GOP candidate for treasurer faces challenge over signatures
Democratic incumbent will face no opposition if suit succeeds
SANTA FE — The lone Republican candidate for state treasurer is facing a court challenge over whether he submitted enough valid voter signatures to qualify for the June 5 primary election ballot.
A lawsuit filed by three New Mexico voters — two Democrats and a Republican — argues that 221 of the voter signatures gathered by Arthur Castillo should be deemed invalid because they are either duplicates or belong to voters who are not registered as Republicans, among other reasons.
If a judge decides to toss out all the signatures in question, it would leave Castillo more than 30 signatures short of the minimum 1,288 petition signatures to qualify for this year’s ballot.
That could, in turn, mean incumbent state Treasurer Tim Eichenberg, a Democrat, would have a free ride to re-election in November, barring any writein or minor party candidates. Eichenberg was first elected treasurer in 2014.
Castillo, a retired accountant who lives in Albuquerque and previously worked at the state Treasurer’s Office, said Wednesday that he considered dropping out of the race, but is now focused on defending his candidacy in court.
“If I leave, the citizens of New Mexico would have no choice (in the race),” Castillo told the Journal.
He also said he believes the court challenge against him is politically motivated, saying a “normal citizen” would not take a candidate to court over voter signatures on a candidate petition.
Court challenges over the signatures collected by candidates have been common in New Mexico during recent election cycles. But judges have generally leaned toward allowing candidates to remain on the ballot.
The state Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that nine incumbent state lawmakers — including then-Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings of Roswell — and candidates for other offices would not be tossed off that year’s primary ballot for failing to put district numbers on their nominating petitions.
The court challenge against Castillo’s campaign was filed by voters Albert Fugere of Santa Fe, and Kristine and Guy Jacobus of Albuquerque. A hearing on the challenge has been scheduled for Friday before District Judge David Thomson in Santa Fe.