Politics

Scandal-plagued Dem quits race after streaking, campaign cash bombshells

11 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

PIÑON POST EXCLUSIVE — New Mexico House Rep. Joseph Hernandez is already under fire after apologizing for a bizarre Chicago hotel incident involving allegations of public nudity, banging on guest doors, and police escorting him off the property.

In a stunning new development, Hernandez has withdrawn his candidacy for reelection, as has exclusively been revealed to the Piñon Post by those close with the incident, though he has not resigned from the House seat he currently holds, as of publication.

​Hernandez wrote in a statement hours following this report, “After careful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to withdraw my candidacy from the upcoming general election. At this time, I believe the best decision for me and those I love is to focus on my health and my family, while continuing to serve the community that entrusted me with this office through the remainder of my term.” He added, “I will have no further comment regarding my decision to withdraw and respectfully ask for privacy for myself and my family.”

That move could throw Democrats into even deeper chaos.

According to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s 2026 candidate guide, the 2026 general election is set for Nov. 3. The guide says a post-primary vacancy on the general election ballot may be filled only if the vacancy occurs 90 or more days before the general election, which the SOS identifies as on or before Aug. 5, 2026. The same guide lists Aug. 25, 2026, as the last day candidates can withdraw from the general election and the last day to nominate a candidate to fill a post-primary vacancy on the general ballot.

State law likewise says a qualified party may fill a vacancy only if it occurs after the primary but “ninety or more days before the general election,” and that appointments to fill vacancies must be filed on or before the 70th day before the general election.

That means if Hernandez’s withdrawal came after the Aug. 5 vacancy window, Democrats may be unable to simply replace him on the ballot, even if party insiders scramble to name someone else. If his withdrawal paperwork was not timely or legally effective, his name could remain a major problem for Democrats heading into November.

Either way, the timing is disastrous.

Hernandez is not resigning from office, meaning the scandal-plagued Democrat may continue serving in the Legislature even as his campaign collapses under the weight of an alcohol-related hotel scandal, unanswered campaign finance questions, and mounting calls for transparency.

Now, the Shiprock Democrat’s campaign finance reports are raising a new set of questions about his judgment, transparency, and use of donor money. Recent reports especially raise the appearance that his campaign account was being used less like a political campaign account and more like a personal spending account.

An extensive Piñon Post review of Hernandez’s campaign filings found more than $101,700 in reported expenditures across the reports reviewed, including thousands of dollars in restaurants, fast food, grocery stores, gas stations, hotels, cash-style withdrawals, payments to himself, pawn-shop-linked charges categorized as travel and meals, and expenses that appear to overlap with official legislative travel.

The findings come just days after Hernandez admitted he is seeking help for “challenges with alcohol” following the Chicago scandal.

“I want to sincerely apologize to my family and my community for my behavior during a recent stay in Chicago,” Hernandez wrote in a public Facebook statement. “My conduct was not reflective of my role as a state representative or my duty to you — my constituents, and I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

He added that he is “seeking professional help” to address “my challenges with alcohol that ultimately led to this regretful lapse in judgement.”

The Albuquerque Journal reported that a Chicago police incident report and two eyewitnesses alleged Hernandez was naked, running around the 17th floor of the Holiday Inn at Wolf Point, and “banging on other guests’ doors” before police were called. The Journal also reported that both eyewitnesses said Hernandez had “passed out” on a hotel lobby couch on a previous night of the same stay, leading to an earlier encounter with security.

Before those details became public, Hernandez had described the episode only as a “negative experience” with hotel security and police.

His campaign reports now tell another story: one of messy records, staggering spending, and unresolved questions.

New Mexico law allows campaign money to be used for campaign expenses and certain legislator expenses reasonably related to official duties, but it expressly excludes “personal and legislative session living expenses.” State regulations also say campaign spending must be reasonably attributable to the campaign and not to personal use or personal living expenses.

That makes several of Hernandez’s reported expenses stand out.

One of the most glaring issues is money paid directly to Hernandez himself.

Piñon Post identified at least $4,073 in payments, cash withdrawals, ATM transactions, over-the-counter bank transactions, or debit-card entries tied directly to Joseph Hernandez himself, with limited detail in the public filings. The filings identify only $267 as explicitly labeled ATM withdrawals, but the broader cash-style and self-directed transactions tied to Hernandez total at least $4,073.

These were not cleanly explained reimbursements in the public filings. Many were labeled with vague categories such as “fundraising events,” “candidate travel, lodging, and meals,” “meetings and appearances,” or “campaign paraphernalia/misc.”

One report shows $1,200 in “Cash Out” to Joseph Hernandez for “fundraising events” on June 5, 2024, another $5 cash-out to Hernandez the same day, and a separate $540 cash-out to Hernandez on June 7, 2024, for “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.” The same report also includes a $2,500 transaction to “DDA Citizen Bank” marked “00-No Category Applies,” along with multiple Speedway gift-card purchases described as compensation for workers.

A later 2026 report shows more self-directed transactions: $164 to Hernandez as an “ATM Withdrawal” for “meetings and appearances,” $450 to Hernandez through “DDA CK” for “candidate travel, lodging, and meals,” $1,200 to Hernandez through “DDK Over the Counter” for “candidate travel, lodging, and meals,” $120 to Hernandez through “Debit Withdrawal” for “fundraising events,” $103 to Hernandez through “ATM Debit DDAT4” for “candidate travel, lodging, and meals,” and another $120 to Hernandez through “CK OTC DDA CK” for “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.”

Campaign reimbursements can be legitimate if they are documented, campaign-related, and properly reported. But Hernandez’s filings provide little public detail about what was purchased, who ultimately received the money, whether receipts exist, or whether the spending overlapped with taxpayer-funded legislative per diem or mileage.

That matters because the reports also show major official-travel overlap questions.

Hernandez’s official legislative profile lists him as a member of the Indian Affairs Committee and Water and Natural Resources Committee, and as an advisory member of the Legislative Finance Committee. The 2026 interim calendar shows the Legislative Finance Committee met in Ruidoso from June 15 through June 18, while the Indian Affairs Committee met in Ruidoso from June 23 through June 25.

Legislators serving on interim committee business are eligible for per diem and mileage reimbursement for official travel.

Yet Hernandez’s campaign filings show a string of Ruidoso and Mescalero-area charges in the same general period.

On June 22, 2026, Hernandez’s campaign reported $409.47 at Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.” The same day, the campaign also reported $11.73 at Sbarro Pizza at the same Carrizo Canyon Road address. Nearby entries include charges at Allsup’s, Domino’s, Nataani Nez Restaurant, and other travel or food-related merchants.

The report also lists a $126.23 charge at The Ranchers in Ruidoso on June 26 as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.” The Ranchers is a steakhouse-style restaurant whose menu includes items such as ribeye, filet of beef, butter lobster pasta, elk tenderloin, desserts, burgers, seafood, and other higher-dollar dinner options.

If Hernandez was traveling for interim committee business, was he receiving taxpayer-funded per diem or mileage while his campaign also paid for meals, hotels, gas, restaurants, or cash withdrawals? 

The same concern applies to regular session.

