Stark choices in 3-way race for secretary of state
Toulouse Oliver has been scandal-free; Clarkson touts job creation; Grider admits not voting
Voters in New Mexico will have starkly different choices in the three-way race for secretary of state.
The incumbent, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, arguably is one of the most popular Democrats on her party’s ticket. Elected less than two years ago in a special election to fill out the term of Republican Dianna Duran, who resigned after being convicted of embezzling campaign money, Toulouse Oliver has run a scandal-free office since taking the $85,000-a-year job.
“The reason I even had an opportunity to run for this office is because [Duran] went to jail,” she said. “This really put a fine point not only on my campaign in 2016 but on my campaign now because
to me it highlights the importance of having integrity and honesty and a dedication to making sure that our elected officials follow the law here in New Mexico,” she said.
But the 42-year-old recently stumbled into a highly publicized legal defeat last month when the state Supreme Court unanimously overruled her decision to implement straight-party ticket voting in New Mexico, which her critics described as a self-serving and partisan move.
Her Republican opponent, Gavin Clarkson, 50, is a former college professor with an outsized personality who has been campaigning across the state in a big RV he calls “Turquoise One.”
The only candidate with a bankruptcy, Clarkson has no qualms about going on the attack and lodging ugly accusations about his Democratic opponent. At a recent candidate forum, he accused Toulouse Oliver of registering “zombies, aliens and canines” to vote, among other jaw-dropping claims that drew boos from the audience.
Clarkson is a former Trump administration appointee who left his job with the U.S. Department of the Interior under questionable circumstances, though he insists he resigned to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat held by Steve Pearce, the Republican nominee for governor. After finishing third in the June primary, he got into the race for secretary of state.
“The main reason I’m running for secretary of state is to create jobs,” he said. “Most people assume that the secretary of state is just a county clerk on steroids. But starting in 2013, the Secretary of State’s Office gained primary responsibility for corporations here in New Mexico. Every reporter I’ve talked to says I am the first secretary of state candidate that they have ever talked to that leads off with job creation. But my students can’t get jobs.”
The third candidate is Libertarian Ginger Grider, a stay-athome mom who has been an advocate for medical cannabis patients. A political novice who says she’s honest to a fault, Grider, 48, admits she’s running for an office in charge of, among other things, administering elections but that she hasn’t exercised her right to vote most of her life.
The secretary of state’s primary role is chief election officer, overseeing the entire election process. But the office is responsible for a host of other duties, from registration of limited liability companies and trademarks to regulating campaign finance and lobbying within the state and serving as the state government ethics regulator.
The secretary of state is third in line of succession after the governor and lieutenant governor.
Toulouse Oliver, a former Bernalillo County clerk, said she has dedicated herself and the Secretary of State’s Office to shining a light on so-called dark money in politics, making sure campaign finance reports online and holding candidates accountable for campaign finance violations.
“But there’s still more work to be done, and that’s why I’m running for re-election,” she said. “I want to overhaul the state’s campaign finance information system to make sure candidates can follow the law and citizens can follow the money. I want to make sure that we continue our record of providing good services to our business services community as well.”
In addition to more name recognition, Toulouse Oliver also has a huge fundraising advantage.
Neither Grider nor Clarkson was their party’s first choice.
Grider stepped in as the Libertarian nominee after former state Rep. Sandra Jeff withdrew in August. Jeff, who had switched from Democrat to Libertarian earlier in the year, declined to discuss why she quit. But in a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office, Jeff cited “unforeseen personal obligations.”
Grider, who lives in Portales, said she had no hesitation when party leaders asked her to run.
“I accepted because I do believe that it is as an incredibly important position, and it’s one that most people don’t know what it is,” she said. “I mean, pretty much everyone thinks
it’s the person who brings their governor their coffee … oh, one of the reasons was because I did realize no one knew what it was and because I am passionate about our country and our state.”
Clarkson replaced JoHanna Cox, a lawyer who dropped out in June. Cox, a single mother, cited family commitments in her decision to withdraw. But she quit amid reports of several malpractice claims from former clients, including a strip club in Albuquerque and a union representing police officers.
Grider said a motivating factor in her decision to run is because she disagreed with Toulouse Oliver’s decision on straight party ticket voting, which the state Supreme Court overruled after a legal challenge from a Libertarian political action committee supporting former Gov. Gary Johnson in his bid for the U.S. Senate, among several other plaintiffs.
Grider, a longtime Republican who switched to the Libertarian
party two years ago, said she brings real-life experience to the job. She said government needs “real people,” not bureaucrats, in office.
“Once you’ve done cheer moming, you can do anything,” she said, laughing.
And while the Secretary of State’s Office is responsible for overseeing New Mexico elections, among other duties, Grider said she’s still figuring out how to file campaign finance reports, in addition to acknowledging she hasn’t been an active voter.
“I had never voted in a general election until 2016,” she said.
Asked about the likelihood of her winning, Grider said she didn’t stand a chance but that she’s in the race to inspire others to get involved. “Do not take this out of context because this could very easily be misconstrued,” she said. “The only way that I would probably win is if Gavin and Maggie died. I don’t want that to happen.”