Lawsuit claims Republican AG candidate doesn't meet residency requirement

Sep. 9—A former Bernalillo County commissioner seeking to remove a Republican candidate from the November ballot is asking a state judge to order the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office to declare Jeremy Gay ineligible for the attorney general's office because he doesn't meet state residency requirements.

Gay — a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer and attorney — lives in Gallup with his wife and six children, according to his campaign website.

Bernalillo County Commissioner James M. Collie argues in a petition filed Wednesday in state District Court in Santa Fe he hasn't lived there long enough.

The New Mexico Constitution requires candidates for the post to have lived in the state "continuously" for five years before election. Gay was registered to vote in Florida until 2018, according to Collie's petition, and "did not establish a continued physical presence" in New Mexico until his move to Gallup in 2019.

The petition names Gay and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver as defendants and urges the court to set a hearing in the case — assigned to District Judge T. Glenn Ellington — before absentee ballots are mailed in October.

Collie didn't return a call seeking comment Thursday.

Attorney Ryan H. Harrigan of the Albuquerque law firm SaucedoChavez P.C., who filed the petition on behalf of Collie, also didn't return a call requesting comment.

Gay's campaign manager, Noelle Gemmer, denied Collie's allegation in an email Thursday, calling it an attempt by Gay's Democratic opponent — District Attorney Raúl Torrez — to distract from Torrez's "failed record as a prosecutor."

"Jeremy and his family have called New Mexico home since 2014, and his wife was born and raised in Gallup, NM. Jeremy and his family temporarily left NM on active duty orders with the U.S Marines and returned as soon as he entered the Reserve Forces," Gemmer wrote. "This is a disgusting attack on a veteran for his service and a desperate attempt by the Raul Torrez campaign to deny voters options at the ballot box."

Torrez knew Gay's residency might be an issue and "flagged" it for the Democratic Party, Torrez's campaign manager, Taylor Bui, said in an interview Thursday.

"Additionally Mr Collie has been a friend and supporter of Raul's campaign. While we had knowledge of the allegations, we were informed when the lawsuit got filed," Bui wrote.

"Raul does have close relationship with many prominent attorneys across the state, including the partners at SaucedoChavez," Bui added in an email.

Secretary of State's Office spokesman Alex Curtas said Thursday the state agency hadn't been served with the lawsuit, so he couldn't comment on it specifically.

Generally, Curtas said, the Secretary of State's Office makes sure candidates file the required paperwork for candidacy but doesn't verify the information in those documents.

"Basically our ministerial duty as outlined in election code is to ensure candidates have the proper documentation in order," Curtas said.

"But we do not go back and do something ... to see if this person has lived here for five years. We don't do that. We just file what's in election code. Candidates must attest they are legally qualified to run for this office. That's the end of our involvement in that process," he said.

If there are challenges, Curtas said, "we would just be basically waiting for a decision from a court [regarding] the person's eligibility."

Gay signed a declaration of candidacy in February in which he declared "under oath, knowing that any false statement constitutes a felony punishable under the criminal laws of New Mexico," he would be "eligible and legally qualified" to hold the office at the beginning of its term.

The Democratic Party of New Mexico disseminated a copy of Collie's complaint Thursday along with a news release in which party Chairwoman Jessica Velasquez said Gay "isn't constitutionally qualified for the office, has minimal prosecutorial experience, and little connection to our state."

"The Democratic Party of NM has long been aware of the lack of qualifications and inexperience that Jeremy Gay has for the Office of Attorney General," spokesman Daniel Garcia wrote in a subsequent email. "However, the Democratic Party was only aware of the lawsuit after it was filed."

He added, "Mr. Collie filed this on his own accord in his capacity as a citizen of new Mexico."

"This lawsuit was brought to our attention by supporters of the Party and we believe that the citizens of New Mexico have a right to know that it appears Jeremy Gay does not meet the Constitutional requirements to hold the Office of Attorney General," Garcia wrote.

The Republican Party of New Mexico issued a statement Thursday in support of Gay.

"Jeremy Gay was only out of state because he was on active duty serving in the United States military," spokesman Mike Curtis wrote in an email. "He was fulfilling his duty in the U.S. Marines, protecting our nation and our freedoms. To try to boot someone out of a race for serving his nation is despicable. This is a disgraceful way the progressive left is trying to disenfranchise voters."