The 2026 regular session ran from Jan. 20 to Feb. 19. Hernandez’s campaign report includes a Feb. 2, 2026, Sage Hotel charge in Santa Fe for $89.87, categorized as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.” Because state law excludes “legislative session living expenses” from permissible campaign spending, that Santa Fe hotel charge raises a direct question: why was a hotel bill during the regular session charged to the campaign account, and was it ever reimbursed?

The spending categories get even stranger with Circle W.

Hernandez’s campaign reports repeatedly list “Circle W” at 3316 US-64 in Waterflow as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals” or campaign-related spending. But a Google search record provided to Piñon Post identifies the same address as Circle W Pawn, Circle W Pawn & Trading, and a pawn/firearms-related business.

The filings show repeated Circle W charges, including $74, $19.17, $38.34, $40, $25.65, $45.54, $50, $34.14, and $166.56 in various categories. Several were labeled as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.” These total $493.40.

Why were pawn-shop-linked charges reported as meals and travel?

The gas station and convenience-store spending is also staggering.

Piñon Post identified roughly $5,657.26 at gas stations and convenience stores, excluding Circle W. The reports list repeated spending at Speedway, Warrior, Pilot, Sinclair, Maverik, Allsup’s, 7-2-11/7211, Red Mesa Express, Shiprock Quickstop, Kewa Gas, Stronghold, Marathon, Sky City Travel Center, Four Winds Convenience Store, Polar Station, Bodes Store, and Teec Nos Pos Trading Post.

Some days show multiple gas station or convenience-store stops.

On June 2, 2026, the campaign reported $64.76 at Shiprock Quickstop, followed by three separate Sinclair charges for $7.29, $13.37, and $74, all categorized as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.” The same page also includes $40 at Taco Bell and a massive $772.94 Walmart Supercenter charge for “meetings and appearances.”

On June 3, the campaign reported $52 at Domino’s Pizza, a DDA cash-withdrawal bank fee tied to Hernandez, $20.48 at McDonald’s, two Red Mesa Express charges, Speedway Kirtland, and Speedway in Waterflow — again largely categorized as “candidate travel, lodging, and meals.”

Multiple same-day stops raise obvious questions, especially without receipts. After Hernandez publicly admitted alcohol-related challenges that he says he is getting professional help to address, the lack of itemized receipts becomes a major transparency problem.

The reports do not include receipts showing what was purchased at gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants, or grocery stores. Without receipts, voters cannot rule out personal purchases — including alcohol — at the very moment Hernandez is publicly admitting alcohol-related challenges. Voters and donors cannot tell whether those charges were for gasoline, snacks, gift cards, personal items, alcohol, or something else entirely.

After an alcohol-fueled public scandal, New Mexico donors should not have to guess.

The grocery, wholesale, and big-box spending is even larger.

Piñon Post’s line-item review found roughly $18,359.23 in spending at grocery, wholesale, big-box, and dollar-store merchants. That includes more than $10,200 combined at Sam’s Club and Sam’s Club, roughly $2,677.62 at Bashas’, roughly $1,753.27 at Walmart Supercenter, and spending at Smith’s Grocery, Costco, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Safeway, Southwest Cash and Carry/Shamrock Food Service, NAPI Region 2, Valley Trading Post, and Big R of Farmington. 

In one Dollar General run on June 1, 2026, Hernandez spent a whopping  $470.36 — at a dollar store.

One report shows $1,237.43 at Sam’s Club for fundraising events, followed by additional large Sam’s Club, Walmart, Home Depot, Porter’s Restaurant, and other charges. Another shows the 2026 $772.94 Walmart Supercenter charge for “meetings and appearances.”

The volume of grocery and wholesale spending here is enormous, especially when combined with cash withdrawals, gas station runs, hotel stays, restaurant bills, and late filings.

The restaurant and fast-food spending is just as hard to miss.

Hernandez’s filings show roughly $7,758.72 at restaurants and fast-food establishments, including McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Taco Bell, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, Wendy’s, Church’s Chicken, Dunkin Donuts, Blake’s Lotaburger, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Wingstop, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Nataani Nez Restaurant, Denny’s, The Coffee Ship, The Ranchers, Sizzler, Porter’s Restaurant, Los Hermanitos, Chef Bernie’s, Captain D’s, Sumo Asian Grill, Roadside Restaurant, Expresso Lane Coffee, Yin Yang Chinese, Wahlburger, Sbarro Pizza, and others.

These food-related expenses are especially eyebrow-raising, with an almost incomprehensible amount of food bought at a single time, such as two separate expenses from KFC for $67.90 and $71.93 on the same day, June 2, 2026. Many of these expenses are in Shiprock, where Hernandez resides, raising even more questions. The reports also show a $52 Domino’s charge, McDonald’s, Red Mesa Express, and Speedway charges the very next day.

The reports show a constant drumbeat of food charges categorized as campaign travel, meetings and appearances, fundraising events, candidate meals, or staff/spouse travel.

The campaign also reported spending on gift cards.

A March 2026-filed report includes multiple Speedway entries described as purchases to compensate workers or volunteers with gift cards, including $405, $444.75, $624.75, and $249.90. That totals more than $1,700 in gift-card-style compensation.

That raises still more questions: who received the gift cards, were the recipients documented, and were the payments properly disclosed?

Then there is the bookkeeping mess.

In a Fourth Primary Report filed March 10, 2026, Hernandez reported a $9,074.35 contribution from himself with the explanation: “Placeholder to bring balance above negative until audit can rectify negative reported balance.” The same section showed multiple deleted “Unknown Contributor” cash entries, including $1,470.80, $2,833.38, $1,311.60, and $250.

That is not a normal-looking disclosure.

A campaign needing a $9,074.35 “placeholder” to fix a negative balance until an audit can “rectify” the books is exactly the kind of entry that should alarm voters, donors, and ethics officials.

Late filings deepen the concern.

Hernandez’s First General Report was due Sept. 9, 2024, but was filed March 9, 2026. That same report listed a negative opening balance of $369.61. His First Primary Report was due April 8, 2024, but was filed Oct. 21, 2025. His Fourth Primary Report was due July 5, 2024, but was filed March 10, 2026. His Fourth General Report was due Jan. 7, 2025, but was filed March 9, 2026. His First Bi-Annual Report was due April 14, 2025, but was filed March 9, 2026. His Second Bi-Annual Report was due Oct. 13, 2025, but was filed March 9, 2026.

Some of those reports were more than a year late.

Campaign finance disclosure is supposed to let voters see how candidates raise and spend money before they vote — not years later, after the money is spent and the reports are packed with vague categories, cash withdrawals, and unexplained transactions.

The source of Hernandez’s campaign money also deserves attention.

His reports show large contributions from unions, PACs, Democrat politicians, and special interests. The filings include $5,000 from AFSCME, $5,000 from the New Mexico Health Care Association, $4,500 from the Jan Fonda PAC, $3,500 from IBEW PAC Volunteer Fund, $1,500 from the Committee to Elect Javier Martinez, $1,500 from Javier Martinez (the House speaker), $1,500 from CVNM Action Fund, and $1,000 from Reena for New Mexico (the House majority leader), among others.

