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Haaland chokes on Project Jupiter cash question, REFUSES to return their $87K

Leave a Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Democrat gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland’s attempt to appear tough on New Mexico’s increasingly controversial data center boom ran headfirst into a glaring campaign cash problem Thursday after she was pressed on donations tied to Project Jupiter — and did not commit to giving the money back.

At a press conference in Albuquerque, Haaland announced she would sign a day-one executive order imposing a temporary moratorium on new large-scale data center projects if elected governor, saying the pause would remain in place until the Legislature creates new “guardrails” for the industry. Her announcement came just days after reporting showed her campaign had accepted at least $87,200 from data-center-related sources connected to Oracle and Clayco, two major entities tied to Project Jupiter. Searchlight New Mexico reported that Oracle America gave Haaland $12,400, while individuals matching top leaders at Oracle and Clayco gave at least $74,800 more.

Project Jupiter has become one of the most politically explosive development fights in New Mexico, with residents and environmental groups raising concerns over water, power, permitting, transparency, and the sheer size of the proposed artificial intelligence data center campus in Doña Ana County. Oracle has promoted the project as a major economic opportunity, saying it has already delivered nearly $80 million in tax revenue and is expected to bring more than $4.7 billion in long-term economic impact to the state and county.

But while Haaland tried to pitch herself as the candidate who would hold data centers accountable, a KOB 4 reporter asked the question hanging over the entire event: “Some reporting came out recently tying tens of thousands of dollars of donations from Project Jupiter to your campaign. How do you assure voters that this will be a fair process in holding Project Jupiter accountable?”

Haaland did not answer by saying she would return the money. She did not pledge to reject future Project Jupiter-linked cash. Instead, she launched into a defense centered on the cost of campaigns.

“Thank you so much for the question. And of course, I’m the first person to say that elections are entirely too expensive. You know, I’m a lot older than a lot of folks in this room. I remember when presidential elections for the entire country cost 25 million dollars and now, um, it’s just over the top at how expensive everything has gotten. Uh, trust me, I wish I didn’t have to raise as much money as I do just to be able to protect New Mexicans and have a better New Mexico for everyone. Uh, but I believe that I can walk and chew gum at the same time. Um, my first, if I’m elected governor, my first, uh, priority is for every single New Mexican to make sure that our communities are safe, healthy, that they can move forward, that they have, um, the investments they need. We are facing, uh, some really tough times. Uh, forty percent of our population who are on Medicaid stand to lose those benefits on January first. Uh, our, uh, SNAP benefits that people rely on, um, I am — I feel very confident that I know how to navigate the federal government. And so I am working very hard and not taking anything for granted in this election.”

KOB 4 later shared the exchange on X, writing, “Deb Haaland says she will sign a moratorium on data centers until certain protections are in place. When KOB asked about campaign donations from Project Jupiter, here was her response.” The post had drawn thousands of views within hours.

The response quickly drew criticism online, with X users accusing Haaland of dodging the question. One commenter credited KOB for asking but said the answer was “nothing more than word salad.” Another wrote that she “didn’t answer the question,” while another asked why she accepted $12,400 from Oracle “if she doesn’t like data centers.”

Others focused on Haaland’s “walk and chew gum” line. One commenter wrote that if Haaland could do both, “then she should return the money back to Project Jupiter and tell them New Mexico and our water are not for sale.” Another commenter said she was “meanwhile receiving money from Project Jupiter,” while another praised KOB for asking the question but added, “Too bad she didn’t answer it.”

The backlash also reflected the broader public frustration surrounding Project Jupiter. Oracle disclosed more than $3.4 million in spending to promote the project as it sought to influence the state Environment Department’s review of an air quality permit, according to Searchlight New Mexico. The State Ethics Commission called it “likely the largest lobbying advertising campaign ever disclosed in New Mexico.”

Haaland’s campaign is now trying to walk a narrow line: accepting data center-linked money while promising to regulate the same industry. Her proposal calls for a pause on new large-scale data centers and requirements related to transparency, tribal consultation, renewable energy, water protections, union jobs, decommissioning bonds, and clawbacks for companies that fail to meet state standards. New Mexico Political Report reported that Haaland said she “cannot be bowled over with donations to my campaign” and that Project Jupiter would have to follow state law under her proposed framework.

But the central issue remains unresolved. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican account provided from the press conference, Haaland said she had not had conversations about returning the campaign money but planned to discuss the idea with her team. In other words, after being directly asked about the Project Jupiter-linked donations, Haaland still did not commit to returning the cash.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Gregg Hull has criticized the timing of Haaland’s announcement, calling her moratorium push suspicious after revelations about the Oracle and Project Jupiter-linked donations. New Mexico Political Report reported Hull saying her press conference came two days after it was discovered that she had taken nearly $100,000 from Oracle and Project Jupiter executives.

For Haaland, the optics are difficult: stand in front of an “Agua es Vida” message, promise to protect New Mexico’s water, and then decline to clearly say she will give back money tied to the very data center interests now seeking influence and approval in the state.

Her answer to KOB’s question did not include a bright-line pledge. It did not include, “I will return the money.” It did not include, “I will stop taking Project Jupiter-linked donations.” Instead, Haaland lamented the cost of elections, insisted she could “walk and chew gum at the same time,” and pivoted to Medicaid, SNAP, and the federal government.

For New Mexicans already skeptical of Project Jupiter, Haaland’s response may only deepen concerns that her new data center crackdown is less about drawing a hard line against Big Data and more about political damage control after the money trail became public.

WATCH:

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Stansbury lets slip what Dems are planning if they capture Congress

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Democrat U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico is openly telling supporters that House Democrats are already preparing for “in-depth oversight and impeachments of administration officials” next year if voters hand the party control of the U.S. House in November.

The comments came in a video circulating on X this week, in which Stansbury tied Democrats’ ability to pursue the plans directly to the outcome of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

“We in the House are gearing up in terms of our planning for oversight,” Stansbury said in the video. “I know many of you are deeply frustrated that this administration is not being held accountable under the law.”

She continued: “We are gearing up for next year and the President is damn right that we are going to be conducting in-depth oversight and impeachments of administration officials next year. So we are in the process of planning for all that.”

Stansbury did not identify in the clip which Trump administration officials Democrats are considering for impeachment, nor did she specify potential articles or alleged impeachable conduct.

What she did make explicit was that the plans depend on Democrats winning control of the chamber.

“That of course requires that we actually have control of the House, or at least a majority in the House that actually wants to do their jobs,” Stansbury said before pivoting to the election.

Oversight role gives remarks added significance

Stansbury is not merely commenting from the sidelines.

The Albuquerque Democrat sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and serves as the ranking Democrat on its Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, putting her directly inside one of the committees that would gain significantly greater investigative authority if Democrats took the majority.

Her congressional office has repeatedly pressed for witch hunts of the Trump administration this year, including a June request that House Oversight and Judiciary committees hold public hearings and investigate the Drug Enforcement Administration over its handling of a fentanyl operation affecting New Mexico.

