{"id":21446,"date":"2010-09-10T08:25:29","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T14:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=21446"},"modified":"2010-09-10T16:08:50","modified_gmt":"2010-09-10T22:08:50","slug":"chandler-focuses-on-rooting-out-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/09\/chandler-focuses-on-rooting-out-corruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Chandler focuses on rooting out corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Matthew Chandler<\/p><\/div>\n

Republican AG candidate says Democrat Gary King hasn\u2019t kept his promise to stop corruption<\/h4>\n

Matthew Chandler<\/a> has been highly critical<\/a> of New Mexico Attorney General Gary King<\/a> on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

The Republican Chandler, who\u2019s taking on the Democratic incumbent King in the November election, says there\u2019s a simple reason voters shouldn\u2019t re-elect King: The AG hasn\u2019t done what he said he would do to root out public corruption.<\/p>\n

Chandler, 35, said during a recent interview in Las Cruces that he believes King\u2019s heart isn\u2019t in being attorney general, and because of that, King has broken his promise to do what\u2019s necessary to clean up government. He pointed out that King ran for governor and Congress, unsuccessfully, before running for AG.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Gary King<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think he wants to help New Mexico, but I don\u2019t think that the New Mexico Attorney General\u2019s Office is where he\u2019s best served,\u201d Chandler said of King. \u201cThe Attorney General\u2019s Office is not an afterthought for me. It\u2019s an area where I think we can make great strides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chandler, currently a district attorney in Eastern New Mexico, said the state needs a prosecutor who puts the law above politics in the AG\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t bring baggage to the table. I don\u2019t owe anybody favors and nobody owes me any favors,\u201d he said. \u201cSo for once we can have an attorney general who is beholden only to the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The money<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s a message Chandler has yet to take to a wide audience through TV ads, but with November approaching he\u2019s likely to go on the air soon. This is the last election cycle in New Mexico without campaign contribution limits, so the money has been flowing. Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez<\/a> has accepted some massive campaign contributions.<\/p>\n

Republican AG candidates tend to attract national money, so there\u2019s a good chance Chandler will also be offered some large contributions. Accepting massive donations has been a controversial topic in New Mexico that has often been at the center of scandal and corruption allegations.<\/p>\n

Asked about that, Chandler said he believes people with wealth should have the right to give, just like anyone else, \u201cwith the understanding that everything is going to be above the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is going to pierce my integrity with regard to my position with the Attorney General\u2019s Office,\u201d Chandler said.<\/p>\n

He said he tells big donors that he \u201ccan\u2019t be bought\u201d and said he\u2019s never had anyone \u201cask for a favor for a contribution to my campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chandler will have to spend a lot of money to catch King, who had big leads in two polls<\/a> of the race released in August. But Chandler\u2019s name ID is low, since he hasn\u2019t yet been on the air with TV ads. The race is likely to tighten \u2013 at least to some extent \u2013 once Chandler introduces himself to the general population.<\/p>\n

\u2018You have to do the right thing\u2019<\/h3>\n

Chandler will try to convince voters that he has a history of doing the right thing while King has been a \u201cgatekeeper for his friends.\u201d Chandler is quick to point out that he prosecuted the treasurer in Curry County \u2013 a Republican \u2013 in a case related to $19,000 in money that went missing from the county fair.<\/p>\n

The investigation into who took the money was never solved, but during the probe, then-Treasurer Rhonda Bookout was indicted on a felony count of tampering with public records for intentionally altering and falsifying records related to the investigation.<\/p>\n

Bookout pleaded no contest<\/a>, had to resign from office and forfeit more than $26,000 in back pay as restitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI received pressure from locals and those that I respect, suggesting to let it go,\u201d Chandler said of the case. \u201cThat\u2019s not something that I was going to do, because I have a duty to the public. \u2026 Nobody said it would be easy, but you have to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine if the AG sought restitution from those involved in the massive state investment scandal<\/a> currently being investigated by federal authorities. That\u2019s the sort of attitude New Mexico needs from its AG, Chandler said.<\/p>\n

Restoring confidence in government<\/h3>\n

King\u2019s office rarely talks about an ongoing investigation \u2013 which often leaves citizens in the dark about what\u2019s happening. King says that\u2019s necessary to protect the investigation and prosecution. Chandler, however, said he has a different philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as you\u2019re not doing anything that would compromise the investigation,\u201d Chandler said he would confirm when the office is conducting an investigation and would update the public on its status as it progresses. That would be a 180-degree policy shift in the AG\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Chandler said it\u2019s important to communicate with the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what restores confidence in government \u2013 when citizens see that there\u2019s someone willing to investigate public officials,\u201d Chandler said.<\/p>\n

He said people will know that an AG\u2019s office run by him will investigate complaints regardless of party affiliation or anything else. That will help lead to a time when the consequences of public corruption outweigh the benefits \u2013 which is what will stop corruption.<\/p>\n

Once that happens, Chandler said, the many good officials in government can work to move the state forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican Matthew Chandler, who\u2019s taking on Democratic incumbent Gary King in the attorney general\u2019s race, says there\u2019s a simple reason voters shouldn\u2019t re-elect King: The AG hasn\u2019t done what he said he would do to root out public corruption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,114,107],"class_list":["post-21446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-public-corruption","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}