Webber jumps into contentious legislative primary
Newcomer challenging Rep. Trujillo worked on mayor’s 2014 campaign for governor
Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber waded into Northern New Mexico’s most contentious primary race Tuesday and endorsed the embattled ex-director of a regional advocacy coalition whose organization became mired in controversy over public dollars spent on liquor and baseball tickets.
In a campaign email blast, Webber threw his progressive political heft behind Andrea Romero, the challenger in the explosive Democratic primary in House District 46, which encompasses an area north of the city.
She faces Rep. Carl Trujillo, who has come under scrutiny himself — as well as a statehouse investigation and calls to resign — after a lobbyist alleged he sexually harassed her in the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions. Trujillo has called the allegations politically motivated lies.
Webber, who wrote that Romero worked on his unsuccessful 2014 bid for governor, said he would endeavor to turn out voters on Romero’s behalf, calling her the kind of “good Democrat” needed in New Mexico — a not-soveiled echo of the recurring criticism that Trujillo, elected in 2012, is too conservative for his Santa Fe County district.
“Do you know what makes a Democrat a Democrat?” Webber wrote. “It’s when she stands up for teachers who want to teach more and test less. It’s when she stands with students and parents who say the [National Rifle Association] must be stopped, and stopped now. And it’s when she stands alongside women who have experienced sexual harassment and sexual assault and have the courage to speak out.
“Good Democrats wear these values on our sleeves,” Webber added. “We
strive to live them every day. … Andrea shares these values. She lives them too. And she’s a leader.”
Trujillo, in a written response to The New Mexican, disputed that he has supported the NRA, calling the the comment a lie and distortion of his record.
“Putting that aside, I think it’s a sad commentary of how low we’ve sunk when a mayor endorses a candidate who’s admitted to illegally misspending our tax money,” Trujillo said.
Romero, an ostrich farmer and consultant who has been endorsed by organizations that include Planned Parenthood Votes New Mexico, saw her $140,000-a-year contract to lead the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities expire earlier this year in the wake of the discovery of questionable reimbursements. She is also the head of MIX Santa Fe, a community development initiative launched by Webber’s erstwhile mayoral rival, school board member Kate Noble.
There is no Republican seeking the District 46 seat.
Webber lives in District 47, represented by Democratic House Speaker Brian Egolf.