest mistakes and prevent potential misuse of campaign funds.”
Madalena, who has served in the N.M. House of Representatives since 1985, is the latest elected official to come under scrutiny for questions about campaign finance reports.
Secretary of State Dianna Duran, whose office is responsible for the campaign reporting system, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges related to abusing that system.
And last week Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, admitted to failing to report more than $11,000 in contributions in 2014. He has filed amended reports.