Those donors have a right to know whether their money paid for real campaign work — or whether it flowed through a campaign account filled with restaurants, groceries, gas stations, hotels, cash withdrawals, self-payments, pawn-shop-linked charges, late filings, and bookkeeping irregularities.

The reports show a pattern of red flags that could have voters requesting receipts, reimbursement records, and answers.

Why did Hernandez’s campaign pay a Santa Fe hotel charge during the legislative session?

Why were Ruidoso and Mescalero travel expenses paid by the campaign during a period that overlapped with interim committee meetings where taxpayer-funded per diem and mileage may have been available?

Why were repeated Circle W charges at a pawn-shop-linked address categorized as travel, lodging, and meals?

Why did the campaign report thousands of dollars in self-payments, ATM withdrawals, cash-outs, and over-the-counter transactions tied to Hernandez himself?

Why did one report need a $9,074.35 “placeholder” contribution to fix a negative balance?

Why were so many reports filed months — and in some cases more than a year — late?

And after Hernandez admitted alcohol-related challenges following the Chicago hotel scandal, why should voters accept vague, unitemized charges at gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants, and grocery stores without seeing the receipts?

Hernandez first told the public his Chicago episode was just a “negative experience” with hotel security.

Then the police report and witnesses told a much stranger story.

Now his campaign reports are telling another one — a story of staggering spending, self-payments, vague categories, late disclosures, and financial red flags.

Hernandez says he wants to regain the public’s trust.

A good place to start would be showing voters exactly where the money went.

Now Democrats may have a ballot crisis on their hands.

Hernandez’s reported withdrawal does not erase the questions raised by his campaign reports, nor does it remove him from office. It simply adds another layer to the fallout: a sitting Democrat lawmaker engulfed in scandal, a campaign finance paper trail demanding answers, and a party that may have waited too long to replace him.

Since Democrats cannot legally substitute a nominee because they have passed the 90-day window for withdrawal and the 70-day window for appointment, House District 4 voters will be left with a race scrambled by Hernandez’s own conduct and his party’s failure to act before the statutory deadline.

Republican House District 4 candidate Heather Ellison previously called on Hernandez to be transparent after the Chicago hotel incident, saying, “Legislators are held to a certain ethical standard, and they have a responsibility to be transparent, especially when spending taxpayer dollars. This incident is certainly concerning, and I call upon Representative Hernandez to tell the truth and take accountability for what happened.” Piñon Post has requested additional comment from Ellison regarding the campaign finance findings.

Hernandez was contacted for comment through his campaign and official legislative email addresses, but did not respond before publication.

Editor’s Note: To see a compiled version of all of Hernandez’s campaign reports, they can be searched here. This article was updated at 4:20 p.m. on the date of publication to reflect Hernandez’s public satement announcing his withdrawal.

Witnesses say Dem rep was ‘running around naked’ at hotel

Scandal-plagued Dem quits race after streaking, campaign cash bombshells Read More »

Defying Trump, NM Dems double down on taxpayer-funded child sex-changes

14 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

New Mexico, which is run by far-left Democrats in every place of state power, plans to keep paying for transgender-related medical services for minors even after the Trump administration’s new federal rule cuts off Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program funding for such treatments.

The move means New Mexico taxpayers will be forced to continue footing the bill for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, sex-change counseling, speech therapy, body hair removal, and other gender-transition services for minors after federal dollars are pulled.

According to The Guardian, the Trump administration finalized the rule on Aug. 13, with the change set to take effect Oct. 13. The rule ends federal Medicaid and CHIP support for the procedures and services commonly described by left-wing activists as “gender-affirming care.”

But New Mexico is apparently not backing down.

Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s New Mexico Health Care Authority “is planning to continue covering these services using state funds,” agency spokesman Timothy Fowler wrote in an email to the Santa Fe New Mexican, according to The Guardian.

That means the state is preparing to defy the federal shift by backfilling the money with state funds, keeping New Mexico on track as one of the Southwest’s most aggressive havens for transgender medical interventions on minors.

New Mexico already has a massive Medicaid and CHIP population. The Guardian reported that, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, New Mexico has the second-highest percentage of residents enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP, with 41.4% of the state’s population on the programs. The outlet also cited KFF data showing 61% of New Mexico children are insured through Medicaid or CHIP.

That makes the Trump administration’s rule especially significant in New Mexico — and makes the state’s decision to keep paying with state money even more consequential for taxpayers.

The funding fight comes as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and legislative Democrats have worked to make New Mexico a refuge for abortion and transgender procedures while neighboring states move in the opposite direction.

In 2023, Democrats passed the so-called “Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care Freedom Act,” a law designed to shield abortion and transgender-related services from local restrictions. Since then, New Mexico has been promoted by the left as a destination for families seeking access to these services as other states enact protections for children.

The Guardian reported that families have relocated to New Mexico as protections for transgender-identifying youth have disappeared in neighboring states. The outlet also cited the Williams Institute at UCLA, which estimates that 4,800 transgender-identifying teenagers ages 13 to 17 live in New Mexico.

The same report described the services at issue as including “medical, social and psychological services,” such as puberty blockers, hormones including estrogen and testosterone, speech therapy, body hair removal and counseling.

Many New Mexicans argue those are not harmless political talking points, but life-altering interventions being pushed on children who are not old enough to vote, buy alcohol, or sign major legal contracts.

Far-left supporters claim the services are necessary. The Guardian wrote that major medical organizations support such care as medically necessary and lifesaving.

But the Trump administration’s rule represents a direct challenge to using federal taxpayer dollars for those services, especially when children are involved. New Mexico’s response is to shift the cost to state taxpayers instead.

The state has used this same playbook before.

Earlier this year, New Mexico announced it would use state money to cover the cost of expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits for residents who purchase insurance on the state marketplace. At the time, Lujan Grisham defended the move as a response to Washington.

“We created the Health Care Affordability Fund for moments like this – when Washington fails to protect working families and the most vulnerable among us,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.

Now, the same state-first spending approach is being applied to transgender medical services for minors.

The difference is that this time, the issue is not just insurance premiums. It is whether New Mexico taxpayers should be required to fund sex-change-related interventions for children after the federal government has said Medicaid and CHIP dollars will no longer pay for them.

New Jersey also recently moved to fund such services through a new shield law, according to The Guardian.

But New Mexico’s situation is especially stark because so many children in the state are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP. If the state continues covering the services with state-only dollars, the cost and controversy will remain squarely on New Mexico taxpayers.

Democrats will call it “health care.”

Parents and taxpayers may see something very different: a state government determined to keep New Mexico open for experimental and irreversible gender-transition interventions on minors, no matter what the federal government says.

Defying Trump, NM Dems double down on taxpayer-funded child sex-changes Read More »

Dem blames alcohol after alleged Chicago hotel streaking incident

12 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

New Mexico House Rep. Joseph Hernandez has broken his silence after a police report and eyewitness accounts described a bizarre late-night disturbance at a Chicago hotel involving allegations of public nudity, banging on guest doors, and a police escort off the property.