The new comments go beyond a generic promise of congressional scrutiny, however: Stansbury specifically used the plural “impeachments” and said Democrats are already “in the process of planning.”

Under the Constitution, the House has the sole power to impeach federal officials. A majority vote in the House can approve articles of impeachment, but removal requires conviction by two-thirds of senators present after a Senate trial.

Comes amid active impeachment fight

Stansbury’s remarks also arrive as impeachment is already an active issue in the current Congress.

On Sept. 15, the House voted 232-147, with 47 members voting present, to table a resolution seeking to impeach President Donald Trump. Eighteen Democrats joined Republicans in voting to table it, while 147 Democrats voted against tabling it.

Stansbury herself voted against tabling the Trump impeachment resolution, according to the official House Clerk roll call. Fellow New Mexico Democrat Gabe Vasquez also voted against tabling it.

Voting against tabling a resolution is not the same as a final vote to impeach. But coupled with Stansbury’s newly circulated remarks, it provides additional context for her comments about what a Democrat-controlled House could pursue next year.

Viral post seizes on remarks

A conservative X account sharing the video characterized Stansbury’s comments as an admission that Democrats’ post-election priority would be impeachment rather than economic or border issues.

“If Democrats take the House, they’re not talking jobs, borders, or prices. They’re talking impeachments,” the account wrote, adding: “That’s the agenda. Revenge first. America last.”

That is the account’s political characterization, not Stansbury’s own wording.

Stansbury framed the issue differently. In the clip, she presented oversight and potential impeachments as a matter of legal accountability, saying supporters were frustrated that the administration was “not being held accountable under the law.”

She then immediately stressed the importance of November’s election, calling it “one of the most consequential elections of modern political history” and urging viewers to register and vote.

Stansbury is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and currently represents New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District.

The clip therefore offers voters a relatively direct preview of at least one priority Stansbury says Democrats are preparing for should they obtain House control: not simply hearings and subpoenas, but potentially multiple impeachment proceedings against Trump administration officials.

Exactly who those officials would be — and on what grounds Democrats would seek to impeach them — remains unanswered in the video.

Stansbury lets slip what Dems are planning if they capture Congress Read More »

New financial reports reveal stark Haaland-Hull fundraising divide

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Democrat gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland outraised Republican Gregg Hull during New Mexico’s latest campaign-finance reporting period.

But a line-by-line review of the candidates’ actual reports shows a much more complicated picture than the topline numbers alone: Haaland is operating a heavily nationalized, high-volume fundraising and campaign apparatus, while Hull’s donor base is overwhelmingly rooted in New Mexico.

Haaland reported $3,430,730.61 in net monetary contributions between late June and Sept. 7, compared with $943,415.80 for Hull. She ended the period with roughly $3.43 million cash on hand, while Hull reported about $509,652. Haaland spent $2,280,527.51 during the same period; Hull spent $731,601.79. Those figures come directly from the candidates’ Sept. 14 First General Reports filed with the Secretary of State.

The Santa Fe New Mexican highlighted the fundraising disparity Monday.

Piñon Post went deeper — examining not only how much each campaign raised, but where the contributions came from and where the money went once it entered the campaign accounts.

The contrast is striking.

More than 61,000 Haaland contributions came from outside New Mexico

Haaland’s filing contains 74,634 positive contribution transactions, totaling about $3.44 million before refunds.

Of those, Piñon Post’s analysis found 61,312 came from addresses outside New Mexico, totaling approximately $2.05 million. Just 13,319 came from New Mexico addresses, totaling about $1.37 million. Three additional transactions totaling $23,400 could not be cleanly classified by state from the filing.

That means approximately 82.2% of Haaland’s positive contribution transactions came from outside New Mexico.

By dollars, out-of-state contributions accounted for about 59.6% of her gross positive contributions during the period.

The filing also contained 226 contribution refunds totaling roughly $11,116, bringing Haaland’s official net contribution total to the reported $3.43 million.

The geographic spread is extensive.

Haaland received positive contribution transactions from all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and military-associated overseas addresses.

California alone accounted for 12,052 contribution transactions totaling more than $408,000. Texas produced another 3,654 transactions totaling roughly $218,000. Massachusetts contributed about $120,000, while New York and Washington each generated thousands of transactions.

The first few pages of Haaland’s 7,557-page filing illustrate the pattern: alongside Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe and other New Mexico donors are contributors from San Francisco, Chicago, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Oakland, New York City, Providence, Boulder, Seattle and dozens of other out-of-state communities.

This is not a new phenomenon. Haaland’s campaign has openly promoted its national small-dollar reach; in April it reported more than 314,000 individual donations and said over 96% of its online donations during that reporting period were under $100.

Then there’s Hull

Hull’s report is almost the geographic reverse.

Piñon Post counted 1,902 positive contribution transactions in his filing.

Of those, 1,859 — 97.7% — came from New Mexico addresses.

Those New Mexico contributions totaled $891,844.94, or approximately 94.5% of the money Hull raised during the reporting period.

Only 43 positive contribution transactions came from outside New Mexico, totaling $51,570.86.

Put another way: Haaland recorded more than 1,400 times as many out-of-state contribution transactions as Hull during the period and nearly 40 times as many out-of-state dollars.

Hull campaign spokesman Ryan Saylor told the Santa Fe New Mexican that “more than nine out of every ten dollars we raised came from New Mexicans, across 1,900 contributions, and over half of those gifts were $100 or less.”

The filing substantiates the central geographic claim.

Hull’s donor pages repeatedly identify New Mexico retirees, teachers, nurses, construction workers, sales representatives, truck drivers, small-business owners and ranchers from Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Farmington, Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Hobbs, Roswell, Carlsbad and smaller communities across the state.

His campaign made a similar argument following an earlier filing, saying 415 of 424 donations during that period came from New Mexicans.

The ActBlue footprint

Haaland’s expenditure report contains repeated payments to ActBlue Technical Services for credit-card processing.

Piñon Post calculated 14 ActBlue payments totaling $91,128.11 during the reporting period. Individual payments included $840.45, $2,617.02, $2,927.04, $5,783.49, $6,709.92 and, near the end of the period, an $8,628.55 payment on Sept. 7.

By comparison, Hull reported $16,465.34 in Anedot contribution-processing fees, along with a separate $41.03 WinRed expense.

There is an important distinction: Haaland’s individual contributor entries do not label every donation as having passed through ActBlue. The report therefore does not establish that all 74,634 positive transactions were ActBlue transactions.

What the filing does establish is the scale of the fundraising operation.

Haaland’s median positive contribution was approximately $12.50, and roughly 97% of her positive contribution transactions were $100 or less.

Hull’s median positive contribution was $100, while his filing contained a fraction of Haaland’s transaction volume.

Raising millions also costs millions

The spending reports add another dimension to the comparison.

Haaland spent $2.28 million during the period — more than three times Hull’s $731,602.

