{"id":552,"date":"2006-09-07T17:27:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-07T23:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/09\/breaking-news-armijo-to-sue-in-attempt-to-stay-in-auditor-race\/"},"modified":"2006-09-07T17:27:00","modified_gmt":"2006-09-07T23:27:00","slug":"breaking-news-armijo-to-sue-in-attempt-to-stay-in-auditor-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/09\/breaking-news-armijo-to-sue-in-attempt-to-stay-in-auditor-race\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS: Armijo to sue in attempt to stay in auditor race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Jeff Armijo will sue in an attempt to remain the Democrat\u2019s nominee for state auditor. <\/p>\n

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

Armijo<\/st1:place>\u2019s attorney, Paul Kienzle, sent out a news release late Thursday announcing that he will attempt to \u201cpursue in state court his right to appear on the general election ballot.\u201d Depending on how that goes, Kienzle said, several registered voters are prepared to file suit in federal court \u201cto contest the loss of their vote and disenfranchisement.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Allegations that Armijo made unwanted sexual advances toward a campaign volunteer, which are being reviewed by prosecutors in Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, were first made public in late August. On Aug. 29, following a closed-door meeting with the governor, Armijo<\/st1:place> announced in a news release that he would \u201cleave the race for state auditor\u201d for the good of the party.<\/p>\n

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

The Democrats set a meeting for this Saturday to select a candidate to replace Armijo<\/st1:place> on the ballot. But Armijo<\/st1:place> had second thoughts and announced on Tuesday \u2013 the last day to file a withdrawal \u2013 that he would not withdraw. With the backing of the attorney general\u2019s office, Gov. Bill Richardson and Democratic Party Chair John Wertheim argued that his news release constituted an official withdrawal, and the secretary of state took his name off the ballot.<\/p>\n

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

The practice of the secretary of state\u2019s office for years has been to require a signed, notarized letter from a candidate who wants to withdraw. Regardless, Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron said nothing in state law requires that and said Armijo<\/st1:place>\u2019s news release was sufficient.<\/p>\n

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

Kienzle called that \u201carbitrary,\u201d and said Vigil-Giron \u201cwrongfully denied\u201d Armijo<\/st1:place> a place on the ballot by \u201creversing a decades-old practice in the middle of an election.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cRebecca Vigil-Giron argues that media buzz and statements circulated through third parties and the media are sufficient to affect a withdrawal,\u201d Kienzle said in the news release. \u201cAllowing a drive-by withdrawal or withdrawal by media or proxy is just not a proper way to conduct an election.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

He noted that, earlier this year, Republican auditor candidate Dan Alvarez was allowed to withdraw and later renege and reinstate himself in the race.<\/p>\n

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

Alvarez withdrew with a signed, notarized letter before the primary, then later filed a signed, notarized letter withdrawing his withdrawal. That letter was accepted by the secretary of state\u2019s office and Alvarez\u2019s candidacy was reinstated, according to Ray Baray, a spokesman for the secretary of state\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

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

Alvarez later withdrew again and was replaced on the ballot by Republican Lorenzo Garcia.<\/p>\n

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

Garcia pointed out that Alvarez took back his withdrawal in the same manner that he withdrew. Since Vigil-Giron claims Armijo<\/st1:place>\u2019s news release constituted a formal withdrawal, his news release taking back his withdrawal should also be accepted, Garcia said.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI agree with Jeff\u2019s position. Dan Alvarez was able to take back his withdrawal, so why shouldn\u2019t he?\u201d Garcia asked. \u201cEven if he\u2019s not my opponent, I think they did him dirty.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Kienzle agreed.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThere appears to be one rule for other candidates and another rule for Mr. Armijo,\u201d he said. \u201cUntil this past Tuesday, the withdrawal rule was that a candidate had to provide a signed, written statement. Those law, rules, and customs now mean nothing. Political expediency and political powerbrokers determine who is on the general election ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

He also pointed out that nowhere in Armijo<\/st1:place>\u2019s news release did he use the word \u201cwithdraw.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The secretary of state\u2019s office issued a prepared statement.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe secretary of state is holding to her official position that Mr. Armijo has withdrawn from the state auditor\u2019s race, based on his public announcement on Aug. 29, along with a written press release on his campaign letterhead, which was an express declaration on his part to withdraw from the race. Secretary Vigil-Giron accepted that withdrawal, and, therefore, Mr. Armijo will not be on the general election ballot,\u201d it reads. \u201cOur office has read the statement from Mr. Armijo\u2019s attorney indicating Mr. Armijo\u2019s intent to a file a lawsuit in federal court. As of this afternoon, we have not been served with a copy of the lawsuit. It is the policy of our office not to comment on anticipated or pending litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Kienzle adds an interesting twist to this saga. He represented registered voters who sued in 2004 when Vigil-Giron\u2019s office denied an attempt by Ralph Nader\u2019s independent presidential campaign to get on the ballot. The New Mexico Supreme Court later overturned the decision and put Nader on the ballot.<\/p>\n

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

Kienzle claims that cost taxpayers more than $35,000 in legal expenses.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cNew Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron has shown a pattern and practice of arbitrarily and capriciously determining who is on the ballot,\u201d he said. \u201cThe secretary of state will again lose and cost the taxpayers money.\u201d <\/p>\n

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

It\u2019s not yet clear whether the Democrats will still meet Saturday to try to place another candidate on the ballot. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeff Armijo will sue in an attempt to remain the Democrat\u2019s nominee for state auditor. Armijo\u2019s attorney, Paul Kienzle, sent out a news release late Thursday announcing that he will attempt to \u201cpursue in state court his right to appear on the general election ballot.\u201d Depending on how that goes, Kienzle said, several registered voters […]<\/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-552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552","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=552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}