Thanks for Commenting
Mario,
Your evidence sounds antidotal. I give more credence to Cargo and the fact that a reporter actually lost her job over this.
I hope that this issue will be properly investigated and that Cargo will submit the collected names of payed off people to investigators. But that is the rub isn't it? An investigation costs money. Like a vote recount, who is going to pay?
The fact that rule/law enforcement costs money is the biggest advantage to corrupt REPS manipulating the system with their power and money.
Even you say that there was an in-ordinate number of people showing up to vote.
qofdisks,
Go back and read Heath's post:
During the interview, he contradicted statements Domrzalski and MacCallum quoted him as making and implicated a third candidate in the alleged illegal activity. I won’t repeat the contradictions here or name the third candidate, because I don’t want to spread rumors any more than they have already travelled.
There is no credence to the former Governor's story. It's been all over the place.
This was an unfolding investigative piece. One thing everyone seems to bury is that the FIRST story I did was with the state GOP spokesman Scott Darnell to allow him to dispute what I witnessed personally at the Bernalillio County Delegate Convention.
I never talked about Heather Wilson! She inserted herself, through her spokeswoman Whitney Cheshire, into the issue and drew a lot of attention to herself. As a journalist, a red flag goes up when people "doth protest too much." Her campaign continued to push it and push it. Why is that? (Incidentally, one thing Heath did NOT openly disclose in his hit piece was that Wilson campaign spokeswoman Cheshire wrote a regular column for his blog. I would say that presents a serious conflict of interest on his part. Further, concerning Eye on Albuquerque, these people never contacted me in any way.)
As the story unfolded, here was the order of the pieces:
-GOP Spokesman "Scott Darnell setting straight the record on how delegates are always vetted;
-Former Governor Dave Cargo, running a Ward table (that I witnessed) alarmed at what HE witnessed.
-My pieces were pulled before I ever got a chance to talk with anyone else. I told "News Director" Pat Allen that I would call both Wilson and White campaigns the following morning.
Remember, this was an unfolding investigative series.
AGAIN, LET ME BE CLEAR. I NEVER TARGETED HEATHER WILSON. NEVER SAID A WORD ABOUT HER! If you check www.bradblog.com, you'll see my original scripts from both days of the stories I did. Good luck finding any reference to her.
In addition, THREE State Senators complained to the state A/G about intimidation tactics and threats made against them and their families by Darren White's campaign. All of this has been documented. Some have already gotten visits from A/G investigators. Now, why wouldn't Heath and Eye on ABQ disclose that? Would that mean they didn't corroborate their information? It appears so.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to THAT part of the story. I just couldn't work for KKOB another day. And, this wasn't the first time they had pushed the limits with ethics. I had filed a complaint with the Poynter Institute about the first incident several months ago.
If voters have any sense, they'll pay attention to these threat allegations. It doesn't bode well for someone who claims to be Bernalillio County's top law enforcement officer, now running for Congress.
One more thing: On KKOB-AM's afternoon drive talk show on Thursday, hosted by Pat Frisch (filling in for a vacationing Jim Villa Nucci), Wilson's campaign apparently DID pay for "at least" five "delegates" to attend the Convention in BERNCO. Frisch mentioned on-air that the Wilson campaign ADMITTED that. Let's see, Mario...it's not a stretch to figure out how this could influence delegates to vote for a particular candidate.
While the State GOP appears to have already decided that White is their guy, they may think twice about considering so
This was the remaining part of my comment that was cut off...
While the State GOP appears to have already decided that White is their guy, they may think twice about considering someone who has some integrity, like Joe Carraro.
There are plenty of other things I discovered in my investigation that did not air, but that will come out as others look into a number of irregularities.
Before any of these bloggers spew their opinions about what and what was NOT done in my coverage of this story, they probably should have gotten all the facts first. Getting in touch with ME would have been a good start.
The fact that you perpetuated their misinformation by linking to their blogs without talking with me is unfortunate.