Her largest expenditure stream was not travel, campaign events or office supplies. It was the professional infrastructure needed to run a large national campaign.

Piñon Post’s vendor analysis found Haaland paid Washington, D.C.-based Sage Media Planning & Placement approximately $616,314.84, principally for advertising buys.

She also paid Washington-based MissionWired approximately $520,808.18 for digital fundraising.

Combined, those two firms accounted for approximately $1.137 million — essentially half of Haaland’s entire spending for the period.

MissionWired entries in the report are explicitly described as “Digital Fundraising,” including payments of $61,988 on July 10 and $50,000.24 on July 31.

The campaign also spent heavily on staffing and infrastructure. Piñon Post calculated approximately $300,049 in direct campaign-worker salaries, plus roughly $130,538 in payments to Payroll Data Processing, largely for payroll taxes and services.

Haaland also spent about $30,761 on Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance for campaign personnel. Her report shows a $13,974.74 health-insurance payment alone on June 30.

Then there is the technology and communications apparatus.

Haaland’s campaign reported approximately $67,014 to NGP VAN for campaign software, $54,783 to Message Digital for texting, and $50,477 to Switchboard for texting services.

Other notable expenditures included roughly $59,257 to McKenna Media for media production, $32,342 to Cat Eye Studios for direct-mail consulting, $27,000 to Washington-based GBAO for research, $24,096 to Elias Law Group for legal services, approximately $16,497 to Spiros Consulting for research and $16,144 to Strategies 360 for fundraising consulting. The report itself lists GBAO’s $27,000 expenditure as “Research Services” and documents multiple Elias Law Group and Cat Eye Studios payments.

More than $600,000 spent on two pieces of the fundraising machine

One comparison puts the scale into perspective.

Haaland spent approximately $520,808 on MissionWired’s digital fundraising operation and another $91,128 in ActBlue processing fees.

Combined: $611,936.29.

That is roughly 84% of everything Hull spent on his campaign during the entire reporting period.

And Haaland’s approximately $616,315 Sage Media bill alone was nearly as large as Hull’s entire $731,602 expenditure total.

Hull’s spending is smaller — and heavily aimed at advertising

Hull’s campaign is hardly devoid of professional consultants or out-of-state vendors.

His largest vendor was Virginia-based Peakland Strategies, which received approximately $312,715.38, or about 43% of Hull’s total spending.

The filing shows repeated Peakland payments for campaign consulting and television work, including a $67,424.68 consulting payment on July 21, a $22,652.69 consulting expenditure on Aug. 28 and a $100,000 television/cable airtime and production payment on Aug. 31.

Hull also spent $70,250 with Red Surge for television/cable airtime and production and $63,003.67 with Albuquerque-based Cumulus for radio airtime and production.

Another $18,000 went to Content Creators LLC for television/cable production.

Other significant Hull expenses included approximately $43,718 to Rio Rancho-based Rycor LLC for consulting, campaign materials and postage; $33,150 to Jose Orozco, primarily for consulting and reimbursements; roughly $22,787 to Perez & Assoc./Perez & Associates for fundraising consulting; approximately $19,525 to Manny Lardizabal for consulting and campaign-office expenses; and about $15,967 to Albuquerque-based Graphic Connections for campaign materials.

Hull’s filing also contains the sort of smaller travel and campaign expenses common in a statewide race — gas stations, parking, restaurants, hotels, flights and community-event fees — alongside those much larger advertising and consulting bills.

Two different campaign machines

Haaland emphasized the breadth of her coalition after filing the report.

“I know firsthand how hard people work to earn every paycheck, and I am deeply grateful for everyone who shares my vision for New Mexico,” she said, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Her campaign has previously touted raising more money from New Mexico than any other candidate in the race, while also emphasizing hundreds of thousands of contributions and a large national small-dollar network.

Hull, meanwhile, is raising significantly less money overall but has emphasized the in-state nature of his support. His campaign has described its fundraising model as building support “one donor at a time” among New Mexicans.

The filings show both campaigns rely on professional political consultants, advertising companies and technology vendors. They also show unmistakably different fundraising maps.

The raw headline is $3.43 million for Haaland versus $943,416 for Hull.

The deeper numbers are 61,312 out-of-state Haaland contribution transactions versus 43 for Hull; approximately $2.05 million in out-of-state Haaland contributions versus $51,571 for Hull; and a Haaland campaign spending more than $600,000 during the period on digital fundraising and ActBlue processing alone.

Hull’s campaign, meanwhile, derived more than 94 cents of every contribution dollar from New Mexico addresses, then directed a large portion of its substantially smaller budget toward television, radio and campaign consulting.

Those figures do not determine which candidate has broader voter support. Campaign donations are not votes.

But they do provide a detailed picture of two fundamentally different financial operations competing to elect New Mexico’s next governor.

New financial reports reveal stark Haaland-Hull fundraising divide Read More »

Embattled Dem’s latest filing packed with fast food, hotels, 94 ‘Bank Card’ charges

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New Mexico state Rep. Joseph Hernandez’s latest campaign-finance report is in, and the spending pattern previously documented by the Piñon Post did not end with the earlier filings.

The Shiprock lawmaker’s First General Report, filed Sept. 14 with the New Mexico Secretary of State, shows another $6,797.40 in campaign expenditures, including hotels, restaurants, fast food, gas stations, convenience stores, taxis, airfare, grocery and retail purchases, and a new reporting description that appears again and again:

“Bank Card.”

A Piñon Post line-by-line review found 99 individual expenditure entries in the new report. Ninety-four of them — nearly 95% — contain “Bank Card” as the transaction description. Those transactions account for $6,407.40 of the $6,797.40 spent during the reporting period.

Using a debit or bank card is not itself unusual or evidence of wrongdoing. But “Bank Card” explains only how the expenditure was paid, while many of the accompanying purpose categories remain broad descriptions such as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals,” “meetings and appearances,” or “fundraising events.”

The filing comes weeks after Piñon Post reported on more than $101,000 in prior Hernandez campaign spending, including restaurants, fried-chicken chains, grocery and big-box stores, hotels, gift cards, cash withdrawals and unusual banking transactions.

The newest disclosure shows many of those same spending patterns continuing.

Another trail of fast food and restaurant charges

The latest report contains at least $1,000 in readily identifiable restaurant, fast-food, diner and coffee-shop spending, not counting grocery stores, convenience stores or many merchants whose names do not make the nature of the purchase obvious.

Among the familiar names are Domino’s, Panda Express, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Golden Corral, Sonic, Which Wich, McDonald’s, Little Caesars, Starbucks and Blake’s Lotaburger.

On July 10, the campaign spent $46.02 at Domino’s in Salt Lake City.

Four days later came $11.48 at Panda Express in Roswell and $17 at Taco Bell in Farmington.

Then came $19 at Dairy Queen in Monte Vista, Colorado, on July 15; $30 at Domino’s in Golden, Colorado, on July 17; and, on July 20, $50.30 at Golden Corral in Pueblo and $28.81 at Sonic in Golden.

