{"id":542,"date":"2006-09-05T19:18:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-06T01:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/09\/state-officials-say-armijo-is-off-the-ballot-but-a-lawsuit-could-be-the-next-step\/"},"modified":"2006-09-05T19:18:00","modified_gmt":"2006-09-06T01:18:00","slug":"state-officials-say-armijo-is-off-the-ballot-but-a-lawsuit-could-be-the-next-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/09\/state-officials-say-armijo-is-off-the-ballot-but-a-lawsuit-could-be-the-next-step\/","title":{"rendered":"State officials say Armijo is off the ballot, but a lawsuit could be the next step"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Democrat Jeff Armijo recanted today an earlier pledge to withdraw from the race for state auditor, but state officials say it\u2019s too late. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron announced late Tuesday that, though Armijo<\/st1:place> refused to file a formal letter announcing his withdrawal, she considered a news release he put out on Aug. 29 announcing his departure an official notice, according to the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI accepted that withdrawal and the Democratic Party central committee has already been notified they will be meeting to select a candidate,\u201d Vigil-Giron told the Associated Press. \u201cHe is not on the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see. Armijo<\/st1:place> could sue. So could the Republican Party. The disarray this situation has created in the Democratic Party must be a dream come true for them and their auditor candidate, Lorenzo Garcia.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how this played out:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Armijo<\/st1:place> announced on Aug. 29 that he was dropping out of the race. That followed a meeting with Gov. Bill Richardson, who pressured him to get out. Armijo had been plagued by allegations of making unwanted sexual advances toward a campaign volunteer \u2013 allegations that are under review by prosecutors in Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A day before the meeting, Armijo<\/st1:place> pledged to stay in the race and said he would not meet with the governor to discuss a possible withdrawal.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But he did meet with the governor. In announcing his withdrawal afterward, Armijo<\/st1:place> stated in the news release that \u201cGovernor Richardson has convinced me that I must leave the race for state auditor.\u201d His choice of words led some to believe he was not happy with the move.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Regardless, the news release prompted the Democratic Party to issue a call for nominations. It set a state central committee meeting for Saturday to place a candidate on the ballot. State Rep. Hector Balderas of Wagon Mound announced he would seek the nomination.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Talk of Armijo changing his mind was quiet until Tuesday morning, when Joe Monahan<\/a> reported that Armijo<\/st1:place> might be having second thoughts.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Early Tuesday afternoon, Armijo put out a statement to some media in the Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> area that he would hold a press conference at 4:45 p.m. to announce he was staying in the race. The Democratic Party argued that it was too late.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The argument is that, as soon as Armijo publicly announced he was withdrawing, he prompted his party to act in its capacity as a representative of the secretary of state and issue a formal call for nominations to replace Armijo<\/st1:place> on the ballot.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Democratic Party Chair John Wertheim issued a news release at 4:11 p.m. Tuesday stating that he was \u201cpersonally disappointed that Jeff has gone back on his word,\u201d adding that, \u201cofficially, he is welcome to go before our State Central Committee on September 9th just like the other candidates vying to fill this vacancy, and attempt to get his name back on the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At 4:58 p.m., the governor\u2019s office put out a statement.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Governor is very disappointed that Mr. Armijo is attempting to go back on his word and selfishly put himself before the Democratic Party,\u201d said Gilbert Gallegos, a Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> spokesman. \u201cThe Governor agrees with the legal position of the Democratic Party chairman, who is moving forward and asking the state central committee to select a replacement candidate who is responsible and committed to running a campaign based on the highest ethical standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Just before 5 p.m., the governor\u2019s office faxed Armijo\u2019s news release and the call for nominations to the secretary of state, who took Armijo<\/st1:place>\u2019s name off the ballot.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sam Thompson, spokeswoman for Attorney General Patricia Madrid, said her office reviewed the decision and concurs. State law does not specify that a formal letter is required for withdrawal.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe at this point this is a matter between the candidate and his party,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Armijo<\/st1:place> could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At his news conference, Armijo<\/st1:place> said he decided to stay in the race to keep a promise to supporters, according to the Associated Press. He said he had received hundreds of calls and e-mails urging him to remain in the race.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIf that makes a select few politicians nervous, so be it,\u201d the Associated Press quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

He also said the allegations against him are false and he is \u201cthe victim of a horrible political scheme.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democrat Jeff Armijo recanted today an earlier pledge to withdraw from the race for state auditor, but state officials say it\u2019s too late. Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron announced late Tuesday that, though Armijo refused to file a formal letter announcing his withdrawal, she considered a news release he put out on Aug. 29 announcing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542","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=542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}