Political fundraiser in Las Cruces violates NM's COVID-19 health orders, state says

LAS CRUCES - The state Department of Health confirmed Tuesday it was aware of a political fundraising dinner planned in Las Cruces this week and said the gathering was illegal under emergency public health orders.

On Monday night, the Las Cruces Sun-News obtained what appears to be a page from an invitation to a political fundraiser on behalf of Republican Congressional candidate Yvette Herrell. Herrell is seeking the 2nd congressional district seat currently held by first-term Democrat Xochitl Torres Small. 

The event, located at a private residence in Las Cruces, features U.S. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as the dinner's "special guest." 

The document does not include a list of committed attendees, but lists the names of nearly 50 individuals as well as Salopek 6U Farms of Las Cruces as being on a host committee sponsoring the event. 

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Also among the host committee members is Royal Jones, owner Mesilla Valley Transportation and several real estate properties, including the Las Cruces Sun-News building in downtown Las Cruces. 

The host committee is made up of prominent Las Cruces business leaders, including Jones; Russell Allen, owner of Allen Theatres and the former chair of the Republican Party of Doña Ana County; Electronic Caregiver CEO Tony Dohrmann; Pic Quik owner Oscar Andrade; and restaurateurs Tom Hutchinson and Marci Dickerson. New Mexico House District 53 candidate Rick Little and former Doña Ana County Commissioner Ben Rawson are also on the committee.

Cease and desist letter to be issued

The New Mexico Department of Health confirmed Tuesday that the event would violate emergency public health orders in effect owing to the COVID-19 public emergency. 

"Right now, any gathering, private or public with more than five people is considered a violation," Marisa Maez of the DOH wrote in a statement to the Sun-News. 

Maez also said the agency was preparing a cease and desist letter addressed to the event's organizers.

Health orders currently in effect prohibit gatherings of more than five people in public or private, indoors or outdoors. 

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"Mass gatherings" are defined in the orders as "any public gathering, private gathering, organized event, ceremony, parade, organized amateur contact sport, or other grouping that brings together more than five (5) individuals in a single room or connected space, confined outdoor space or an open outdoor space." 

Maez continued: "COVID is spread through close contact. Social gatherings provide the potential for spread. People carry the virus with them and may not show symptoms. Now is not the time for any type of gathering. We all have a responsibility to stop the spread of this devastating disease."

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The Sun-News has contacted the Herrell campaign for comment, as well as staff for Reps. McCarthy and Tom Emmer, R-MN, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee and is listed among the event's host committee members. The Sun-News has also emailed the event's host. 

In a written statement, the state Republican Party cited recent political demonstrations elsewhere in the state: 

"Our understanding is that the Las Cruces event is outdoors and that masks will be used. Democrats who pretend to have a problem with this are simply playing politics — where were they when liberal protestors gathered (en masse) and destroyed property as we saw recently in Santa Fe and Albuquerque?"

'Disservice' to political candidates

Dickerson, a Las Cruces restaurateur listed among the host committee members, demurred on whether she planned on attending Thursday, but said her catering business was not under contract for the event. 

"Unfortunately, because of everything in 2020 that is going on, it has really put a lot of our political candidates, especially (non-incumbents), at a huge disservice because it is much harder for them to get out and connect with the voters," Dickerson said. "It is much harder for them get their message across and it is much harder for them to raise money because most of our locals don't have the infrastructure set up the same as the big nationals."

Dickerson is also the founder of the nonprofit Revolution 120 charity organization, which she said "definitely took a hit this year" following cancellation of large fundraising events during the health crisis. 

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Herrell is making her second run in the U.S. Congressional district that encompasses all of southern New Mexico.

The former state legislator narrowly lost to Torres Small in 2018, and while the Democrat has outpaced Herrell in fundraising, polls indicate a tight contest.

A September poll by the Albuquerque Journal showed Torres Small leading by 47 percent to 45 percent Herrell, firmly within the poll's margin of error. 

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.