The food spending continued into August.

On Aug. 3, the campaign reported $29.57 at Great American Bagel in Chicago, $19.15 at McDonald’s in Shiprock, and $49.39 at Starbucks in Farmington.

Two days later came $61.55 at TJ’s Diner in Farmington, followed the next day by $53.22 at Nataani Nez Restaurant in Shiprock.

On Aug. 7, Hernandez’s campaign reported $34.03 at Little Caesars in Albuquerque.

Three days later came $41 at Domino’s in Shiprock, followed by $5.57 at The Coffee Ship. The next day brought $9.17 at Sonic in Shiprock.

On Aug. 13, the campaign spent $22.03 at Blake’s Lotaburger and reported two charges — $8 and $115.50 — at Daanzho Restaurant in Dulce.

Then came another $7.30 at Starbucks, $13.34 at McDonald’s, $8.09 at Sonic, and $8.75 at The Coffee Ship before the reporting period ended.

A conservative tally of only readily identifiable fast-food and counter-service chains — including Domino’s, Panda Express, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Which Wich, McDonald’s, Little Caesars, Blake’s and Great American Bagel — comes to more than $350 in this single report alone.

That does not include sit-down restaurants, coffee shops, buffets or food purchases from grocery and convenience stores.

The Chicago trip is now in the campaign ledger

The report also provides the most detailed campaign-finance picture yet of Hernandez’s trip to Chicago, where the National Conference of State Legislatures held its 2026 Legislative Summit from July 27 through July 29 at McCormick Place. NCSL’s official schedule confirms the conference dates and shows events running throughout July 29, including a closing event at Navy Pier that evening.

Hernandez later withdrew from his reelection campaign after reports surfaced about a Chicago hotel incident during the conference. Hernandez apologized for his behavior and said he was seeking professional help for “challenges with alcohol.” News reports citing a Chicago police report said officers responded after reports of a man running naked in a hotel hallway and knocking on doors.

His new campaign report now shows $828.40 in campaign-account transactions in Chicago from July 27 through July 30 alone.

On July 27, Hernandez’s campaign reported spending at a Chicago taxi service, HOB Restaurant, four separate Hyatt Regency Chicago transactions and another Chicago merchant.

The HOB Restaurant entry was $48.05. The listed address — 329 N. Dearborn St. — corresponds to the House of Blues Restaurant & Bar in Chicago.

On July 28, the campaign reported another taxi transaction and two purchases at Expresso and Milk.

Then came July 29 — the date associated with the hotel incident in news reports.

Hernandez’s campaign reported seven expenditures that day totaling $378.98: $21.23 at “Chicago Down Town Hotel,” $20.22 at “Cmt Chicago IL,” three taxi charges of $14.41, $17.38 and $24.61, a $17.88 McCormick Place charge, and a much larger $263.25 “Pin Debit Dda” transaction at a Chicago address.

All seven were placed under “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.”

All seven were described as “Bank Card.”

The following day, July 30, the campaign reported another $199.12 in Chicago transactions: $50 and $120 entries at “China Hotel” and two additional taxi charges.

The filings themselves do not establish that any of those purchases were improper, nor do they disclose what specifically was purchased in the $263.25 debit transaction.

Hotels across several states

The latest disclosure also contains substantial lodging expenses outside Chicago.

On June 29, the campaign spent $411.09 at Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero. The next day came $320.55 at Hyatt House Denver.

On July 10, the campaign reported $363.14 at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, presumably for the Council of State Governments West conference. Three days later, another Salt Lake City hotel entry — Hyatt Place — cost the campaign $681.39.

Other lodging expenses included $108.97 at Candlewood Suites in Roswell, $123.09 plus a separate $4 charge at a Hampton Inn in Pueblo, and $160.72 at Staybridge Suites in Albuquerque.

There were also repeated gas-station and convenience-store expenditures at Allsup’s, Maverik, Speedway, Sinclair, Shiprock Quickstop, 7-2-11, Circle K and other locations.

And one familiar merchant from Hernandez’s older reports surfaced again.

On Aug. 3, the campaign spent $47.68 at Circle W in Waterflow, categorized once again as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.”

Even another ATM entry

Despite the new emphasis on “Bank Card,” one transaction was reported differently.

On July 20, Hernandez himself is listed as the payee of a $10 ATM transaction.

Its campaign-purpose category reads:

“00-No Category Applies (Explain Below).”

The expenditure entry provides no substantive explanation of what the $10 was used for.

Previous Hernandez reports reviewed by Piñon Post included much larger cash-style and self-directed transactions, including $1,200 “Cash Out” entries, an over-the-counter transaction, ATM withdrawals and a $9,074.35 contribution Hernandez described as a “placeholder” to bring a negative reported balance above zero.

$6,797 spent, $4,245 raised

The new filing shows Hernandez entered the reporting period with $24,295.34 in cash.

He reported raising $4,245 while spending $6,797.40, leaving a closing balance of $21,742.94.

Contributions during the period included $500 from the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club PAC, $300 from the NEA-New Mexico Advocacy Fund for Public Education, $250 from Friends of Liz Stefanics, and $1,500 across two contributions from Craig Corwin. Hernandez also reported a $120 contribution from himself.

His campaign’s final reported expenditure in the filing came on Aug. 24, one day before he publicly announced his withdrawal from the reelection race.

That charge was $233.19 at Shamrock Food Service Warehouse in Farmington, categorized as a fundraising-event expense.

And, like 93 other expenditures in Hernandez’s newest report, its description consisted of the same two words:

“Bank Card.”

To read Hernandez’s latest campaign report, click here.

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Vasquez, Haaland board the Buttigieg baggage train

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Democrat U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez and gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland welcomed Joe Biden’s former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to Las Cruces on Sunday, tying their campaigns to one of the Biden administration’s highest-profile former Cabinet officials — whose four years overseeing the nation’s transportation system were marked by a series of major failures, safety controversies and federal watchdog warnings.

Hundreds of people attended the rally at Centennial High School, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, where Buttigieg campaigned for both Democrats and praised his former Biden administration colleague Haaland and Vasquez.

Buttigieg told the crowd Vasquez had him “on speed dial” while he led the Department of Transportation, touting federal money directed toward projects in southern New Mexico.

Cunningham, Vasquez’s Republican challenger, responded by highlighting the political company Vasquez was keeping.

“Gabe Vasquez has spent four years telling southern New Mexico he is a moderate,” Cunningham said in a statement reported by the New Mexican. “Today he is on a stage with a woman who ran the Interior Department while Washington froze new oil and gas leasing and a man who wanted to decriminalize illegal border crossing. That is not an accident.”

Vasquez, meanwhile, used social media after the rally to argue his campaign is about “unity, respect, and putting New Mexico values FIRST.”

But Buttigieg’s appearance also revives scrutiny of the record he compiled as transportation secretary from 2021 through January 2025.

Nationwide FAA shutdown on Buttigieg’s watch

One of the most extraordinary breakdowns occurred in January 2023, when a failure of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions system forced officials to halt departures across the United States.