Laura MacCallum
Laura,
Thanks for leaving a comment. I'm not attacking you, and I don't believe I even mentioned you in my post. I'm not able to get on the phone right now, but if you want to email me your phone number, I'll give you a call tonight when I get home, and we can talk. You can find my email under the profile section.
Did Laura MacCallum just claim that Joe Carraro is a model of integrity? That shows she either knows very little about the players in this race, or is completely out-of-touch with reality.
As a Republican activist and former state senate staffer, I'm very familiar with Joe Carraro. And he's no saint.
Carraro has said that the "threats" made against him were that his divorce records would be made public if he ran. This is bizarre, because they've already been made public! First in 1998 when he ran (and lost) for Congress in NM-3, then later by, ironically enough, Darren White when he was a reporter for Channel 13. That story likely explains where all of Carraro's venom towards White comes from.
Since Carraro himself chose to bring these issues up again, let's rememember what they involve. In addition to allegations of spousal abuse and his repeated failure to pay court-ordered child support, Joe Carraro actually asked Judge Anne Kass to reduce his child support because he used his political influence to get his ex-wife a job with Governor Johnson's administration. That's what Carraro actually told the judge...ON THE RECORD. He even argued that she would not have gotten the judge but for his political influence, because she was "totally unqualified" for the position. Anne Kass is now a lawyer for the Democrat Party. Does anyone really believe that the Democrats don't have all of this? Or that a candidate for Congress isn't going to have to answer questions about it?
Rather than making threats to keep him out of the race, I'd be more inclined to believe that White's campaign tried to bribe Joe Carraro to run -- it's hard to dream-up a better opponent.
But it gets worse.
Carraro actually threatened his ex-wife, in an on-the-record court hearing, that he would get her fired from her state job if she didn't agree to reduce his child support.
And this case is not 20-years old, as Domrzalski reported. The state was going after him as a deadbeat dad as recently as 2005.
This is all well-documented and has long been part of the public record. It's one reason Joe Carraro is simply not a viable candidate for higher office.
It's also suspicious that these alleged threats were made in November, but that Carraro didn't bother to complain about them until he got pummeled at the county convention. It would also seem relevant to point out that when Carraro lost the convention in 2006 he made allegations of impropriety then to discredit the results. I guess that would undercut his claims, so why report it?
Another issue involving integrity has to do with Joe Carraro and campaign contributions. On "Eye on New Mexico," Carraro pranced around on his high-horse about campaign financing, claiming that he's so ethical that lobbyists don't even take him to lunch anymore. The alleged reporters never challenged him with facts. Such as the fact that when he ran for US Senate in 2006, his contributors were primaril
Another issue involving integrity has to do with Joe Carraro and campaign contributions. On "Eye on New Mexico," Carraro pranced around on his high-horse about campaign financing, claiming that he's so ethical that lobbyists don't even take him to lunch anymore. The alleged reporters never challenged him with facts. Such as the fact that when he ran for US Senate in 2006, his contributors were primarily made from lobbyists, with one exception -- a family who owns an artificial turf company. Multiple members of this family contributed to Carraro's campaign. They stand out, because Carraro had so few contributions from non-lobbyists. But if you look at Carraro's capital outlay requests, the connection is obvious:
CARRARO CAPITAL OUTLAY REQUESTS
2008: $100,000 for artificial turf at Petroglyph Elementary School
2007: $270,000 for artificial turf at Petroglyph Little League
2006: $75,000 for artificial turf at Seven Bar Elementary School
2006: $200,000 for artificial turf for another field at Seven Bar Elementary School
…..and the list goes on….
This company was raided by the FBI in 2007 and is currently under federal investigation. While KOB-TV reported that the raid involved fraudulent bank loans, many suspect there is much more there. At the very least, Carraro should have been asked if there was any connection between the campaign contributions and his earmark requests.
The bottomline is there are serious questions about Carraro's ethics and motives that should be carefully examined before any reporter runs a story based almost entirely on Carraro's word.
