Republican challenger lambastes incumbent
Clarkson blasts Toulouse Oliver for ‘partisanship’
Political candidate forums organized by the League of Women Voters normally are sedate affairs. But a Wednesday night event at Santa Fe Community College turned surprisingly raucous as Gavin Clarkson, the Republican candidate for secretary of state, repeatedly accused incumbent Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver of “weaponizing” her office for partisan advantage, alleging she’s guilty of registering “zombies, aliens and canines” as voters.
At one point during the evening, moderator Meredith Machen admonished Clarkson after he ripped into Toulouse Oliver for “squandering” taxpayer money on taking GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Pearce to court in an unsuccessful effort to stop Pearce from transferring money from his congressional campaign to his gubernatorial account. Clarkson also referred to her attempt to bring back straight-party voting, which was shot down by the state Supreme Court last month, calling it an attempt to “rig the election.”
“The first thing you have to do before you ask for more money is stop wasting the money you’re being given on partisan nonsense,” Clarkson said. “You want civility? Stop being so partisan.”
At one point, when Clarkson again accused Toulouse Oliver of registering “zombies, aliens and dogs,” Machen said, “I don’t think we need to hear any more about zombies.” Several members of the audience also booed Clarkson when he was slashing into the incumbent.
Clarkson, a former economics professor at New Mexico State University, protested that he wasn’t attacking his opponent personally but talking about her record in office. Though he didn’t
mention zombies again, he was relentless in blasting Toulouse Oliver for “partisanship.”
For her part, Toulouse Oliver did not directly respond to Clarkson’s attacks. She instead spoke about her efforts to increase access for voters and her plans for a new campaign finance website that will give the public more information about who’s funding which candidates.
As has been the case in other recent secretary of state races, one huge area of difference between the candidates was the issue of voter fraud.
Clarkson claimed there was “widespread voter fraud” in the 2012 election. He pointed to a case in which a woman was jailed for fraudulently signing a candidate’s qualifying petition. He said Toulouse Oliver, who at the time was Bernalillo County clerk, told the FBI that the woman’s name checked out and she was eligible to sign the petition.
Toulouse Oliver didn’t address that charge. But, as she has done in previous campaigns, she said national studies have shown that voter fraud exists “but it’s very rare and it’s not systematic.” She said every time she has encountered cases of possible voter fraud she reported it to law enforcement.
Toulouse Oliver won a special election in 2016 to fill out the term of Republican Dianna Duran, who resigned after she was convicted of corruption charges. Toulouse Oliver is seeking her first four-year term.
In addition to Clarkson of Las Cruces, Libertarian Ginger Grider of Portales, who did not attend the debate, is seeking election to the office.
The only independent polling in these races, performed last month by Research & Polling Inc. for the Albuquerque Journal, showed Toulouse Oliver with a commanding lead over both opponents.