It was the first nationwide ground stop of that scale since Sept. 11, 2001.

Buttigieg later testified that contract personnel had unintentionally deleted files while attempting to synchronize the live NOTAM database with its backup. The FAA grounded departures for nearly two hours while the problem was addressed.

The outage ultimately exposed much deeper problems.

A subsequent Government Accountability Office review found that the FAA considered 51 of its 138 air-traffic-control systems “unsustainable,” including systems suffering from obsolete functionality and difficulty obtaining replacement parts. GAO found that 17 were particularly concerning and that some modernization projects remained six to 10 years away.

Air-traffic-controller shortages persisted

The FAA also struggled with chronic controller shortages during Buttigieg’s tenure.

By May 2024, major airlines were publicly pressing the government to address staffing deficiencies, with some critical facilities relying on mandatory overtime and the FAA easing flight requirements around New York because it did not have enough controllers.

The FAA did increase hiring — including 1,811 controllers in fiscal 2024, slightly above its target — but the shortage remained a significant operational problem. Later GAO analysis found that the controller workforce had declined by roughly 6% over a decade while flights using the system increased about 10%. The shortage had roots extending before Buttigieg’s tenure, including pandemic-era training disruptions, but it remained unresolved when he left office.

Watchdog: FAA’s Boeing oversight was ‘not effective’

A separate and particularly serious criticism came from the Transportation Department’s own inspector general.

In October 2024, DOT’s Office of Inspector General concluded that the FAA’s processes for overseeing Boeing 737 and 787 production were “not effective.”

The watchdog said Boeing had experienced repeated production problems and that FAA’s processes for identifying and resolving manufacturing deficiencies needed improvement.

The scrutiny intensified after an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 lost a door plug in flight in January 2024.

The FAA subsequently grounded 171 MAX 9 aircraft, halted Boeing’s planned production expansion and increased inspectors at Boeing facilities.

The National Transportation Safety Board later concluded that Boeing’s inadequate training and oversight caused the incident — but it also found the FAA was ineffective in ensuring Boeing corrected known, repetitive manufacturing problems.

East Palestine response became political disaster

Buttigieg also faced fierce criticism following the Feb. 3, 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where cars carrying hazardous chemicals left the tracks and residents raised concerns about contamination and health effects.

Buttigieg waited roughly three weeks before personally visiting the community.

He later acknowledged that he should have acted publicly sooner.

“I could have spoken sooner about how strongly I felt about this incident, and that’s a lesson learned for me,” Buttigieg told CBS at the time. He later similarly acknowledged that he should have visited sooner.

Transportation secretaries do not ordinarily travel immediately to every derailment, and federal transportation personnel were on the ground earlier. Still, Buttigieg’s delayed public response became one of the defining controversies of his Cabinet tenure.

Billions for EV chargers, sluggish deployment

Another signature Biden-era transportation initiative also suffered a slow rollout.

The 2021 infrastructure law authorized $7.5 billion for two major federal EV-charging programs, including the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program overseen by the Federal Highway Administration.

Yet the first NEVI-funded stations did not open until late 2023.

By April 2025 — several months after Buttigieg left office — GAO found that the NEVI and Charging and Fueling Infrastructure programs combined had produced just 384 publicly open chargers. GAO also concluded that DOT and the Joint Office responsible for the effort had failed to fully define performance goals for major portions of the initiative.

The $7.5 billion was never intended to be spent immediately and was authorized across several fiscal years, but even Congress expressed concern about the pace of deployment, according to GAO.

Hundreds of watchdog recommendations remained open

The problems were broader than individual headline-making episodes.

By April 2024, GAO reported that DOT had 212 open recommendations, including 20 designated as priority recommendations because addressing them could improve safety, government operations, transparency or the stewardship of federal money.

DOT’s own inspector general also identified aviation safety, air-traffic modernization, surface transportation safety, infrastructure management, grant stewardship, cybersecurity and fraud prevention among the department’s major management challenges during Buttigieg’s final full year in office.

Haaland and Vasquez are presenting Buttigieg as a successful former Cabinet colleague who helped steer federal money toward New Mexico. Their opponents have a markedly different record to point to: a nationwide FAA shutdown, persistent controller shortages, ineffective Boeing oversight, a painfully delayed East Palestine appearance, a sluggish multibillion-dollar EV-charger rollout and hundreds of outstanding federal watchdog recommendations.

As Buttigieg attempts to build his own national profile ahead of 2028, Vasquez and Haaland are making clear that they are comfortable putting his Biden-era record alongside their own on the 2026 campaign trail.

Vasquez, Haaland board the Buttigieg baggage train Read More »

Vasquez attacks rival’s national spotlight, backlash follows

28 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez went on the offensive against Republican challenger Greg Cunningham after Cunningham used a nationally televised GOP convention speech to hammer crime, border security and fentanyl in New Mexico — accusing his opponent of abandoning New Mexicans to “kiss the ring” of President Donald Trump.

Cunningham, a retired Albuquerque police detective and Marine Corps veteran, spoke Thursday at the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, where he was among candidates from competitive congressional districts given a national platform. KOAT reported that Cunningham’s appearance underscored the growing national attention surrounding New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District race.

Vasquez responded with a video recorded from his truck.

“While New Mexicans are struggling to make ends meet, my opponent, @cunninghamfornm, is choosing to fly to Texas to stand on a stage and support President Trump and this extreme MAGA administration,” Vasquez wrote.

In the accompanying video, Vasquez contrasted Cunningham’s Dallas appearance with his own campaigning in southern New Mexico.

“I’m sitting in my truck heading to our campaign office to make some calls with some of our volunteers here in Las Cruces,” Vasquez said, adding that he had recently traveled through Silver City, Hatch, Deming and Las Cruces.

Then he turned his attention to Cunningham.

“So where’s my opponent today?” Vasquez asked. “Well, he’s in Dallas speaking at the Trumpapalooza. He’s kissing the ring, he’s cozying up with MAGA donors who are making millions in the Trump economy.”

Cunningham used stage to focus on New Mexico

Cunningham’s actual convention address, however, was heavily focused on New Mexico and his law-enforcement background.

He recounted serving in the Marine Corps during Desert Storm before joining the Albuquerque Police Department, where he said he worked patrol and narcotics and spent years undercover targeting gangs and cartels.

Cunningham then criticized Democratic leadership over crime, drugs and border security.

“Well, where has that gotten us?” Cunningham asked after noting Democrats control New Mexico’s governorship and Legislature and currently hold the state’s congressional delegation.

He also attacked Vasquez directly over his past rhetoric concerning policing and immigration enforcement.

“New Mexicans do not have to live this way,” Cunningham said. “Yes, the border can be closed. Illegal crossings can be stopped.”

The Dallas appearance was hardly accidental. Cunningham was specifically included among Republican nominees from competitive House districts featured at the convention, and national coverage singled out NM-02 as one of the races receiving attention.