Here we go again. Burogs defending White and Wilson. Didn't someone in a previous comment mention that you worked for them and paid to carry there water. Confict of Interest? And my daughter wasn't allowed to be on list because she was favoring Wilson and Carraro. So they kept her off so that Carraro doesn't get her delegate vote. I hope someone has the courage to came forth and expose what went on with people paying for votes--we need to stand up for democracy. We need to change this State Party--it's like being in a third world country with them keeping people off the ballot. Why do we Republicans keep putting up with this stuff. It's guys like you that smear candidates and others like County Chairman C de Baca just to keep the power. It must be worth a lot of money to do that. Someone needs to look into that as well.
Wasn't Darren White the one who ran the stories on Carraro and that he got the quotes from left-wing judge who hates Carraro who is right. I remember that and was thinking what a smear job. Hmmmmmmm. And the rumors about White and his wife are legendary from when I worked in Santa Fe and he was head of DPS. Ask him about the black-eye incident with his wife or his vote of no-confidence by the state police. All this stuff is personal, but it should all probalby get exposed so that we can get on with the issues.
Thank you Laura for providing the most prominent coverage of this neglected story. How Fourth Degree Felony charges can be swept under the rug as baseless accusations is mind boggling. This story is a sad demonstration of our state media's inability to stop chasing police sirens and find real news.
Tell Pat Allen one more political source on the web has covered the story: barackoutwithmycockout.blogspot.com
I knew this was going to turn into a Carraro vs. White screaming match in this post.
I think what Mrs. Laura MacCallum meant was that Carraro has "some" integrity which is better than "none" coming from White.
And aside from that Carraro can be brought down and his allegations questioned but that still doesn't explain the fact that two other candidates got the same threats.
These stories just reinforce the fact that re-thug-licans will do anything to get elected, even if it means going after their own.
Ed --
You can talk about all the "legendary" personal stuff you want, but you'll never be able to substantiate any of it-- because it never happened. That's the difference between documented, verifiable facts and baseless smears.
The judge was not the one who made the claim that the child support should be reduced because Carraro used his political influence to get his ex a job. That was made by Carraro himself. The judge didn't threaten his ex in an open hearing to get her fired from her state job. Again, that was Carraro himself with his own voice. But no one needs to take the word of a blog post for it -- it's all part of the public record and can be easily verified.
As for the no-confidence vote, that's hardly a blotch on White's record. If you worked up there, you know that move was engineered by now-indicted then State Senator Manny Aragon to take DPS out of the Johnson Administration. You will recall that White was a vocal critic of Aragon, especially when Aragon's Wackenhut contract came to light. Aragon and the unions fought constantly with the Johnson administration and the no-confidence vote was just another battle in that war.
Ed-
Wasn't the convention you're questioning run by the county party and County Chairman C deBaca, who you appear to be supporting? It's odd that you're upset with the state party for a convention the county party ran. The state convention isn't until March 15th.
The madness needs to end. Your daughter wasn't elected delegate, because there were more White supporters there than Carraro supporters. Conventions are about organizations and grassroots support. Those with the most supporters, win. White had more and therefore elected more delegates. You can invent all the conspiracy theories you want about vote-buying, but the Republican activists simply prefer White to Carraro.
You could be right about the convention--so why not let those--Secretary of State and AG--investigate and clear everyone. I thought I heard that Wilson and White denied it all--then when it was apparent that checks were written that Wilson admitted paying. When I was up in SF I remember that over 90% of state police gave White no confidence vote--let's lay blame on somebody else though. There was a bunch of other stuff too. But White chose to embarrass a good Governor to get out of a failing situation. Just admit it instead of throwing blame elsewhere. And what about the threats to smear those wanting to run against White. I guess Carraro found out what happens to you if you go against the powers that be.
It should be the other way around -- until accusations are proven (or at least made) by the AG or SoS, we shouldn't be smearing people by accusing them of commiting felony vote-buying. Political opponents leveling charges should not be enough. There is still not a single example of someone being paid to attend. Out of an estimated 700 attendees, there are 5 instances where someone's admission fee was apparently paid by the Wilson campaign in accordance with party rules. That's a non-story.