Hernandez, a Shiprock Democrat who represents House District 4, posted a public apology on social media after the Albuquerque Journal reported new details about the July 29 incident at the Holiday Inn at Wolf Point in Chicago.

“I want to sincerely apologize to my family and my community for my behavior during a recent stay in Chicago,” Hernandez wrote. “My conduct was not reflective of my role as a state representative or my duty to you – my constituents, and I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

The apology came after the Journal reported that a heavily redacted Chicago Police Department incident report described a roughly two-hour incident that began around 2:30 a.m. on the hotel’s 17th floor, where Hernandez was reportedly staying.

According to the Journal, someone called emergency services about a man “running around naked” and “banging and knocking on other guests’ doors.”

The name in the police report was redacted, but the Journal reported that identifying details appeared to match Hernandez. Two eyewitnesses also told the newspaper they were certain the man involved in the alleged disturbance was the New Mexico Democrat.

When shown another photo of Hernandez and asked to rate their certainty that the man was the state representative, one witness reportedly said “10.” The other responded, “If not an 11.”

The Journal previously reported that Hernandez checked into room 1745 on the 17th floor using a government discount code on July 26 and checked out the morning of July 29, the same day as the incident.

Chicago police officers reportedly responded around 2:44 a.m. and found the man “fully clothed” and standing with hotel security. The incident report described the man as 5-foot-6, 280 pounds, with short black hair, a light-brown complexion, and a 1987 birth date.

According to the Journal’s summary of the report, the man pulled up photos of himself on his phone and was “demanding” officers “know who he is,” while insisting he be allowed to return to his room.

Hotel staff refused. The Journal reported that staff told officers the man’s reservation had been “cancelled due to” his behavior and for breaking hotel rules.

Police then escorted the man to his room to collect his belongings before escorting him off the property. The report said officers told him he had been “formally trespassed from the property” and waited while he ordered a rideshare to another hotel.

Hernandez initially gave the Journal a much narrower explanation, calling the episode a “negative experience” with hotel security.

“During my recent stay in Chicago, I had a negative experience with a hotel security guard that resulted in a visit from Chicago Police,” Hernandez said in his earlier statement. “The situation was resolved quickly as I relocated to a new hotel, where I stayed for the remainder of my trip.”

But after the police report and eyewitness accounts became public, Hernandez’s tone changed dramatically.

In his new apology, Hernandez acknowledged that alcohol played a role in what he described as a “regrettable lapse in judgment.”

“I take this situation very seriously and am seeking professional help to address my challenges with alcohol that ultimately led to this regrettable lapse in judgement,” Hernandez wrote. “I am truly sorry for disappointing all those who put their faith in me, and I am committed to making meaningful changes to recover my health, regain your trust, and uphold the high standards you deserve from your elected representative.”

The statement was signed, “Joseph Franklin Hernandez, NM State Rep. HD-4, Shiprock, New Mexico.”

Screenshot: Hernandez’s Facebook page, taken Monday, August 24, 2026.

While Hernandez apologized for his conduct and accepted responsibility, he did not specifically address the most explosive allegations in the Journal’s report, including the claim that he was running around naked, banging on guest doors, or that witnesses identified him as the man involved.

The Journal reported that no charges appear to have been filed in connection with the incident. The original dispatch was reportedly classified as a “sex offense call,” though the final reporting code was “criminal trespass.”

One witness also claimed Hernandez “pushed” them near an elevator while they attempted to get him back to his room. That same witness reportedly said Hernandez later accused security and the hotel of racial bias after police arrived.

The incident has already become a political problem for Hernandez, who is running for reelection in House District 4. He faces Republican Heather Ellison, a Navajo educator, in November.

Ellison previously called on Hernandez to be transparent about what happened in Chicago.

“Legislators are held to a certain ethical standard, and they have a responsibility to be transparent, especially when spending taxpayer dollars,” Ellison said. “This incident is certainly concerning, and I call upon Representative Hernandez to tell the truth and take accountability for what happened.”

Hernandez has now apologized and admitted alcohol was involved.

But for voters, the unanswered questions remain: what exactly happened inside that Chicago hotel, why did his original statement leave out so many details, and were taxpayer-related travel benefits involved in the trip? Also, to what extent is Hernandez’s alleged alcoholism affecting his job performance, including official acts while voting and serving during the legislative session at the Roundhouse?

For a lawmaker who first described the incident as a brief “negative experience,” the latest apology confirms the episode was serious enough to demand public accountability.

And the details now on the record are far stranger than voters were first told.

Dem blames alcohol after alleged Chicago hotel streaking incident Read More »

Witnesses say Dem rep was ‘running around naked’ at hotel

14 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

A newly released Chicago police incident report is raising more questions about New Mexico House Rep. Joseph Hernandez’s brief explanation of a late-night hotel encounter that reportedly involved a disturbance, public nudity allegations, and a police escort off the property.

Hernandez, a Shiprock Democrat, previously described the episode as a “negative experience” with hotel security that ended with him moving to another hotel.

But according to the Albuquerque Journal, a heavily redacted Chicago Police Department incident report and two eyewitness accounts paint a far more serious picture of what unfolded early July 29 at the Holiday Inn at Wolf Point in Chicago.

The incident reportedly began around 2:30 a.m. on the hotel’s 17th floor, where Hernandez was staying. The Journal reported that someone called emergency services about a man “running around naked” and “banging and knocking on other guests’ doors.”

The name of the individual in the police report was redacted, but the Journal reported that the descriptors appeared to match Hernandez. Two eyewitnesses also told the newspaper they were certain the man involved in the disturbance was the New Mexico lawmaker.

According to a travel log obtained by the Journal, Hernandez checked into room 1745 on July 26 using a government discount code and checked out the morning of July 29, the same day as the incident.

Chicago police officers reportedly arrived around 2:44 a.m. and found the man “fully clothed” with security. The report described the individual as 5-foot-6, 280 pounds, with short black hair and a light-brown complexion, and a 1987 birth date.

The report also said the man pulled up photos of himself on his phone while “demanding” that officers “know who he is,” and insisted he should be allowed back into his room.

Hotel staff apparently disagreed. According to the Journal’s summary of the report, the hotel told officers the man’s reservation had been “cancelled due to” his behavior and for breaking hotel rules.

Police then escorted him to his room to collect his belongings before escorting him out of the hotel. The report said officers explained he had been “formally trespassed from the property” and waited while he ordered a rideshare to another hotel.

Hernandez’s earlier statement did not mention the nudity allegations, banging on doors, or being formally trespassed.

“During my recent stay in Chicago, I had a negative experience with a hotel security guard that resulted in a visit from Chicago Police,” Hernandez said in the statement. “The situation was resolved quickly as I relocated to a new hotel, where I stayed for the remainder of my trip.”

The Journal reported that Hernandez has declined multiple requests to explain what happened and why the incident escalated. When reached by phone July 31, he reportedly referenced “a security guard,” then claimed he was losing signal, despite no apparent interference on the call. He said he would be available later but did not answer again or respond to follow-up requests.

The incident occurred while legislators from across the country were in Chicago for the National Conference of State Legislatures summit. The Journal reported that Hernandez had not filed travel receipts related to the trip as of Aug. 14, according to the Legislative Council Service.