Vasquez instead sought to turn the focus toward household expenses.

“Meanwhile in New Mexico folks here are digging deeper and deeper just to stay afloat, to buy a tank of gas, a gallon of milk, to pay for their prescriptions, to pay for their utility bills,” he said.

He opened the video by pointing out that national diesel prices had crossed $6 per gallon.

That claim is accurate. The national average exceeded $6 for the first time this week amid major global supply disruptions, including the conflict involving Iran and attacks on Russian refining infrastructure, according to Reuters.

The cost-of-living issue has also become politically difficult for the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, with Reuters reporting that high prices remain a major concern as the midterms approach.

Vasquez’s sharpest personal attack involved Trump’s recent social-media posts floating the name “New America” for New Mexico.

“Greg just stepped off the stage where just yesterday President Trump was openly mocking New Mexico and not a peep from Greg,” Vasquez said. “Pretty spineless if you ask me.”

Trump recently posted an altered image replacing “Mexico” with “America” in the state’s name, prompting widespread reactions from Democratic elected officials. Trump cannot unilaterally change New Mexico’s legal name; doing so would require changing the state Constitution.

Vasquez then took the argument further.

“This should give an idea to all New Mexicans of how Greg would govern in Congress,” he said. “For Donald Trump and for New America, not for the gente.”

“Or should I say for the people because I’m not sure Trump is going to let you speak Spanish in his New America,” Vasquez added.

That latter remark was political rhetoric; there has been no announced proposal to prohibit New Mexicans from speaking Spanish.

Vasquez’s post also drew a wave of criticism in the replies on X.

Some commenters simply wrote “As he should” in response to Cunningham attending the convention, while another posted “New America.” Others accused Vasquez of being responsible for New Mexico’s economic problems or dismissed his attack as a “dumb take.”

One user told Vasquez, “New Mexicans are struggling because of your leadership,” while another predicted, “you’re gonna lose.” Another mocked what the user described as Vasquez being “ratioed again.”

Social-media replies are not a scientific measure of voter sentiment and can be shaped by algorithms, activist accounts and national audiences. But the response showed that Vasquez’s attack did not go unanswered online.

The increasingly sharp rhetoric reflects the stakes in NM-02.

Vasquez and Cunningham are running in a district Trump carried in 2024 even as voters reelected Vasquez to Congress. Trump defeated Kamala Harris there 49.9%-48.1%, while Vasquez defeated Republican Yvette Herrell 52.1%-47.9%. The district is one of 23 Trump-won House seats currently represented by Democrats.

Cunningham is attempting to make the race about crime, policing, the border and Democratic control of New Mexico.

Vasquez, meanwhile, is increasingly framing Cunningham as an extension of Trump and arguing that economic costs should dominate the campaign.

After Cunningham took that argument to a national Republican audience in Dallas, Vasquez made clear he was not going to let the moment pass quietly.

Vasquez attacks rival’s national spotlight, backlash follows Read More »

Cunningham puts NM’s crime crisis in national spotlight at GOP convention

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Republican congressional candidate Greg Cunningham used a national stage in Dallas Thursday to put New Mexico’s crime, border and fentanyl problems at the center of his campaign against Democrat U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, delivering a roughly four-minute address at the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention.

Cunningham, a retired Albuquerque police detective and Marine veteran challenging Vasquez in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, was the only New Mexico candidate listed on the convention’s announced speaking schedule. The official program placed him in the opening block Thursday at the American Airlines Center, alongside other congressional candidates and Republican officials.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other high-profile Republicans headlined the two-day gathering, which the GOP organized in an effort to energize its voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

But Cunningham kept his speech almost entirely focused on New Mexico.

“Ever since my first ride-along, I knew I was born to be a police officer,” Cunningham told the crowd.

After serving in the Marine Corps and seeing combat during Desert Storm, Cunningham said he returned to his home state and joined the Albuquerque Police Department, eventually spending more than two decades in law enforcement.

“I worked on patrol and narcotics,” he said. “I spent years going undercover to fight gangs and cartels.”

Cunningham then turned directly to politics, arguing that Democratic control in Santa Fe and New Mexico’s all-Democratic congressional delegation had failed to make the state safer.

“Well, where has that gotten us?” Cunningham asked.

He cited New Mexico’s violent crime, property crime and drug-overdose problems as evidence.

The most recent fully comparable FBI-derived state data from 2024 showed New Mexico with 717 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, second only to Alaska among states — making New Mexico the highest among the contiguous 48 states. New Mexico also had the highest property-crime rate of any state, at 2,751 offenses per 100,000 people.

Nationally, violent and property crime fell sharply in 2025, according to newly released FBI figures, though those national declines do not necessarily reflect identical trends in every state or community.

Cunningham takes aim at Vasquez

The Republican reserved some of his sharpest criticism for Vasquez.

“My Democrat opponent, Gabe Vasquez, pretends to be a moderate,” Cunningham said, before pointing to Vasquez’s past rhetoric on policing and immigration enforcement.

During the 2020 racial-justice protests, Vasquez wrote that Americans needed to “deconstruct and rebuild the systems of oppression that keep black people in perpetual harm.” In another 2020 social-media post responding to a discussion about abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Vasquez wrote: “The only ICE we need to be melting.” Those past statements have repeatedly resurfaced during his congressional campaigns.

Vasquez’s more recent record includes calls for changes at ICE while supporting funding for other Department of Homeland Security agencies. In March, for example, he described himself as “steadfast” in seeking “serious, substantive reform for ICE,” while demanding funding for TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard.

Cunningham also highlighted Vasquez’s vote this year against a House resolution honoring law enforcement officers and crediting their work in reducing crime. Vasquez was among Democrats voting against the measure.

“New Mexicans do not have to live this way,” Cunningham said. “Yes, the border can be closed. Illegal crossings can be stopped.”

He credited Trump and congressional Republicans with changing immigration enforcement and targeting fentanyl trafficking.

Emotional tribute to Charlie Kirk

Cunningham closed on a more personal note, marking Thursday’s one-year anniversary of the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10, 2025, at Utah Valley University.

“I very literally would not be here if not for Charlie,” Cunningham said.

He told the audience that Kirk had visited his church and inspired him “to take a stand and answer a call to serve on this new battlefield.”

“And his horrific assassination exactly one year ago today convinced me that I needed to step up and run for Congress,” Cunningham said.

He finished by returning to the themes of public safety and border security.

“Law-abiding, hard-working New Mexicans want to live in peace and safety,” he said. “We want to keep our borders secure.”

NM-02 gets national attention

Cunningham’s convention appearance comes as national Republicans devote increasing attention to the Vasquez race.

House Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Albuquerque last month to campaign with Cunningham, who emphasized his 22 years in law enforcement during that visit.

The district is also unusual nationally: it is one of a small number of congressional districts that Trump carried in 2024 while remaining represented by a Democrat. Vasquez won reelection that year, and the district has produced close races in recent cycles.