As for the accusations about threats, I think they're silly. If a family member of one of these candidates had been seriously threatened, do you really believe that they would not have immediately gone to law enforcement about it? If they didn't trust the Sheriff, they could have gone to APD, the State Police, or the FBI. Common-sense tells you they would have immediately sought help. That's why it's hard to believe that they were actually threatened.
Instead, they're running to the press at an awfully convenient time - immediately following the drubbing of their candidate at the county convention.
Carraro says a former Republican staffer in Texas threatened that they would bring up his divorce case. Ed, you have even admitted on this blog that you saw the news story about it. It's been out there forever. And how is some staffer in Texas Darren White? How is that even a threat? Google John McCain and divorce and see what you find. Should John McCain file a complaint with the AG because Democrat operatives have "threatened" to bring up his past if he continues running for President. It's stupid.
Janice Arnold-Jones first says she was told by the state chairman that she shouldn't run if she can't raise money. Wow. What a threat! Throw him in jail! She then says she had a face-to-face conversation with someone who told her that if she ran that they would go after her daughter. She doesn't describe what "go after" means, but that sounds serious. If that's true, it shouldn't be difficult to at least pursue the case, as she should certainly be able to identify the person that made the threat. Afterall, she says she was at a face-to-face meeting with the person. Why not identify him or her and prosecute? Her unwillingness to do so seriously undercuts her credibility and calls into question whether a threat was actually made.
Boitano says he got an email string from a former high-ranking Republican official who questioned his religion. Domrzalski reprinted what he says was the email on his blog. Whether one likes that email or not, I don't think it amounts to a criminal threat, nor does Boitano identify the White campaign as being responsible for it. Boitano's membership in a controversial church was questioned. So what? Have you noticed that Barack Obama's church membership has also been scrutinized? Should those members of the media be in jail for doing so?
People say all sorts of things in politics. Rumors and charges fly all
People say all sorts of things in politics. Rumors and charges fly all the time. Unless they're relevant and can be substantiated, they usually don't amount to much. Should your statements about White on this blog be viewed as a threat? What about MacCallum's claim that she has uncovered stuff about White that hasn't come out yet? Is that a threat? This whole thing is silly. Candidates for public office have their lives, records, and pasts scrutinized by the press, their opponents, and ultimately by the voters. Until someone can prove that they were criminally threatened, this seems much more like a story about sour grapes than anything else.
Republicans outside of Albuquerque will see this as more reason to move the leadership of the State Party outside of city limits. I think we will see the South and Northwest come out big in the primary for Steve.
If Steve loses a close race in the fall, he becomes the front runner on the Republican side for Governor.
Lyons will be the only Republican holding a statewide office, and I could see Pat taking a run at District 3.
With only one Republican in Congress(Southern District) it will be time for a rebuild. I think this will be good move for the party and the State. It would better serve New Mexico to have to strong political parties.
You're right! We need to rebuild the Republican party from the top down. The last election should have been a wake up call. Dendahl-30% Mccullock-29% both supported by political bosses at state. They even tried to discredit Fernando C de Baca as Chariman of Bernalillo with a smear campaign. that's all they know how to do. Keep away from qulifications and accomplishments when their candidates don't have any and try and bring personal smears into campaign. Carraro, Boitano and Jones I guess got what they knew they would get by messing with White and his crew of Burgos and Barnett--isn't his client George Soros the Republican hater.
Did I just hear Dave Cargo correctly on Eye on New Mexico saying that he contributed to State Treasurer Robert Vigil in order to get his library built? Isn't that exactly the illegal pay-to-play practice that Vigil is currently in prison for?
That's stunning.
I can't believe Cargo just said on TV that he gave money to a politician for the stated purpose of getting a quid pro quo. How did he not just confess to a crime???
It is my understanding that Pat Rodgers was the person that approached Heather about the court house scandal, spurring her unethical call to US Attorney.