The two eyewitnesses, who spoke anonymously to protect their employment, told the Journal that hotel staff and security searched the man’s name online and were surprised when the search led them to Hernandez’s page on the New Mexico Legislature website.

When shown another photo of Hernandez and asked to rate their certainty that the man involved was the lawmaker, one witness said “10.” The other said, “If not an 11.”

One witness claimed Hernandez “pushed” them near an elevator while they tried to get him back to his room. That witness also said that once police arrived, Hernandez had put his clothes back on and accused security and the hotel of racial bias.

The Journal reported that the original dispatch was classified as a “sex offense call,” though the Illinois reporting code on the final police report was “criminal trespass.” No charges appear to have been filed, and Hernandez was not listed in Chicago First Municipal District court records.

The witnesses also claimed security had been called on a different night during Hernandez’s stay after he allegedly “passed out” with his shoes off on a couch in the hotel lobby.

The report is politically damaging for Hernandez, who is seeking reelection in House District 4. He first took office in 2025 after winning the seat formerly held by retired Democrat Rep. Anthony Allison.

Hernandez will face Republican Heather Ellison in November. Ellison, a Navajo educator, previously called on Hernandez to explain the Chicago incident.

“Legislators are held to a certain ethical standard, and they have a responsibility to be transparent, especially when spending taxpayer dollars,” Ellison said. “This incident is certainly concerning, and I call upon Representative Hernandez to tell the truth and take accountability for what happened.”

House Speaker Javier Martínez told the Journal earlier this month that he planned to ask Hernandez about the incident, but could not say whether an ethics investigation had been or would be opened.

For now, the public still has more questions than answers.

Hernandez called it a “negative experience.” The police report and witnesses describe something much more serious.

Witnesses say Dem rep was ‘running around naked’ at hotel Read More »

NM Dems have panic attack because Hull says he will talk to other governors

19 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

New Mexico Democrats are sounding the alarm over Republican gubernatorial candidate Gregg Hull after he suggested he would work with other governors in the region, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, on policy — a prospect that apparently has the Democratic Party of New Mexico in full fundraising panic.

In a recent DPNM email, Democrats attacked Hull as a “MAGA Mayor” — despite his very middle of the road approach — and claimed he had “revealed his opposition to abortion access in New Mexico.” The party cited a New Mexico Political Report article and accused Hull of saying he would not support New Mexico’s status as a “safe haven” for abortion and would work with Abbott to “prevent Texans from being able to access abortion and reproductive care in New Mexico,” a stretch of a claim. 

The email went further, warning supporters that “there’s no doubt” Hull would try to undo New Mexico’s abortion policies and claiming he would put “patients and providers” at risk. There is likely no chance of such policy, since far-left, pro-abortion Democrats control both chambers of the state legislature.

But the panic says more about Democrats than it does about Hull.

The Democratic email treats any conversation with a neighboring Republican governor as an existential threat, as if Hull merely speaking with Abbott means New Mexico would automatically adopt every Texas policy overnight. That is the political leap Democrats want donors to make: Hull talks to Abbott, therefore New Mexico loses everything. They never claimed this the numerous times current Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has collaborated with the likes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, both Democrats.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pictured with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The email also reveals how central abortion has become to Democrats’ 2026 playbook. Rather than defending New Mexico’s extreme abortion regime on the merits, DPNM is trying to scare supporters into donating by claiming Hull would destroy “reproductive freedom” and end New Mexico’s status as an abortion destination.

That “safe haven” status is exactly the problem for pro-life New Mexicans.

New Mexico has the most permissive abortion laws in the country. Guttmacher lists New Mexico as a state where abortion is “not restricted based on gestational duration,” and other abortion-access guides likewise describe abortion as legal throughout pregnancy in the state.

That means New Mexico has no gestational limit — no 15-week limit, no 20-week limit, no viability limit, and no general late-term ban. That is abortion up to birth.

Democrats do not like that phrase, but the policy reality is clear: New Mexico law does not set a gestational cutoff.

The state has also moved aggressively to block local communities from restricting abortion. The New Mexico Supreme Court struck down local abortion restrictions in conservative cities and counties, holding that state law precludes local governments from regulating abortion clinics or limiting abortion access. AP reported the ruling reinforced New Mexico’s position as a state with some of the most liberal abortion laws in the country.

Democrats call that “protecting access.” Conservatives call it wiping out local protections.

DPNM’s email insists New Mexico has “stepped up” to protect patients and providers. But the abortion industry’s record in New Mexico is not spotless.

The most notorious example is Keisha Atkins, a 23-year-old woman who died after a late-term abortion in Albuquerque. The Albuquerque Journal reported that UNM Health Sciences Center and Southwestern Women’s Options agreed to pay her estate a combined $1.26 million to settle a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged providers failed to identify, diagnose and treat signs of sepsis during the abortion process.

Another lawsuit, filed by Nichole Atkins, alleged she went to Southwestern Women’s Options in 2010, signed consent forms related to abortion and fetal tissue use, and later claimed injuries from the abortion that left her unable to bear children. Court-linked complaint materials say she alleged the clinic did not properly disclose its relationship with UNM and did not fully inform her about use of fetal tissue.

A separate case involving Jessica Duran accused Southwestern Women’s Options of deception over fetal tissue and UNM research; New Mexico Alliance for Life reported that a district judge allowed Duran’s claims to proceed after denying a motion to dismiss. There are many others, including those pending.

Those cases are exactly why Democrats’ “safe haven” language deserves scrutiny. Safe for whom?

New Mexico Democrats have built a system with no gestational limit, no parental involvement requirement, taxpayer-funded abortion through Medicaid, strong state protections for abortion providers, and preemption against local pro-life ordinances. The Center for Reproductive Rights notes that New Mexico repealed its pre-Roe ban, repealed parental consent, repealed the physician-only surgical abortion restriction, and in 2026 repealed abortion reporting requirements.

Pro-lifers also point to repeated failed attempts to pass born-alive protections in New Mexico. A 2024 legislative analysis noted federal law recognizes a fetus that survives an abortion as a human being who must be cared for, while New Mexico criminal statutes have been applied to infant deaths after birth. But specific state-level born-alive abortion survivor protections have still not become law.

That is the backdrop Democrats do not want to discuss.

Instead, DPNM is trying to turn Hull’s comments about working with Abbott into a fundraising emergency. The email calls Abbott’s policies “extreme,” labels Hull “anti-choice,” and urges supporters to donate to elect Democrats such as Deb Haaland.

The message is obvious: Democrats know New Mexico’s abortion laws are far outside the mainstream, so they are trying to frame any effort to add limits, transparency, or cooperation with neighboring states as an attack on “healthcare.”

But voters may see it differently.

Many New Mexicans may support some abortion access while still opposing abortion without gestational limits, abortion tourism, taxpayer-funded procedures, lack of parental involvement, and a system where high-profile lawsuits have raised serious questions about patient safety.

Hull’s position gives voters a chance to debate whether New Mexico should remain the abortion capital of the Southwest — or whether the state should finally consider protections for unborn babies, mothers, local communities, and taxpayers.

