Padilla urged to quit lt. gov. race
Lujan Grisham points to decadeold claims that candidate harassed women while working for city
U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham — a Democratic candidate for governor — said Friday that state Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla should end his bid for lieutenant governor over claims he harassed women as a city supervisor.
Padilla, an Albuquerque Democrat, has repeatedly denied the harassment allegations, which date back to 2006.
But Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., said in a statement to The Associated Press that Padilla should end his cam- paign as the decade-old alle- gations began to resurface on social media.
“My position on sexual harassment is clear: it is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated by me or in my Administration. Michael Padilla’s actions were wrong,” Lujan Grisham said. “There is no room for excuses and he should withdraw his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor.”
In a brief Journal interview, Padilla wouldn’t say whether he would consider dropping out.
“Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham is one of our great candidates for governor,” he said, “and I’m happy to talk to her at her earliest convenience.”
Padilla is the most well-financed candidate so far in a five-person campaign for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. Also running are former state Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque; Jeff Carr, a former member of the Public Education Commission; Doña Ana County Commissioner Billy Garrett; and David McTeigue, a juvenile probation officer.
Two federal lawsuits claimed that Padilla harassed women while managing Albuquerque’s emergency call center. Padilla was accused of making inappropriate comments and of asking women out on dates despite repeated rejections — claims he denies.
The city ended up settling claims of a “sexually hostile work environment” stemming from Padilla’s six-week tenure overhauling a problem-plagued 911 center.
Padilla strongly denied sexual harassment of any woman. He had been assigned by Albuquerque’s mayor to improve the city’s 911 call center, a job that required him to ruffle some feathers, he said.
In the lawsuits, female managers from the call center accused Padilla of saying that in his house, “women stay home, make tortillas and have babies.”
“That is 100 percent false,” Padilla said. “I would never dream of saying something like that. It’s not in my vocabulary.”
A jury in 2010 found the city liable in one of the federal lawsuits, ordering a damages payment of $1,200 to one manager. Padilla said the second lawsuit alleging discrimination and retaliation by the city was related to employee reassignments made after his departure.
He resigned from the city job in 2007, telling the Journal he was “railroaded” and the victim of a “hatchet job.”
Padilla said he takes the complaints “very seriously” and believes the accusations against him were lodged by employees who feared for their jobs and livelihoods, while his recommendations ultimately included improving work conditions and raising pay with some job reassignments.
State Rep. Angelica Rubio, a Las Cruces Democrat and an early supporter of Padilla, said she would no longer endorse him after learning of the allegations and researching the cases.
The state Republican Party called Lujan Grisham’s statement “hollow” and “cynical,” saying the allegations had been around for years and noting that Padilla has been in the race for months.