New Mexico Scandals May Cloud Madrid’s Bid Against Rep. Wilson

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Two developing political scandals in New Mexico threaten to singe one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s top recruits of the election cycle.

The scandals — one unfolding in an Albuquerque courtroom, the other in the state bureaucracy in Santa Fe — involve current and former Democratic officeholders. Depending on how they’re resolved, they could diminish what had been expected to be a promising election year for Democrats in the Land of Enchantment.

While New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid, the DCCC’s prize recruit in the race against Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), is not directly implicated in either scandal, her role as the state’s top law enforcement official is under intense scrutiny in both matters. Republicans have charged that she did not act quickly enough or aggressively enough in either case.

“With both issues, Patsy Madrid’s a central figure,” said Alex Burgos, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “She had the responsibility to all New Mexicans to root out corruption, and she didn’t.”

Democrats dispute the charge and say that Madrid is working diligently on both cases — and that Republicans are trying to set up a diversion so that voters don’t focus on GOP scandals in Washington, D.C.

But it is clear that the political implications for Madrid’s high-stakes battle with Wilson — a perennial target in an Albuquerque-based district that leans modestly Democratic — are staggering, particularly in a year in which national Democrats are banking on Republican scandals to help them pick up seats in Congress.

“I don’t think anybody’s saying that this race has been significantly altered at this point” because of the New Mexico scandals, said Joe Monahan, an Albuquerque-based political consultant and commentator. “But it does put issues on the table that could come into play in the election, and that’s not good for Democrats.”

The scandal that’s reached a more advanced stage involves two former elected state treasurers, Robert Vigil (D) and Michael Montoya (D). Vigil is on trial in federal court, facing extortion charges for allegedly receiving $600,000 in kickbacks from financial services companies he steered state business to. Montoya, his predecessor, has admitted receiving similar kickbacks when he was in office and is testifying for the prosecution.

And the peril for Madrid? Republicans have accused her of turning down a request from then-Gov. Gary Johnson (R) a few years ago to investigate Vigil. Just last week, in court testimony, a high-ranking state official said that a former state cabinet official wrote to Madrid in early 2002, alerting her to questionable investment practices in the treasurer’s office. But Madrid’s aides said she never received the letter.

When the Vigil scandal first broke last fall, Madrid and Gov. Bill Richardson (D) — who could also face some collateral damage — were criticized when they signed off on a deal that enabled Vigil to temporarily step down with full pay and benefits, even though Madrid had the power to remove him from office. Facing impeachment from the Legislature, Vigil ultimately chose to resign.

Heather Brewer, a campaign spokeswoman for Madrid, said the attorney general has worked hand in hand with federal investigators and prosecutors on the Vigil case and continues to do so. She is currently prosecuting Vigil’s alleged “bag man” on state fraud charges.

“It’s an ongoing investigation, so there’s only so much [that Madrid] and her staff can say about the case,” Brewer said.

But Republicans clearly see a political gold mine. The New Mexico Republican Party is sending a staffer to Vigil’s trial every day, even though Marta Kramer, executive director of the state GOP, insisted that the state party isn’t seeking partisan advantage or trying to burn Democrats who aren’t directly implicated in the case.