OPINION: Wild claims, double standards mar campaign season

Oct. 10—The general election is still a month away, but trends are apparent. Let's break them down before the madness ends and early voting begins.

Audrey Trujillo, stalwart Republican nominee for secretary of state, demonstrated why eye exams should be required of candidates. "For far too long, we have seen corrupt elections in the state of New Mexico and it is primarily because we have not been paying attention," Trujillo wrote in a campaign handout.

Could she be more specific? Well, yes, in her own muddled way. Trujillo claimed former President Donald Trump carried New Mexico in 2020 when he actually lost the state by 100,000 votes. Trujillo also called Democrat Joe Biden's victory "a coup." The trouble with Trujillo's outlook isn't attention deficit disorder. She needs an ophthalmologist.

Perennial candidate Alexis Martinez Johnson is better known than Trujillo but just as unelectable. Martinez Johnson reported raising all of $77,000 in her second campaign for Congress in New Mexico's 3rd District.

A Republican, Martinez Johnson is in a rematch with Democratic U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez. The first-term congresswoman has received $1.85 million in contributions, according to federal campaign records.

Martinez Johnson likes to say she is proven vote-getter. She isn't. Martinez Johnson finished last in a three-way election for mayor of Santa Fe in between her congressional campaigns. She can't draw money, a clear sign that national Republicans never considered Martinez Johnson a contender.

That brings us to the issue of double standards. Do years-old sexual harassment cases matter in determining the fitness of politicians for top positions? The answer is: It depends, especially in New Mexico.

Democratic state Sen. Michael Padilla of Albuquerque recently received a political promotion, even with the stain of sexual harassment cases on his record. In contrast, allegations of sexual harassment forced fellow Democratic Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto to resign under pressure as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee.

Ivey-Soto, also of Albuquerque, claimed a special investigator employed by the Senate did not find cause for any disciplinary action against him. Ivey-Soto folded soon after making this pronouncement. He surrendered his chairmanship as critics called for his removal from the Senate.

A female lobbyist accused Ivey-Soto of sexual harassment years ago. Not true, Ivey-Soto said. The senator admitted to me that he referred to two other women lobbyists as "Hips and Lips." Ivey-Soto said his language was inappropriate, a case of the senator parroting a line the actor Matthew McConaughey used in a movie.

Like all 42 state senators, Ivey-Soto's term doesn't end until January 2025. But his career is in decline.

Padilla's fortunes are trending up, even though he twice was a target of sexual harassment lawsuits that concluded with his accusers receiving money. Yet Padilla won election as the Senate's majority whip as Ivey-Soto faltered.

Padilla's comeback came nearly five years after he was driven out of the whip's job based on decade-old sexual-harassment complaints. Padilla in late 2017 also ended his campaign for lieutenant governor. One reason was the likely Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Michelle Lujan Grisham, did not want Padilla on the ticket.

Padilla was accused of degrading and harassing women in 2006 and 2007 while working as a private businessman to improve Albuquerque's 911 call center. He said he never harassed anyone. Padilla claimed his accusers were vengeful complainers, angry because he tried to reform a problem-plagued government agency.

One lawsuit accusing Padilla of wrongdoing ended with the city of Albuquerque paying a $149,000 settlement to two women. A jury in a second lawsuit awarded another of Padilla's accusers $1,200 for counseling costs and $101,000 for legal fees.

Few senators work harder or more creatively than Padilla. His legislation spared low-income kids from having to grovel because they couldn't afford to pay for school lunches.

Still, if sexual harassment is inexcusable, Padilla's return to power as a Senate leader is inexplicable.

Lujan Grisham figured Padilla could do nothing but hurt her if he won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 2018. Knowing he was unwelcome as the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct gathered steam, Padilla quit the race.

Lujan Grisham, now the governor, faced no such insurgency from fellow Democrats after she spent $150,000 in campaign funds to pay a settlement to a former aide, James Hallinan.

He accused Lujan Grisham of the sort of misconduct that would sink a male candidate.

Hallinan said Lujan Grisham poured water on his crotch and then grabbed his crotch during a campaign staff meeting before the 2018 election.

For her part, Lujan Grisham said she agreed to a settlement with Hallinan to avoid distractions during the coronavirus pandemic. The governor's camp also said money paid to Hallinan staved off costly litigation.

The governor's settlement with Hallinan is just the sort of case Lujan Grisham would pounce on if it involved a political rival. Her main opponent in next month's election is former television weatherman Mark Ronchetti, who's run a clumsy campaign and trails in the polls.

But Ronchetti is the only Republican with a shot at winning a statewide election in New Mexico. Will the #MeToo movement rally to his side before the campaign staggers to a close? The odds say Ivey-Soto has a better chance of becoming governor.

Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.