That was a nice little invoice Rodgers handed Cargo implying he has had others pay his way in past conventions. What a shame it was dated this week, not at the time of payment. Typical kill the messenger tactic. Can we all just concede Heathers defeat to Steve and let him save money for the fall for the battle against Tom.
The other thing Cargo said on the show was that the people who told him they were paid to attend said they were paid by Pearce, which is apparently the same thing he told Haussamen. For some reason, Domrzalski and others have chosen to ignore that rather important fact and have instead chosen to focus on Wilson.
We need to get past these ridiculous vote-buying claims, let the candidates debate the issues going into the convention, and then let the chips fall where they may on March 15th. Republicans should keep in mind that baseless attacks on the party only serve to hurt whomever wins the nomination.
Debate the issues? You mean like that debate Joe and Darren had, with no media. It was interesting to hear Darren call into 770am last week to defend himself. First time I heard him on KKOB for a while. Of course he took no question from the callers. I was just happy to hear he made it out of his cave. Well you better get back in there and continue to learn the issues and legislative process, so you don't pull a Madrid in the fall.
Dave Cargo looked so pathetic today on TV that I almost felt sorry for him. I did wonder the same thing about it being illegal to pay a politician for his library. Only in New Mexico can you get away with admitting bribery on television.
Turfed It. Clearly Darren White material. Since you most likely already work for him personally, or for the party directly, I guess you won't have to worry about asking them for a job. It's obviously a done deal for you.
You appear to screech a lot and make some interesting accusations. Be careful.
Using divorces in smear campaigns can work both ways.
Oh? Darren White's wife Jennifer filed for a Temporary Domestic Order on 3/31/2000?
Why would that be? Somebody gettin' a bit slap happy?
Witnesses to black eyes, etc. ...screaming, threatening to expose...? State police and DPS doing a quick cover-up for the boss? Care to add more or clarify?
Better think about what you want to bring out about your fave candidate White. It just might come back to bite him in the ass. And, you'll be able to thank yourself for playing right into it....
Laura --
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
First, thank you for coming right out and showing your true bias -- it's about time you got that off your chest. Feel better now? You're wrong about my employment and you're demonstrably wrong about the facts regarding a Temporary Domestic Order.
That's what I really want to thank you for. Thank you for clearly demonstrating to everyone exactly how sloppy you are as a reporter and how loose you play with the truth.
A little slap-happy? A black-eye? Or maybe the issuing of a Temporary Domestic Order is standard with ANY AND ALL divorce and/or custody filings.
Oops.
The truth is the Court automatically issues a Temporary Domestic Order upon the filing of every divorce or custody action. In fact, it's actually done immediately by the clerk of the Court as soon as the case is filed -- they don't even wait to see a judge.
Here's the citation:
1-121. Temporary domestic orders.
A. Temporary domestic orders required. Except as provided in this rule, in all original domestic relations actions, the court shall enter a temporary domestic order, unless:
(1) the action was filed by the state regarding child support;
It took me two whole minutes to locate this on the NM Supreme Court website, but apparently that's too long for you to wait. I'm sure you were going to get around to that tomorrow, right?
Stunning. This post shows how pathetic and dangerous you are as a reporter and should explain to everyone exactly how the baseless vote-buying story hit the air. Fortunately, you're no longer on the radio, so this particular smear won't sit on the airwaves for days before you get around to checking the facts, or asking the smeared party for comment.
You just proved yourself incompetent, biased, and exonerated Pat Allen all in one blog post. Congratulations!
Turfed It,
Well now that the SoS has gone public with her investigation, maybe now YOUR bias will show. I don't have any bias, unless it involves sleaze. And, frankly, what I had investigated early on is now coming out. Too bad for all you doubters and smear mongers.
In addition, Wilson has now admitted she paid for "at least" five people. She had to admit it. She wrote CHECKS! All those payments made by other candidates, even if in cash, should be clear on those GOP forms claiming indigency.
You sound like an Eliot Spitzer. Too arrogant and self-righteous to get with the program. Sad.
And just like that, another one of your cheap attacks is proven baseless....
