Steve Pearce releases tax returns for 2017

GOP candidate for governor had been pressured by state Democrats

SANTA FE — Steve Pearce reported earning $431,114 in adjusted gross income last year, according to tax returns he released Tuesday.

The Republican gubernatorial nominee, who filed jointly with his wife, reported $124,322 in income from his congressional salary and claimed several allowable tax exemptions and deductions.

Pearce had come under pressure in recent weeks from state Democrats to release his tax returns and finally did so three weeks before Election Day.

Although state law does not require the release of tax returns and there’s no precedent in New Mexico of gubernatorial candidates doing so, Pearce had pledged to release his tax returns earlier this year if his general election opponent did likewise.

“Steve Pearce made a pledge to the voters of New Mexico, and he is keeping his word,” Pearce campaign manager Paul Smith said.

However, he released only his 2017 state and federal tax return cover sheets — not the attached tax schedules — along with the required congressional financial form from 2017 that he had filed earlier this year.

Michelle Lujan Grisham, his Democratic general election opponent, released five years of her state and federal income tax returns in May, after her two primary election opponents had provided their tax returns in response to a request from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Lujan Grisham’s tax returns showed that her adjusted gross income has dropped over the five-year period, from $271,929 on her 2013 tax return to $195,129 for the tax year that ended in December 2017.

Her campaign manager, Dominic Gabello, called Pearce’s release of his tax returns a “political stunt” and called on him to release additional information.

“New Mexicans deserve to see his full returns immediately to understand the full details” about the business he made millions from, Gabello said.

In Pearce’s 2017 tax returns, much of his reported income — a total of $395,281 — came from capital gains, which can be profits from either investments or property sales.

He also reported $145,789 in ordinary dividends, which are a share of a company’s profits passed on to shareholders, but reported a loss of $332,595 from a tax category that includes rental real estate, royalties and trusts.

A former Air Force and commercial pilot, Pearce has various business interests and owns two Hobbs-based companies — Trinity Industries and LFT — that lease oil field equipment.

He previously ran a different oil field services company called Lea Fishing Tools, which specialized in retrieving tools stuck in oil and gas wells, according to The Associated Press. That company’s assets were sold in 2003 to Key Energy.

Meanwhile, Pearce and his wife reported receiving $54,523 in Social Security benefits in 2017 and an additional $25,968 in pensions and annuities.

He has also disclosed owning investment property in Truth or Consequences that was valued at between $100,001 and $250,000 as of last year.