Financially, the two candidates have also attracted substantial support. Federal campaign-finance figures reported by KOAT in July showed Cunningham raising $901,786 during the second quarter, narrowly exceeding Vasquez’s $900,884 during the same period, although Vasquez remained ahead in total cycle fundraising at that point.

Thursday’s appearance gave Cunningham an opportunity to make his case well beyond New Mexico.

His message in Dallas was straightforward: he wants the 2nd District contest framed around crime, law enforcement, the border and the direction of a state whose government is currently dominated by Democrats.

Whether those issues ultimately persuade voters will be determined in November, but Cunningham used his biggest national speaking opportunity yet to make clear what he wants the race to be about.

Cunningham puts NM’s crime crisis in national spotlight at GOP convention Read More »

NM race to get national spotlight at GOP midterm convention

15 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Republican congressional candidate Greg Cunningham is set to appear on the national stage this week as the GOP puts New Mexico’s closely watched 2nd Congressional District contest in the spotlight at its first-ever midterm convention in Dallas.

Cunningham, the Republican nominee challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, is among a relatively small group of House candidates scheduled to speak at the Sept. 9-10 event, according to a preliminary speaker list first reported by Axios.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to address the convention, while Vice President JD Vance will also deliver a keynote. The broader lineup includes House Speaker Mike Johnson, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump Jr., former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and other Republican officials and candidates. The convention is intended in large part to boost Republican turnout ahead of November’s elections.

For New Mexico, however, Cunningham’s inclusion stands out.

According to the announced roster, he is the only New Mexico congressional candidate currently listed among the speakers. New Mexico Political Report similarly noted that Cunningham is, so far, the only New Mexico candidate or elected official on the announced agenda.

Cunningham, a retired Albuquerque police detective and Marine veteran, won the Republican nomination for the 2nd District in June and is challenging Vasquez in November.

On social media Sunday, Cunningham confirmed that he plans to attend the Dallas gathering.

“I’m going to be highlighting the State of New Mexico for the rest of the country,” Cunningham said, according to New Mexico Political Report.

Addressing Vasquez directly in a video, Cunningham said he intends to use the national platform to focus on “what you and your party have done to our state.”

The appearance comes just weeks after Johnson traveled to Albuquerque to campaign with Cunningham, another sign that national Republicans are putting attention on the southern New Mexico-based congressional contest.

Trump, Vance and major GOP figures headline

The Dallas convention will feature Trump prominently across the two-day event, with organizers framing it as a way to keep Trump-aligned voters engaged even though the president himself is not on the ballot.

Axios reported that roughly 100 Republican lawmakers and candidates are expected to participate either as speakers or attendees.

Among the congressional candidates scheduled to appear are Republicans running in competitive races in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, New York, Ohio and Texas.

Cunningham’s placement alongside that group suggests national Republicans are treating NM-02 as one of the contests worth showcasing during the convention.

The event will also include Senate candidates such as Michigan Republican Mike Rogers and North Carolina Republican Michael Whatley, along with sitting lawmakers including New York Rep. Mike Lawler and Pennsylvania Reps. Rob Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, according to Axios.

Vasquez attacks Cunningham over Trump alignment

Vasquez’s campaign has responded by trying to make Cunningham’s participation a liability.

According to New Mexico Political Report, Vasquez criticized Cunningham over the weekend for appearing at a Trump-centered event shortly after Trump posted a meme depicting New Mexico as “New America.”

Trump shared an altered map in which “Mexico” was crossed out and replaced with “America,” prompting responses from several Democratic members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation.

Vasquez wrote separately that Trump did not have the right to “erase New Mexico” and argued that Cunningham’s appearance at the Dallas convention demonstrated his alignment with the president.

That dispute now gives both campaigns a preview of the message they may take into the final weeks of the race: Cunningham is embracing the opportunity to appear alongside national Republican leaders, while Vasquez is seeking to connect Cunningham as closely as possible to Trump and his agenda.

National attention turns to NM-02

The convention comes as Republicans focus heavily on turnout and congressional control.

Axios reported that organizers are particularly concerned about whether voters who turned out for Trump in 2024 will return to the polls in a midterm election when his name is not on the ballot.

That makes candidates such as Cunningham important to the event’s broader strategy: tie competitive congressional races to national Republican messaging while giving candidates a chance to introduce themselves to activists and donors around the country.

For Cunningham, the Dallas appearance provides perhaps his largest national platform yet.

Rather than simply attending, he is on the announced speaker roster alongside some of the highest-profile figures in Republican politics.

And with Cunningham preparing to use the convention to make his case about New Mexico while Vasquez attacks him for standing with Trump, the already high-profile NM-02 race is poised to receive even more national attention this week.

NM race to get national spotlight at GOP midterm convention Read More »

Trump jokes about new name for NM — and libs take the bait

35 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

President Donald Trump spent Sunday doing what he has repeatedly proven capable of doing: posting an outrageous meme, sitting back, and watching Democrats rush to respond.

This time, New Mexico’s entire Democratic political establishment practically lined up to take the bait.

Trump shared an altered map of New Mexico on Truth Social in which the word “Mexico” was crossed out and replaced with “America,” turning the state into “New America.” The official White House X account subsequently amplified the image, where it quickly racked up millions of views.

Trump later leaned even further into the joke.

“Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA,” Trump wrote. “So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!”

There is no executive order renaming New Mexico, and Trump cannot simply rename a state on his own. The post followed an online satirical claim that he had already done so, which was false. But rather than shrugging off the obvious provocation, New Mexico Democrats responded as though the state’s 47th star might vanish from the flag overnight.

Democrats take the bait

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich posted:

“Three things I will always call by their actual names…

The Gulf of Mexico

Lake Ontario

New Mexico”

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández similarly fired back, writing, “Nope. We are older and prouder than your newest distraction.”

Second Congressional District Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez devoted an even longer response to the meme.

“You don’t get to erase New Mexico,” Vasquez wrote. “Not our name. Not our history. Not our culture. The President may want to call us ‘New America,’ but we know who we are.”

Vasquez then attempted to turn Trump’s trolling into an attack on his Republican congressional opponent, Greg Cunningham.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján went further, responding to the president with a personal insult.

“It’s New Mexico, always has been and always will be,” Luján wrote. “Just like how you’ll always be a sinvergüenza and corrupt.”

Rep. Melanie Stansbury also erupted over the post.

“Oh hell no!” she wrote. “Our state’s name carries generations of history, culture, and family—and it belongs to us. We’re New Mexicans. Period.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham joined in, insisting New Mexico’s name “isn’t up for debate” and accusing Trump of using the post as a distraction.

All of that over a meme.

Trump has been on a renaming streak

The joke did not come completely out of nowhere.

Trump famously ordered the federal government shortly after returning to office to use “Gulf of America” in place of the Gulf of Mexico.

Then, on Aug. 27, Trump signed another executive order directing the Interior Department and federal Board on Geographic Names to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” for official U.S. federal purposes.

