New Mexico GOP wants ethics complaint tossed

Cedar Attanasio
AP/Report for America
Rebecca Dow

SANTA FE – Republican leaders want a newly formed ethics commission to dismiss a complaint filed against one of their members shortly before the election by her Democratic opponent.

“Issuing an ethics complaint just weeks before the November election reveals the desperation of the progressive radicals. They are willing to taint a brand new ethics commission just to score a headline,” said House Republican Leader Jim Townsend, of Artesia.

Democrat Karen Whitlock said Monday that she filed the complaint against Republican state Rep. Rebecca Dow, saying that her incumbent opponent failed to disclose her role as a legislator in contracts between an education company where she and her family work, and state child welfare agencies.

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Dow said she didn’t have a conflict of interest as a legislator because she doesn’t own the company, AppleTree Educational Center, which provides after-school programs and other services.

In a letter to the State Ethics Commission, GOP leaders said that it has the authority to throw the complaint out, and urged it to publicly announce if it did so.

A spokesman for the commission said Wednesday that it couldn’t acknowledge if the complaint existed, and that such complaints against political candidates can’t be the subject of public hearings within 60 days of an election.

“If a complaint is dismissed, it is treated as confidential,” said spokesman Sonny Haquani.