No wonder Democrats are panicking.

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ICE skewers Leger Fernández after detention tour dust-up

18 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is firing back at Democrat U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández after the New Mexico congresswoman claimed she was blocked from speaking with detainees during a tour of the Torrance County Detention Facility.

Leger Fernández, who represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, posted Wednesday that she was at the Torrance County ICE Detention Facility “seeing for myself exactly what is happening inside.”

“I’ll keep you posted on what I find,” she wrote.

But after the visit, Leger Fernández went to KOB and claimed the tour was “very sterile,” accusing ICE and CoreCivic of doing “everything they can” to prevent her from speaking with detainees.

“Core and ICE were so mad, they insulted me in the process about daring to literally say hello to the inmates,” Leger Fernández told KOB, adding that officials were “terrified” of her having conversations with detainees because they were “afraid of what we’ll hear.”

ICE responded with a very different version of events.

“We were glad to host you, Congresswoman,” ICE wrote in a statement posted publicly after her visit. “For those curious, here’s what happened.”

According to ICE, Leger Fernández signed the agency’s Facility Visitation Agreement before the tour, agreeing to follow the rules governing conduct inside ICE facilities. One of those rules, the agency said, is that meetings with detainees must be scheduled ahead of time for the privacy of detainees and the safety of visitors.

ICE said field leadership welcomed the congresswoman and provided a tour specifically tailored to the areas she had requested to see, including visitor check-in, intake, kitchen and food preparation, and medical services.

The problem, according to ICE, began in the kitchen area.

During that portion of the tour, Leger Fernández allegedly asked to speak with certain detainees. ICE said she was reminded that without prior consent from detainees, her request could not be accommodated at that time.

“Instead of accepting this guidance, the Congresswoman began talking and shouting to them from a distance, telling the detainees who she was and attempting to get closer to them,” ICE wrote.

The agency said her behavior disrupted operations and required intervention by facility leadership.

“ICE maintains clear policies about acceptable conduct within its facilities, just like all other federal law enforcement agencies do,” the agency continued. “Those policies are made clear ahead of time to congressional visitors.”

The statement undercut Leger Fernández’s attempt to portray herself as a victim of secrecy and intimidation. ICE says she knew the rules, signed the agreement, received the tour she requested, then tried to bypass the process anyway.

The clash came as New Mexico Democrats and far-left activists are losing their minds over a recent ICE arrest outside La Familia Medical Center in Santa Fe.

KOB reported that a man taking his daughter to a doctor visit was arrested outside the clinic after leaving the facility and entering the public parking lot. The station reported that Leger Fernández said there were eight ICE detentions around Santa Fe that day.

The arrest quickly became a rallying cry for New Mexico’s anti-ICE left, with activists and politicians decrying federal enforcement near a health care facility.

But Source New Mexico reported that a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson described the man arrested, Edgar Chacon-Miranda, as a “criminal illegal alien” whose arrest was part of a “targeted enforcement operation.” DHS said his record included battery against a household member, criminal sexual penetration in the second degree, child abuse, and abandonment of a child. Source New Mexico reported that the charges stemmed from a 2018 case and were dropped because prosecutors failed to proceed within required time limits.

In other words, the case Democrats turned into an anti-ICE spectacle is not nearly as simple as the sob story they blasted across social media.

Leger Fernández still rushed to condemn the enforcement activity, claiming “there is no community in the United States that is safe” and attacking the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Source New Mexico reported that she also promoted legislation to restrict immigration enforcement at “sensitive locations” such as churches, schools, and clinics.

That same posture now appears to have followed her into the detention facility itself.

Rather than wait for scheduled detainee meetings or follow the conduct rules she agreed to, ICE says Leger Fernández tried to engage detainees from a distance and push closer to them during the tour.

CoreCivic, which operates the Torrance County Detention Facility, told KOB that the water at the facility comes from the same Estancia municipal system that serves the surrounding community and that staff drink the same water as those in custody. The company also said the facility operates under federal detention standards with ICE personnel onsite and is subject to regular audits and inspections.

Leger Fernández has said she and Rep. Melanie Stansbury plan to send follow-up questions to ICE about conditions inside the facility.

But ICE’s response makes clear the agency is not letting her frame the visit without pushback.

The bigger picture is obvious: New Mexico Democrats are turning immigration enforcement into political theater at every opportunity. First came the outrage over ICE arresting a man DHS described as a “criminal illegal alien.” Then came Leger Fernández’s dramatic detention-center visit. Then came ICE’s public rebuttal, accusing her of violating the very visitation rules she had signed.

For voters, the question is simple.

Should members of Congress follow the rules inside federal detention facilities, or should they get to disrupt operations for a political stunt?

ICE says Leger Fernández got the tour she requested. What she apparently did not get was permission to turn it into a show.

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Haaland ticket goes full anti-ICE after Santa Fe arrest

28 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Democrat lieutenant governor nominee Stephanie Garcia Richard is openly directing immigrants to report federal immigration enforcement activity and seek legal help after a Santa Fe ICE arrest sent New Mexico’s left into a full-scale meltdown.

In a social media post, Garcia Richard wrote, “To our [illegal] immigrant neighbors: you belong here, and Deb and I are not going to stop fighting for you.”

She then pointed viewers to the NM Migra Watch Hotline, listing the number and extension to “report enforcement activity or get legal help.”

The hotline is not just a generic help line. Share New Mexico describes the NM Migra Watch Hotline as a statewide resource to “report an immigration enforcement action” or seek legal help, including attorney referrals for a friend or family member facing detention or deportation. The listing says calls are answered by New Mexico Dream Team members in Albuquerque. 

That is the kind of resource Garcia Richard, the Democrat Party-selected nominee for lieutenant governor, is now promoting as the Haaland-Garcia Richard ticket tries to position itself against federal immigration enforcement.

Garcia Richard became the Democrat nominee for lieutenant governor after the Democrat Party of New Mexico’s State Central Committee voted to fill the vacancy left by Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver’s withdrawal from the race. Source New Mexico reported that Garcia Richard won after a vote of roughly 500 state party members, receiving 255 votes, or 53% of the 477 ballots cast. 

Her latest video came after federal immigration agents arrested a man outside La Familia Medical Center in Santa Fe. KOB reported that clinic staff said the man had driven his daughter to a doctor’s appointment and was arrested after leaving the facility and entering the public parking lot. The station also reported that Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández said there were eight ICE detentions around Santa Fe that day. Source New Mexico similarly reported that the arrest occurred outside La Familia’s Alto Street clinic and involved a parent with an 11-year-old child. 

DHS had not publicly released details about the man’s immigration case or criminal history in the KOB report.

That did not stop New Mexico Democrats from turning the arrest into a political production.

Garcia Richard claimed in her video that ICE agents in Santa Fe “followed a parent and child from their home to their doctor’s appointment at a clinic, waited for them to finish the appointment, then arrested the parent.”

“This is incredibly unsettling,” she said. “Clinics are where we go for medical care. Churches are where we go to pray. Schools are where we go to learn.”

