Dem contenders’ business dealings in spotlight
Three candidates say they have steered clear of potential conflicts of interest
Running for governor can be a full-time job. But what about the candidates’ real jobs? Amid sparring over potential conflicts of interest, contenders for the Democratic Party’s nomination to become New Mexico’s next governor say they have stepped back from some business interests.
For example, opponents of U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham have pointed to her role in a firm, Delta Consulting, which manages the state’s health insurance program for people with particularly complex or expensive medical concerns.
Lujan Grisham’s campaign said last year she had sold her share of the company.
The Albuquerque congresswoman had co-founded the firm with state Rep. Deborah Armstrong, D-Albuquerque, in 2008 before either were elected to their current offices.
Both have publicly disclosed their stakes in the company for years.
Lujan Grisham, for instance, has reported that she made
up to $100,000 from the firm annually at some points.
And now, Armstrong is the firm’s sole shareholder. Armstrong also is Lujan Grisham’s campaign treasurer.
So, why did the congresswoman sell and not Armstrong — who chairs the state House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee?
“Michelle decided to divest her interest in Delta because she was running for Governor,” Armstrong said in an email this week. “While it is not a conflict of interest or ethical violation to be an owner while she is campaigning for Governor, she chose to go ahead and give it up, believing that it would be inappropriate for her to maintain her interest, should she be elected.”
Bills affecting the insurance program — the New Mexico Medical Insurance Pool — have landed in front of the committee Armstrong chairs, however.
One Republican bill last year would have changed how the program is financed.
Armstrong did not participate in hearings on the measure. The bill ultimately died in the same committee.
During a televised debate on KOAT-TV Sunday night, state Sen. Joseph Cervantes asked fellow Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jeff Apodaca to identify which businesses he has created and owns.
Apodaca referred the senator to his profile on the social networking website LinkedIn.
The website lists him as president of a firm called 47 LLC — “a venture group incubating and developing new investments and businesses in New Mexico and the region.”
Apodaca’s campaign said the firm has consulted with small businesses and startups, offering business planning and mentoring.
The campaign said he would not specify which companies he consulted with or helped develop without permission from those businesses.
But the campaign added that Apodaca stopped consulting with most clients in March last year when he launched his bid for governor, and had cut consulting ties completely by December to avoid any possible conflicts.
Apodaca also is listed as president of Go-Station — “a new green technology company powering electric vehicles.”
The candidate’s campaign said he had stepped back from its dayto-day operations.
Apodaca previously worked for Entravision, which operates Spanish-language television and radio stations around the country. And he worked for Tribune Broadcasting, Univision, AOL and CBS Television Networks.
For his part, Cervantes says that aside from occasional phone calls, he is mostly not involved in the daily operations of his Las Cruces law firm, which he says mostly handles personal injury cases.
While Cervantes has had a contract to represent the state in litigation, the senator says he has not been assigned any cases in recent years and therefore has not received payment from the state.
Financial disclosures the senator filed with the Secretary of State’s Office list several businesses he owns with family members, including a real estate company that leases office space to the Spaceport Authority — a state government agency.
A copy of the lease obtained by The New Mexican last year showed the spaceport as of last summer was paying about $43,000 a year to the company.
Cervantes brought up the lease earlier this year when he recused himself from a vote on a bill involving the spaceport.
Politicians’ business dealings can be revealing, pointing not just to potential conflicts of interest but also to the industries in which public figures may have firsthand knowledge or connections.
And during an election campaign, a politician’s business dealings might also reveal how in touch he is with everyday life.
The New Mexican has asked the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor to give a bit more insight into their finances by providing copies of recent income tax returns by the end of the week.
While such a disclosure is not a common practice in New Mexico politics, it is becoming more common in other states.
In Maryland, for example,
Democratic state Sen. Richard Madaleno made public six years of his tax returns and called on the incumbent Republican governor as well as other Democrats running for the post to follow suit.
In doing so, Madaleno invoked President Donald Trump, who has refused to release his tax returns.
“We need to demonstrate that, regardless of the insulting indifference Donald Trump shows to the American people, we in Maryland will walk a different path and build trust and confidence between our people
and those elected to represent them,” he said in a statement at the time.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, released her tax returns earlier this month as she runs for re-election and called on Republican challengers to do the same.
In South Carolina, several Republican and Democratic candidates for governor also have released tax returns.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, started doing this years before Trump ran for president.