The order directed the government’s Geographic Names Information System to adopt “Lake America” and instructed federal agencies to use the new designation in maps and other government communications.

Apple and Google subsequently began showing “Lake America” to users in the United States, although Canada and international users continue to see Lake Ontario.

So when Trump posted a map changing “New Mexico” to “New America,” the setup was obvious.

Unlike bodies of water under federal geographic-naming authority, however, Trump does not possess unilateral authority to change a state’s name. Such a move would require considerably more than a Truth Social post and almost certainly action involving New Mexico itself and Congress.

That distinction did not stop the meltdown.

One meme, an entire delegation responding

The reaction illustrates a political formula Trump has used for years: throw something deliberately provocative onto social media and force opponents to decide whether to ignore it or give it vastly more attention.

New Mexico Democrats chose option two.

Within hours, both U.S. senators, multiple members of Congress, and the governor were publicly assuring residents that, yes, New Mexico was still New Mexico.

Meanwhile, the official White House account amplified the original image to an audience of millions.

Whether Trump was actually testing another naming campaign or simply trolling a heavily Democratic state, the result was the same: one altered map consumed the attention of New Mexico’s top Democrats for much of the day.

And if the goal was to get a reaction, it worked spectacularly.

Trump jokes about new name for NM — and libs take the bait Read More »

Romero scandal explodes as taxpayer-funded Epstein PR firm quits

11 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

The controversy surrounding Democrat state Rep. Andrea Romero is widening after a taxpayer-funded public relations firm hired to assist New Mexico’s Jeffrey Epstein “truth commission” became entangled in Romero’s personal political crisis — and then abruptly parted ways with the commission.

Romero, who chairs the Survivors Truth Commission examining Epstein’s activities in New Mexico, was already under fire after resigning from a part-time job at the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Attorney General Raúl Torrez determined that an ongoing paid position with a prosecutor’s office was unlawful for a sitting legislator, rejecting Romero’s contention that his office had previously given her permission to hold both jobs.

Now Republican lawmakers say Romero compounded the problem by involving Dini von Mueffling Communications, the Manhattan public relations firm taxpayers were paying to handle communications for the Epstein commission.

The firm’s contract with the Legislative Council Service began Aug. 11 and carried a maximum value of $60,000, according to Source NM. Its role was to manage media inquiries and communications connected to the commission’s work.

Instead, the firm issued a statement on Romero’s behalf concerning her resignation from the district attorney’s office — a matter involving Romero personally rather than the commission’s investigation.

That prompted Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, to call for Romero to resign both as commission chair and from the New Mexico House.

“The evidence suggests she used taxpayer dollars appropriated for a truth commission investigating one of the most notorious predators in modern history to instead pay a contractor to clean up her own political mess,” Sharer said, according to Source NM. “That is not what that money was for, and it is exactly the kind of self-dealing New Mexico’s Governmental Conduct Act was written to stop.”

Sharer said he has also asked the State Ethics Commission to investigate.

PR firm exits after lawmakers ask questions

Republican commission members Reps. Andrea Reeb of Clovis and William Hall of Aztec said the situation became even more troubling when they sought additional information from the PR firm about its communications with Romero.

According to KOB and the Santa Fe New Mexican, rather than provide the requested details — including emails between the firm and Romero — Dini von Mueffling Communications resigned from its role with the commission.

“We are deeply concerned with Representative Romero’s misuse of the Epstein Truth Commission’s PR firm – Dini von Mueffling Consulting – for a personal employment issue,” Reeb and Hall said in a joint statement reported by KRQE and KOB.

They added that the firm’s decision to leave rather than provide additional information was especially troubling.

“The credibility of this committee is of the utmost importance, and unfortunately, recent events have jeopardized that credibility,” they said.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported the firm’s responsibilities included “composing and editing press and media releases and responding to public inquiries” for the Epstein commission.

Romero says it was a mistake

Romero has acknowledged that the commission’s communications contractor became involved in her personal statement, but she insists it happened accidentally.

In an email obtained by KRQE, Romero told fellow commissioners she had separately worked with the House Democratic communications team on her resignation statement while also contacting the commission’s PR firm to prepare language intended to protect the commission’s integrity.

She said that amid a “flurry of emails and drafts,” she mistakenly approved the PR firm’s version.

“For this, I’m deeply sorry,” Romero wrote. “I want to be clear with you all: this was an individual error on my part and I take full responsibility for that mistake.”

In a subsequent public statement, Romero again apologized, saying she had been out of the country grieving the death of a loved one, making communications more difficult.

“This was unintentional and I sincerely apologize for the confusion created,” she said, according to Source NM and KRQE.

Romero also announced that the PR firm and commission were “parting ways.”

Republicans say explanation raises more questions

Reeb and Hall pushed back after Romero emphasized that commission statements normally require approval from all members.

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Republicans stressed that they had not approved the statement involving Romero’s employment dispute and only learned about it after it appeared publicly.

“Her latest statement appears to be an attempt to rewrite the record after the fact and avoid responsibility for her own actions,” they said. “That only raises further concerns about her judgment and the credibility of this Commission.”

A House Democratic spokesperson said Romero was not claiming that the other commissioners had approved the statement.

Torrez-Romero feud still simmering

The controversy stems from Romero’s earlier resignation from the Santa Fe prosecutor’s office.

After Torrez clarified that state law bars sitting lawmakers from holding ongoing paid positions with district attorney offices, Romero initially accused the attorney general of disrupting the Truth Commission’s work.

Torrez’s office fired back forcefully.

“We appreciate her frustration at losing her part-time job at the District Attorney’s Office, but we reject any insinuation that our recently released guidance on that issue was motivated by anything other than the law,” his office said, according to KOB.

Torrez’s office then added a particularly pointed jab, saying it hoped Romero’s “newfound commitment to victims’ rights” would be evident in the coming legislative session, “not just on social media.”

Romero has since softened her position, saying Thursday, “I acknowledge and support the AG’s decision and encourage any other lawmakers in the same position to follow this guidance.”

Calls for Romero to step down intensify

Republicans are now arguing that the PR controversy, layered on top of the district attorney employment dispute, has damaged Romero’s ability to credibly lead the Epstein commission.

“Essentially, she created another set of victims, and in this case, the victims are the taxpayers of New Mexico,” Sen. Steve Lanier, R-Aztec, told KOB.

Republicans have also renewed questions about the commission’s interim report and the absence of gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland’s name, with Lanier alleging Romero removed it without other commissioners’ knowledge. Those allegations have previously been reported by KOB and remain part of the broader dispute over the commission’s handling of politically sensitive material.

For Romero, what began as a controversy over an allegedly unlawful government job has now spread into questions about taxpayer-funded communications, the resignation of the commission’s outside PR firm, multiple ethics complaints, and calls for her to leave both the commission and the Legislature.

Romero says she wants to move forward.

Republicans say the controversy is nowhere near over.

Romero scandal explodes as taxpayer-funded Epstein PR firm quits Read More »

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