Below is from the blog on which you "broke" the "story"...
http://f-brilliant.blogspot.com/
Friday, March 14, 2008
NM AG says there’s no GOP vote-buying probe.
Says that party conventions are private affairs that are not subject to the state’s election code
By Dennis Domrzalski
The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office said today that it is not investigating allegations of vote-buying at the recent state GOP pre-primary conventions because party conventions are private matters that aren’t subject to the state’s election code.
AG spokesman Phil Sisneros said the office sent a memo to the Secretary of State’s Office saying that unless there is more to the allegations there’s noting to be investigated.
Secretary of State Mary Herrera said on Wednesday that her office was working closely with the AG’s Office to finish the investigation before the state Republican Party held its statewide nominating convention on Saturday. Herrera said at the time that she had never heard of people having to pay to attend party nominating conventions and that she thought the practice was “very odd.”
“We sent them a memo saying that they need to come up with more information before we can do anything,” Sisneros said. “Because for us, the Republican convention is not under the state election code. It’s the same thing for the Democrat Party’s caucuses. They’re private organizations and they do not come under the state election code. It is really going to be a party issue.”
SoS spokesman James Flores confirmed that Bureau of Elections Chief Daniel Miera had received the AG’s memo.
The vote-buying allegations stem from the Bernalillo County Republican Party’s pre-primary convention on Feb. 17 in Albuquerque. Former New Mexico Gov. Dave Cargo, a Republican, said attendees had told him that their $30 registration fees had been paid by certain campaigns. Cargo also said he had been told that some campaigns might have paid attendees $35-an-hour to be at the convention.
Attendees to the convention elected delegates to the state GOP’s statewide convention to be held on Saturday. Those delegates will decide which candidates will be on the party’s June primary election ballot.
Cargo, a lawyer, said the allegations, if true, amounted to vote-buying and bribery, which under state law are fourth-degree felonies. Cargo was not immediately available for comment Friday morning.
Congresswoman Heather Wilson’s U.S. Senate campaign initially refused to answer questions about whether it had paid people to attend the conventions. Later it admitted it paid the $30 registration fees of five people who attended the conventions.
Bernalillo County GOP records show that Wilson’s campaign paid four people’s fees by check—two from Ward 31, and one each from Wards 23 and 24.
The vote-buying allegation story was broken by then-KKOB Radio drive time news anchor Laura MacCal
Turfed It, it doesn't change the fact that she bought votes, legal or otherwise. Doesn't matter though, Steve will trounce her this weekend.
Turfed It, looks like the AG office may have blown it,
Also from f-brilliant,
"According to the New Mexico election code, political parties have to abide by the code when determining which candidates get on ballots. Here’s the relevant part of the election law:
1-7-1. Political parties; conditions for use of ballot. (1969)
All nominations of candidates for public office in New Mexico made by political parties shall be made pursuant to the Election Code [ 1-1-1 NMSA 1978]. No political party shall be permitted to have the names of its candidates printed on any election ballot unless and until it has qualified as provided in the Election Code.
Other sections of the election code say it’s a fourth-degree felony to pay for a vote and to take money to vote a certain way:
1-20-11. Offering a bribe. (1969)
Offering a bribe consists of willfully advancing, paying, or causing to be paid, or promising, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable consideration, office or employment, to any person for the following purposes connected with or incidental to any election:
A. to induce such person, if a voter, to vote or refrain from voting for or against any candidate, proposition, question or constitutional amendment;
B. to induce such person, if a precinct board member or other election official, to mark, alter, suppress or otherwise change any ballot that has been cast, any election return, or any certificate of election; or
C. to induce such person to use such payment or promise to bribe others for the purposes specified in this section.
Whoever offers a bribe is guilty of a fourth degree felony.
1-20-12. Accepting a bribe. (1969)
Accepting a bribe consists of knowingly accepting any payment or promise of payment, directly or indirectly, of money, valuable consideration, office or employment for the unlawful purposes specified in Section 1-20-11 NMSA 1978.
Whoever accepts a bribe is guilty of a fourth degree felony."
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