She then tied the episode directly to House Bill 9, the so-called Immigrant Safety Act, saying fear of enforcement was “the very reason” the Legislature passed the law.

“But now the Trump administration is trying to gut it,” Garcia Richard said. “This is not safe for any of us. To our immigrant families, Deb and I see you. You belong here. And we will use every tool that the state has to keep you safe.”

HB 9 prohibits public bodies from entering into agreements to detain people for federal civil immigration violations and prohibits public property from being used to facilitate detention for federal civil immigration violations, though the bill text says it does not limit law enforcement’s ability to detain individuals or perform brief investigative stops as permitted by state law. 

The U.S. Department of Justice sued New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Attorney General Raúl Torrez, the City of Albuquerque, and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller in May, alleging that HB 9 and Albuquerque’s similar ordinance interfere with federal immigration enforcement authority. 

Haaland also posted a melodramatic video from La Familia Medical Center, writing, “I will not stay silent while ICE terrorizes our communities.”

In the video, Haaland claimed ICE agents “barreled through the parking lot” and arrested the father of an 11-year-old child, leaving the child alone. “I will do whatever I can to keep our community safe,” she said.

But the question for New Mexicans is safe from whom?

Federal immigration agents are tasked with enforcing federal immigration law. ICE’s own public materials describe the agency as managing the immigration enforcement process, including identification, arrest, detention and removal of aliens subject to enforcement. 

Democrats are instead framing federal enforcement itself as the threat.

That posture is now central to the Haaland-Garcia Richard ticket. Rather than asking why someone was targeted by ICE, whether the person had prior immigration violations, or whether federal officers were carrying out a lawful enforcement action, Democratic leaders rushed to condemn ICE and direct immigrants to resources that help report enforcement activity and fight detention or deportation.

The Trump administration also rescinded Biden-era “protected areas” guidance in 2025, ending special limits on immigration enforcement near locations such as schools, hospitals and churches. Reuters reported that the administration rolled back the prior guidance, while Trump border czar Tom Homan said ICE would focus on serious criminals but that anyone without legal status could be subject to arrest.

That makes Garcia Richard’s statement even more revealing.

Her message was not aimed at helping law enforcement or clarifying what happened. It was aimed at telling immigrants that the Haaland-Garcia Richard ticket will use “every tool” of state government to protect them from federal immigration enforcement.

For voters who believe New Mexico should cooperate with federal law, that is a major admission.

The Democratic ticket is not hiding where it stands. Garcia Richard is promoting an ICE-reporting hotline. Haaland is accusing federal agents of terrorizing communities. And both are tying their campaign to a state law the DOJ says obstructs federal immigration enforcement.

The left may be losing its mind over one Santa Fe arrest. But the bigger story is what the Haaland-Garcia Richard ticket just told voters: when ICE comes to New Mexico, Democrats want the state standing in the way.

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NM union treasurer’s bourbon run ends in federal guilty plea

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A former treasurer for a New Mexico labor organization has pleaded guilty in federal court after prosecutors say he used union funds for unauthorized personal expenses and hid the misuse through false and incomplete financial reports.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico announced that Max Jaramillo, 58, pleaded guilty to embezzlement by an officer of a labor organization.

Jaramillo served as treasurer of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, Local 331, from 2014 through February 2024, according to federal court records cited by the Department of Justice. In that role, he was responsible for safeguarding union money and accurately reporting the labor organization’s financial activities.

Jason Hawke, Unsplash.

Instead, prosecutors say Jaramillo used his position to take union funds for personal spending over a period stretching from January 2015 through November 2023.

Federal authorities said Jaramillo also concealed the misuse by submitting false and incomplete reports both to the U.S. Department of Labor and to the union’s own members.

One example cited by prosecutors was a March 15, 2023, annual report submitted to the Department of Labor. According to DOJ, that report falsely represented and omitted material information about how union funds had been spent.

Among the unauthorized expenses, prosecutors said Jaramillo used $49.98 in union funds on July 1, 2022, to buy himself a bottle of Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

American Postal Workers Union, Washington, DC. Ajay_suresh, Wiki Commons.

The bourbon purchase is only one example identified in the DOJ announcement, but it underscores the allegation at the center of the case: money that was entrusted to a union officer for labor organization purposes was instead used for personal spending.

Jaramillo’s guilty plea marks another federal financial fraud case in New Mexico involving abuse of a position of trust. Union treasurers are expected to manage funds on behalf of members, maintain accurate records, and provide honest reporting to federal regulators and the rank-and-file workers whose dues support the organization.

In this case, prosecutors say Jaramillo violated those duties for years.

Jaramillo pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by an officer of a labor organization. At sentencing, he faces up to 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

A sentencing date was not included in the DOJ announcement.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison announced the guilty plea Wednesday.

The case was investigated by the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, the federal agency responsible for enforcing reporting and disclosure requirements for labor organizations and protecting union funds from misuse. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico is prosecuting the case.

The DOJ announcement did not specify the total amount of union money Jaramillo admitted to embezzling. It did, however, describe a pattern of unauthorized personal spending and false reporting over nearly nine years.

For union members, the case is a reminder that financial transparency is not a technicality. It is supposed to protect workers from insiders who treat member-backed funds like personal accounts.

Jaramillo now awaits sentencing after admitting in federal court that he embezzled from the labor organization he was entrusted to help manage.

NM union treasurer’s bourbon run ends in federal guilty plea Read More »

Fox report blows up Vasquez’s working-class act

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U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez is facing fresh scrutiny after a new Fox News Digital report raised serious questions about the New Mexico Democrat’s carefully crafted working-class image.

Vasquez, who represents New Mexico’s competitive 2nd Congressional District, has repeatedly tried to cast himself as a humble, blue-collar candidate who understands families struggling to make ends meet. But the new report says records and social media material reviewed by Fox complicate the story Vasquez has been selling voters.

Fox reported that Vasquez has said he “never had the luxury of financial wealth” and argued during his 2022 campaign that voters were drawn to a candidate who “doesn’t come from wealth” or money.

He has also repeatedly leaned on his mother’s background in Mexico’s maquiladora industry to build that narrative. In an October 2025 La Opinión op-ed, Vasquez wrote that his mother, Hortencia Banuelos, “worked long hours in the maquiladora industry working to make ends meet,” calling her story one of “sacrifice, resilience, and hope.”

But Fox reported that Banuelos’ own professional profile and public records show a more complicated picture. According to the report, she held senior finance roles at GE during much of Vasquez’s childhood, including as a finance manager and comptroller in Mexico from December 1985 to March 1994.

Fox reported that the profile said Banuelos oversaw accounting, finance, payroll, accounts payable, IT, and customs. She was later promoted in 1994 to senior finance analyst at a GE operation in Bloomington, Indiana, where her profile said she analyzed a manufacturing plant with $800 million in revenue and 3,000 employees.

Fox also cited a 2020 Hispanic Executive profile reporting that GE hired Banuelos in Mexico in the 1980s and selected her for a two-year training program geared almost exclusively toward Ivy League graduates before she moved to Indiana.

