Duran abruptly resigned late Thursday. Duran has pleaded guilty to multiple crimes before the court in order to reach a plea deal, and now, the New Mexico Republican leadership is scrambling to cover the issue.
New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Debbie Maestas said in a statement the party respected Duran’s decision to step down “and help restore credibility to the Secretary of State’s Office”.
Her critics were appalled that as the state official in charge of regulating campaign finance and elections, Duran would be accused of violating the very laws she was elected to uphold. “Accordingly, the hearings are not being rescheduled at this time”.
Duran pleaded guilty Friday to two felony embezzlement counts and four misdemeanors amid allegations she siphoned off thousands of dollars from her election account and withdrew the money at casinos around the state. Duran also resigned from her office at midnight Friday morning. “Our hope is that Governor Susana Martinez will quickly appoint a qualified person to serve the rest of Duran’s term so that the fundamental functions of our state’s democracy may be restored”.
Duran, a Republican, faced 65 charges, after the attorney general, Hector Balderas, a Democrat, filed a criminal complaint in August accusing her of illegally transferring about $13,000 in campaign donations to personal accounts, where it was used in casinos around the state.
Duran attorney Erlinda Ocampo Johnson and Martinez spokesman Chris Sanchez confirmed Friday that Duran’s resignation was effective immediately.
The case raised questions about the integrity of New Mexico’s campaign-finance system, and open-government advocates have called for changes as well as an audit of all campaign-finance reports and the creation of a state ethics commission.
Information for this article was contributed by Paul Davenport of The Associated Press.
Prosecutors said bank statements show transactions at casinos, restaurants and cash withdrawals at ATMs.
He added that the impeachment committee, which he appointed, will not continue their investigation.
House Minority Leader Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said top-ranking lawmakers had been in talks about possibly convening in extraordinary session - a rare occurrence - to issue subpoenas to gather more evidence in the Duran case.
He said he was trying to refrain from passing judgment on the plea deal’s details but expressed surprise Duran’s pension benefits - she is covered by three state pension plans from her past work as a legislator, county clerk and secretary of state - will apparently not be targeted.
Later in the day, Toulouse Oliver told supporters that she is “actively considering” a run for Secretary of State. The state GOP had recently taken steps to force her to resign, the Wall Street Journal reports.
