Accusations flying in House race
District 46 voters say they’ve had misleading phone calls about Trujillo
At least two voters in the increasingly nasty House District 46 Democratic primary race say Planned Parenthood falsely asserted in a phone call that state Rep. Carl Trujillo was being uncooperative in a sexual harassment investigation that has rocked his campaign, though the three-term incumbent has said he welcomes the inquiry with the hope of clearing his name.
One of the voters recorded the call, and the other said he is willing to testify in court or “swear on the Holy Bible” that Planned Parenthood made the untrue accusation about Trujillo, who has been in the crosshairs of the pro-choice organization since his 2015 vote on a bill that would have banned certain late-term abortions.
New Mexico has relatively few
restrictions on abortion and has not passed the type of more restrictive measures that are becoming more common in other states.
“Whoever was representing Planned Parenthood definitely is not telling the truth,” Bob Martinez, 50, of Pojoaque, said on Friday. “They were saying that Mr. Trujillo refused to participate in an investigation, when I’ve heard him say that he wants an investigation. I don’t know who’s behind all that stuff, but in my opinion, they are very, very dishonest people.”
Planned Parenthood’s assertion is the latest twist in a race that has become one of the most contentious in New Mexico. The battle between Trujillo and challenger Andrea Romero, who portrays herself as the more progressive candidate, has drawn outside money and the involvement of political action committees who have set their sights on Trujillo.
On Friday, voters in the district reported receiving another mailer from the Albuquerque-based Organizers in the Land of Enchantment, a 501(c)(4) known as OLÉ.
The front side of the mailer includes a picture of Trujillo, plus disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and Republican President Donald Trump, who also have been accused of sexual misconduct. It asks, “What do these three have in common?”
“Each has been accused of preying on women,” states the other side of the mailer, which includes an unflattering picture of Trujillo.
Planned Parenthood, which endorsed Romero, has been calling voters in the Northern New Mexico district and asking them to sign a petition calling on Trujillo to resign over sexual misconduct allegations lodged by lobbyist Laura Bonar, who claimed that Trujillo propositioned her for sex and touched her inappropriately in 2013 and 2014.
A source who requested anonymity provided a recording of one of the calls.
Trujillo “was recently accused of sexual misconduct and instead of taking responsibility for his inappropriate actions, went on the attack and refuses to take part in the investigation that he himself requested,” said the caller, who hung up when the recipient of the call asked her to back up her claims.
Trujillo, who vehemently denies Bonar’s allegations, has said repeatedly that he welcomes the investigation.
“The thing I find most disheartening is that an organization that itself has been the target of unethical and deceptive tactics is now using those same tactics just because they didn’t get their way a hundred percent of the time,” Trujillo said in a statement.
“Push polling and lying and smear tactics tarnish the reputation of an organization that does vital work for our community and the world,” he added. “Planned Parenthood New Mexico should be ashamed of itself for deploying these same kind of deceptive tactics.”
Marshall Martinez, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the caller “went off script.”
“Unfortunately, human error occurs,” he said. “We stand by the statements in our script and stand by the statements we have made about Rep. Trujillo in the past.”
Marshall Martinez, who declined to provide a copy of the script to The New Mexican on Thursday, offered a copy Friday. The script states that Trujillo “was recently accused of sexual misconduct, and instead of taking responsibility for his inappropriate actions, went on the attack.” The script provided by Martinez does not assert that Trujillo has been uncooperative in the investigation.
Marshall Martinez did not respond to inquiries late Friday about the separate call that Bob Martinez said he received.
“I would testify in court on that,” Bob Martinez said. “I go to church every week, and I swear on the Holy Bible, that’s what they were saying.”
Trujillo said he’s heard from more than a dozen other voters in the district who told him Planned Parenthood was spreading false information about him in the calls.
“Most of these community members were at a campaign fundraiser on May 5th with more than 360 people in attendance [where] I announced that I welcome an investigation,” Trujillo wrote.
Asked whether it was fair to Trujillo that even one caller made false assertions about him, Marshall Martinez deflected the question.
“My response is that I don’t think it’s fair to the voters or to organizations that Rep. Trujillo is continuously lobbing these attacks and harassing and intimidating folks,” he said. “But we’ll stand by the statements we’ve made and stand by the script I’m sending you.”
Lori Lopez, 44, who lives in the Pojoaque Valley, said she also received the call. But she said the caller didn’t state that Trujillo was being uncooperative.
Nonetheless, Lopez said she was upset by the call from Planned Parenthood, an organization she supports.
“They wanted me to know that he has acted inappropriately, and there’s sexual allegations out there about him,” she said. “They went on and on and I listened, and then when I tried to tell them those were lies and that I did not appreciate the call, they continued to push and push.”
Lopez said the call was “disturbing” and “just ridiculous on top of all the flyers that are misrepresenting Carl.”
Trujillo said he has “always” supported the work that Planned Parenthood does. He also said he didn’t know why the anti-abortion group New Mexico Alliance for Life listed him as a pro-life candidate in its voter guide.
“I have and always will support [the] Roe vs. Wade decision,” he said, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 1973 that legalized abortion.
The head of the alliance did not return multiple requests for comment Friday.