{"id":543397,"date":"2018-03-13T20:38:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T02:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=543397"},"modified":"2018-03-13T20:39:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-14T02:39:51","slug":"state-dem-party-chair-resigns-after-questioning-harassment-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/03\/state-dem-party-chair-resigns-after-questioning-harassment-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"State Dem Party chair resigns after questioning harassment claim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico resigned Tuesday amid criticism of his handling of recent claims of sexual harassment against a Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner and a former New Mexico Federation of Labor president Jon Hendry.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_438750\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-438750\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Ellenberg-Richard-336x256.jpg\" alt=\"Richard Ellenberg\" width=\"336\" height=\"256\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy photo<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Richard Ellenberg<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The labor organization is a key ally of Democrats in the state.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Ellenberg announced his resignation in a letter to the party\u2019s state central committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI regret the way in which I have managed complaints of survivors who have come forward about sexual harassment, and take full responsibility to continue to learn and grow so that I can be an advocate and ally in the future,\u201d Ellenberg wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the state party\u2019s vice chairwoman wrote a pointed letter to Ellenberg about <a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/02\/embattled-vasquez-resigns-from-dona-ana-county-commission\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">how he dealt with her accusations<\/a> of sexual harassment against former Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner John Vasquez.<\/p>\n<p>This week, after Hendry resigned, Ellenberg questioned his alleged victim\u2019s credibility. Since then, party officials and candidates have called for Ellenberg\u2019s resignation and encouraged victims of sexual harassment to come forward.<\/p>\n<p>Ellenberg\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.santafenewmexican.com\/news\/local_news\/union-leader-accused-of-harassment-out-at-state-federation-of\/article_f3753141-49ba-5d5e-9b34-7111f4e9a735.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the\u00a0<i>Santa Fe New Mexican<\/i><\/a>\u00a0that it did not sound like something Hendry would do. This came in reaction to Hendry stepping down from leadership of the new Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur country and our state are in an incredible moment in which survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault feel empowered to come forward, and the Democratic Party of New Mexico has taken upon itself to be a leader on this issue,\u201d said a statement from the state party. \u201cChair Ellenberg has taken responsibility for the fact that he has more to learn and has stepped down.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/813641\/state-dem-chair-resigns-after-questioning-sexual-harassment-claim\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Mexico Political Report<\/a>,\u00a0a nonprofit news organization\u00a0focused on promoting a greater public understanding of politics and policy in the state of New Mexico.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The statement also says they \u201cencourage everyone to strive to end a culture of sexual harassment in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The campaigns of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, U.S Rep. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n and U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is running for \u00a0governor, issued a statement supporting victims and chastising Ellenberg.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Democrats, we stand with the silence-breakers who have come forward to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse,\u201d the statement read. \u201cQuestioning the credibility of sexual misconduct allegations is contrary to our values, and it is time for new leadership that better reflects them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Sen. Tom Udall issued a separate statement also encouraging victims of sexual abuse to come forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor too long, victims have been afraid or prevented from speaking out about harassment or violence. We need to recognize the amount of courage it takes to come forward. Victims should be heard and their allegations taken seriously. Regardless of party affiliation, our leaders should represent these values,\u201d Udall\u2019s statement read.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Democratic campaign consultant Heather Brewer said her concerns with Ellenberg began with his silence over sexual harassment claims against state Sen. Michael Padilla that recently resurfaced but worsened more recently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no room in the Democratic Party, and certainly not in party leadership, for anyone who would question the credibility of a victim of sexual harassment,\u201d Brewer said.<\/p>\n<p>Brava New Mexico, a group comprised of Democratic women, first <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brava_nm\/status\/973655518815207425\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tweeted<\/a> early Tuesday afternoon that Ellenberg would step down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Ellenberg&#8217;s resignation came amid criticism of his handling of two recent claims of sexual harassment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":438750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[135,292],"class_list":["post-543397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-democratic-party","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543397","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=543397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}