Sec of State’s office clears Phil Griego
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Sen. Phil Griego (D-San Jose)
Remember the accusations leveled at state Sen. Phil Griego (D-San Jose) during the Democratic primary back earlier this year?
Well, Milan Simonich of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership worked over the Labor Day weekend and posts that the Secretary of State’s office has ruled there is no evidence to show Sen. Griego misused campaign funds:
Jack Sullivan, who lost the June Democratic primary to Griego, filed the complaint last spring, before the election.
Sullivan alleged that Griego had claimed a $2,600 expenditure for a trip to Silver City but refused to say how the money was spent. Sullivan also alleged that Griego used other campaign money for office, vehicle and personnel expenses.
In a two-paragraph letter to Sullivan, Christiana Sanchez of the secretary of state’s staff issued this finding: “After a thorough review of your complaint and Mr. Griego’s response, and after consulting with the attorney general’s office, we did not find that Mr. Griego’s campaign expenditures violated the New Mexico Campaign Reporting Act.”
Despite the controversy, Griego handily won the primary, defeating Sullivan and Nicole Castellano.
Griego faces Republican Aubrey Dunn Jr. in the November general election.
Dunn has had a falling out with Gov. Susana Martinez, blasting her campaign staff for giving financial support to Griego in the Democratic Party primary.
As for the Secretary of State’s findings, Griego told Simonich in an e-mail: “I have said all along that my campaign was in full compliance with the New Mexico Campaign Reporting Act … Regarding Jack Sullivan’s complaint against me, I stated that, if the secretary of state’s office found that there were any violations with my reporting, they were out of error, not purposeful intent.”
Click here to read about Griego’s ’55 Chevy that also became part of the discussion regarding his campaign spending.
Posted under Capitol Report.
Tags: Aubrey Dunn Jr, Jack Sullivan, Milan Simonich, Nicole Castellano, Phil Griego, Texas New Mexico Newspapers Partnership
10:50 am on September 5th, 2012
Important thing missing here, is the article from Simonich states the Secretary of State released a letter stating she had the Office of Attorney General Gary King review this case to see if campaign law was violated.
But King’s close adviser, the paid campaign consultant that also is paid as a Constituent Representative for the last 6 years to work on Gary King’s payroll is Cordy Medina, coincidentally a long time close friend and campaign consultant to Phil Griego. She also works for Griego during legislative sessions. All this is pretty common knowledge in Santa Fe. Griego is a committee chairman in the senate, I can hear the mutual back scratching from here.