Government Power Disagreements Color Candidate Forum

Candidates for secretary of state, attorney general faced off in a League of Women Voters forum Tuesday

Candidates for the secretary of state and attorney general disagreed on the role of the offices they're seeking in a Tuesday forum hosted by the League of Women Voters, with the two Republican contenders arguing for a more limited government than the visions proposed by their Democratic opponents.

In response to an audience-member question that asked the two attorney general candidates what they would do to ensure the protection of New Mexicans against wage theft by employers, Republican Susan Riedel argued that the office has "constitutionally mandated tasks" that it must accomplish.

"The attorney general's office just can't take over everything," a former judge and prosecutor in the Third Judicial District Attorney's Office told the audience at the Santa Fe Community College. "...What I am going to do is prosecute crime."

Hector Balderas, the current state auditor, had responded first that the attorney general can be "more vocal, more visible" in preventing wage theft, pledging that he'd create a labor enforcement protection division that "proactively engages employers" on the issue.

Balderas' solution to the wage theft issue mirrored several of his responses: creating task forces within the office and between the office and various authorities. He also emphasized transparency. The lights had flickered off before he could answer a question about how the candidates would deal with the behavioral health audit. "This is a perfect transition to my point," he quipped when the lights turned back on. "We need more transparency."

Balderas also said he would institute an "executive-level task force"  between the US attorney and attorney general that would tackle Medicaid fraud. Riedel proposed no such group during the forum. She emphasized the role of the state's top law-enforcement officer is to bring justice swiftly, taking a swipe at the sitting Attorney General Gary King for saying his investigation into behavioral health providers in the state might take up to seven years. "I can tell you that the one thing I really want to see happen with this situation that there is a swift decision," she said. "A criminal investigation needs to move quickly."

The philosophical differences about the role of government cut down party lines for the secretary of state candidates, although to a lesser extent. Democratic candidate Maggie Toulouse Oliver responded that she supports an independent ethics commission that would take on some of the secretary of state's duties, saying there's a danger in too much regulatory authority in the secretary of state's office because "you run the risk of having partisanship come into play."

Republican incumbent Diana Duran wouldn't say whether she supports that decision—only that she'd follow the law. "As secretary of state, I serve a ministerial role," she said. "Whether or not an ethics commission is created is up to the Legislature."

But if there's one area where the secretary of state can be more activist in Duran's mind, it's cracking down on voter fraud.

Duran repeatedly emphasized she wants to protect the "integrity" of elections by ensuring everyone's vote counts—and only once. "Voter fraud exists," she said. "I have seen it. I have investigated it."

She said her office played a role in presenting 23 names to the district attorney in Sunland Park—six of whom were convicted of voter fraud. "Too many times we have people [assert] that it must be widespread in order to be a problem."

Her opponent, the current Bernalillo county clerk, disagreed. "It happens extremely rarely," Toulouse Oliver said, emphasizing that, as secretary of state, she would ensure an "easy and accessible voting experience," so that every eligible voter is able to "participate in the election process."

Painting a picture of widespread voter fraud, Toulouse Oliver argued, creates strict rules that disenfranchise up to 10 percent of the voting population.

In-person early voting for the Nov. 4 election begins Oct. 7, which is also the last day a voter can register to be eligible to cast a ballot in the election.

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