The professional record, according to Fox, was accompanied by social media screenshots showing a more affluent family lifestyle, including repeated European travel, a three-month stay in France, luxury shopping, and upscale family photos. Fox reported that some photos included Vasquez himself, including one in which he posed with a Corvette.

That is a far cry from the stripped-down “I never had the luxury of financial wealth” image Vasquez has pushed in his public biography.

Congressional Leadership Fund, the House Republican-aligned super PAC endorsed by House GOP leadership, seized on the report, accusing Vasquez of trying to mislead voters about his background.

“Gabe tells voters he ‘never had the luxury of financial wealth,’ pointing to his mother working long hours in a factory to make ends meet,” CLF said in materials shared with Piñon Post. “But Gabe has never been poor.”

CLF also mocked the contrast between Vasquez’s public image and the lifestyle details highlighted in the report, writing, “Let them eat cake!”

The group also pointed to prior reporting on Vasquez’s personal life, noting that he “even threw himself a fake wedding for $90,000.” Fox reported that Vasquez previously faced scrutiny over a 2018 ceremony with a former fiancée at Akiin Beach Tulum in Mexico, where the Daily Mail reported events can cost between $30,000 and $90,000. Vasquez’s campaign told the Daily Mail the pair “participated in a private commitment ceremony but were never legally married and eventually separated.”

The Fox report is damaging because Vasquez’s political brand depends heavily on authenticity. He has spent years presenting himself as a grounded, working-class Democrat who can speak to southern New Mexico families on affordability, wages, and the cost of living.

But Republicans argue the new reporting shows another example of Vasquez saying one thing while the public record tells a very different story.

Vasquez’s campaign pushed back hard against the criticism of his mother.

“It’s pathetic that as Americans face Trump’s disastrous economy, Republicans attack Gabe’s mom who has worked incredibly hard, starting from the maquiladoras in Mexico, in pursuit of her American Dream,” campaign manager Patricia Socarras Santiago told Fox News Digital. “Gabe is incredibly proud of his mom and will work to ensure everyone can access the American Dream and reverse the impacts of Trump’s tanking economy.”

But that response does not answer the core political problem.

The issue is not whether Vasquez should be proud of his mother. The issue is whether he has presented voters with a selective biography that emphasizes factory struggle while downplaying corporate finance success, elite professional advancement, European travel, luxury shopping, and an upscale family image.

There is nothing wrong with upward mobility. There is nothing wrong with family success. There is nothing wrong with a mother building an impressive career.

The problem comes when a politician uses a carefully curated working-class narrative to connect with voters while leaving out the inconvenient parts that complicate the image.

Fox quoted Republican strategist Colin Reed, who said voters can spot “phony double-talk” more easily than politicians realize.

“It’s far better to be who you are and offer a compelling vision to make voters’ lives better than contort your own biography and background into something it’s not,” Reed said.

For Vasquez, that may be the real danger. The more he asks voters to trust his story, the more damaging it becomes when national reporting raises questions about what he left out.

And in a battleground district where authenticity matters, a polished working-class act can become a liability fast.

Fox report blows up Vasquez’s working-class act Read More »

Vasquez’s despicable vote comes back to haunt him in new ad blitz

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A major center-right advocacy group is launching a six-figure ad campaign in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District targeting Democrat U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez over his vote against legislation that included a ban on taxpayer funding for gender-transition procedures for minors.

American Action Network, or AAN, announced the new New Mexico buy as part of its broader $22 million summer issue advocacy campaign, which is aimed at drawing a contrast between House Republicans and Democrats on taxes, costs and federal spending priorities.

The New Mexico ad campaign begins August 20 and will run in NM-02, one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country. The district is currently represented by Vasquez, who is seeking reelection and is expected to face Republican Greg Cunningham, a former Marine and law enforcement officer, in the general election.

AAN’s new ad accuses Vasquez of voting to allow taxpayer funding for what the group describes as “sex changes and chemical castration for minors.” The group argues that Congress moved to block public funding for such procedures, but Vasquez voted against the ban.

“Gabe Vasquez wants to waste New Mexicans’ tax dollars, voting to allow taxpayer funding for chemical castration drugs for minors,” AAN spokeswoman Lydia Hall said in a statement provided to Piñon Post. “Gabe Vasquez should be ashamed of himself for subjecting minors to a chemical castration sex-change procedure that is banned in 16 countries.”

The ad is part of a national effort by AAN to put vulnerable Democrats on defense over hot-button cultural and spending issues while also promoting the Republican-backed tax package that President Donald Trump signed into law last year.

That package, which Republicans now call the Working Families Tax Cut, included several Trump-backed tax priorities, including tax relief related to tips and overtime pay, as well as relief for seniors. The IRS says the law created new deductions tied to tips, overtime compensation and other working-family provisions beginning in 2025.

Vasquez voted no on H.R. 1, known during the legislative fight as the One Big Beautiful Act. The bill passed the House on May 22, 2025, by a 215-214 vote, with all Democrats voting against it. The House Clerk’s official vote record lists Vasquez as a “Nay.”

AAN is now using that vote to tie Vasquez to what it calls “radical priorities,” arguing that Democrats voted against tax relief for working families while defending federal spending on controversial gender-related medical procedures for minors.

The campaign also includes Spanish-language messaging, a notable move in a southern New Mexico district where Hispanic voters are central to both parties’ strategies.

The New Mexico campaign follows Axios reporting that AAN’s $22 million ad campaign is running across 41 congressional districts, including NM-02. Axios reported that the ads are focused on GOP tax cuts and attacks on Democrats over gender-affirming care for minors.

AAN is a major outside advocacy organization on the right. The group describes itself as an independent nonprofit 501(c)(4) “action tank” that promotes center-right policies based on limited government, freedom, American exceptionalism and strong national security. Axios described AAN as a top outside group aligned with House Republican leaders and reported that the new buy brings AAN’s total investment this Congress to a record $62 million.

That kind of money signals how seriously national Republicans are taking Vasquez’s district.

NM-02 has been one of the most closely watched House seats in the country for several cycles. Vasquez narrowly defeated Republican Yvette Herrell in 2022, then won reelection in 2024. Republicans now see the seat as one of their best opportunities to flip a Democrat-held district in 2026.

The AAN ad is also a sign that Republicans plan to keep nationalizing the race around cultural issues, taxes and federal spending.

For Vasquez, the attack lands as he has tried to portray himself as a moderate focused on working families and affordability. But Republicans argue his voting record in Washington tells a different story — especially when it comes to H.R. 1, the same legislation that included major tax cuts he has since tried to distance himself from while promoting some similar policies.

AAN’s new campaign attempts to force Vasquez into another difficult position: explain why he voted against the Republican tax package while defending the broader Democratic opposition to provisions conservatives say protect children and taxpayers.

The ad buy also shows that the 2026 race in NM-02 is already heating up months before Election Day.

With national groups now pouring money into the district, Vasquez’s record on taxes, spending, border security, public safety and cultural issues will remain front and center.

And AAN is making clear that one of its opening attacks will be simple: Gabe Vasquez voted the wrong way when taxpayers and children were on the line.

Vasquez’s despicable vote comes back to haunt him in new ad blitz Read More »

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