Campaign Manager Ray Sandoval: 'This is beneath us'

Ray Sandoval, Roman "Tiger" Abeyta's mayoral campaign manager, denies more allegations from an emailer who sent a photo of Sandoval in his underwear to media outlets on Oct. 28.

A person who calls himself Sean Gallegos and "a concerned Santa Fe resident" in a email writes to SFR that Sandoval was "lying" when Sandoval denied posting the photo on Craigslist that was accompanied by an ad soliciting sex. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Sandoval said he and his ex-boyfriend took the photograph "about two years ago and posted it on Facebook to show their progress with a new exercise routine."

"That was an ad on Craigslist he posted," Gallegos writes to SFR late Tuesday. "The police report is just a way for him to save face. Ray posted this ad. Anything else is simply a lie."

Sandoval denies posting the Craigslist ad. He tells SFR the day the ad was posted, Oct. 13, was the day of Abeyta's launch party for his mayoral campaign. He says he was at Pyramid Cafe with seven other people the time the ad was posted.

"The only calculus is that this is politically motivated," Sandoval says. Sandoval is also the chairman of the Zozobra Committee for the Santa Fe Kiwanis Club.

Gallegos, who hasn't accepted SFR's request for a telephone interview, also alleges that Sandoval left his post at the Obama for America campaign because similar photos surfaced. Sandoval denies that allegation. He can't explain the details of his departure from the Obama campaign on the record, he says, because he signed a nondisclosure agreement.

Sandoval adds that he's filed reports with state and federal authorities. He's hoping to get the identity of the emailer.

"We need to talk about the real issues that are facing the city," he says. "This is beneath us."

Here's the image:

Santa Fe Reporter