![\"Nora](\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Espinoza-Nora.jpg\")
Courtesy photo<\/p>
Nora Espinoza<\/p><\/div>\n
Republicans have been\u00a0under pressure in recent days as their party has split over whether to support Trump. In a\u00a02005 video<\/a>\u00a0released Friday, Trump\u00a0talks about trying unsuccessfully to have sex with a married woman and claims to kiss and grab women \u201cby the pussy\u201d without their consent.<\/p>\n Some, including Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a>, have said they won\u2019t support Trump. Others, including U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a> and\u00a0state GOP Chairwoman Debbie Maestas<\/a>, have reaffirmed their support for Trump. The same division is playing out across the nation.<\/p>\n Espinoza’s campaign manager told NMPolitics.net Saturday that the candidate is focused on her own race<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her\u00a0opponent in the secretary of state’s, Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver, accused Espinoza on Tuesday of not being honest with New Mexicans and released a television ad<\/a> seeking to tie Espinoza to Trump. The ad called Espinoza “too extreme for New Mexico.”<\/p>\n Espinoza’s news release pointed out that, while she attended a rally with Trump\u2019s running mate Mike Pence in Albuquerque\u00a0in August,<\/a>\u00a0she didn\u2019t mention Trump or the presidential race during her speech.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is my obligation and duty in situations like that,” Espinoza said. “To speak\u00a0about any other candidate would betray the role of the office.\u201d She added that she will speak at any rally she’s invited to but will only campaign for herself.<\/p>\n Espinoza\u00a0criticized Oliver for\u00a0campaigning for<\/a> Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n \u201cBy politicizing the office, Toulouse-Oliver confirms the key difference between her\u00a0candidacy and mine.\u00a0I see the office as purely administrative \u2014 the\u00a0chief vote counter of the state,” Espinoza said.<\/p>\n She claimed that Oliver “is openly telling us she will not be an administrator, but instead will\u00a0be a purely political animal in office \u2014 openly supporting or opposing this candidate Espinoza has spoken before about her view that the secretary of state should focus on administering elections. She told NMPolitics.net earlier this year<\/a> that she\u00a0doesn\u2019t think the secretary of state should work to increase voter turnout, which she calls \u201ca partisan activity.\u201d<\/p>\n Oliver, meanwhile, pointed to her past work to increase turnout as Bernalillo County’s clerk and told NMPolitics.net<\/a>\u00a0she would do the same as secretary of state.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve long had a passion for voter rights and voter education and encouraging people to participate in the democratic process,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n
\nor that — and in so doing she will destroy the integrity of our electoral process.\u201d<\/p>\n