Update: New Mexico House Republican Campaign Committee Denies Backing Radical Democrat Over Member of their Own Party

UPDATE: The Estancia News reached out to the House Republican Committee at the email address listed on their website ([email protected]) and the NMGOP on July 17th to ask for comment on this story before it was published four days later on July 21st. We were ignored by both organizations.

On July 24th we received a condescending email from Rod Montoya, leader of the House Republican Committee, who was using the same email where we had tried to contact him a week earlier. He accused the Estancia News of failing to reach out to him and called us irresponsible and unethical. Montoya also claimed that Mr. Alcon’s campaign filing showing an in-kind donation from the House Republican Committee was an error by Alcon or his staff. Mr. Montoya also explained he was currently pressuring the Secretary of State to “retract the complaint.”

We have responded to Mr. Montoya with a copy of our July 17th email where we originally sought comment. We also informed him that the Secretary of State has no authority to retract a complaint filed by a citizen. The proper course of action, if there is an error in Alcon’s filing, is for Alcon to amend the campaign filing if he does not, in fact, believe that he received an in-kind donation from the House Republican Committee.

We will keep you updated as this story develops. We also include Mr. Montoya’s full email below:

Original Story (published on 7/21/2024):

A new ethics complaint filed last week (#2024-040) reveals extreme corruption going on with the New Mexico House Republican Campaign Committee (House Republican Committee) and the radical left contingent of the New Mexico Legislature.

The ethics complaint notes that an in-kind donation from the House Republican Committee of $1,880.03 appears on the campaign report for sitting Democrat House Representative Eliseo Alcon, but there is no corresponding entry on the House Republican Committee’s reporting for the same period. In New Mexico, political candidates and committees must report all donations and expenses on a periodic basis.

But the scandal is less about inaccurate paperwork filed by the House Republican Committee, and more about who they donated to and why they would hide the fact.

According to their website, the House Republican Committee exists to “[fight] to elect Republicans, fight against Lujan Grisham’s radical agenda, and flip the New Mexico state house.” The donation portal at the top of their website and states “Join the Fight to Elect Republicans to the State House.” The website also has statements about the troubling erosion of parental rights and a “pregnancy resource” tab where they list resources available to encourage pregnant mothers to choose life.

Eliseo Alcon is the sitting representative for District 6, which contains Cibola and McKinley Counties. Alcon has received donations from Planned Parenthood and numerous other progressive causes which directly conflict with the stated values of the House Republican Committee.
The Rio Grande Foundation is a non-profit which documents the voting records of all New Mexico legislators and gives them a rating based on how friendly each legislator is toward supporting individual liberty and economic freedom. There are only three New Mexico legislators who rank lower than Alcon on these issues.

It is troubling, and possibly illegal, that the House Republican Committee would make promises about their purpose and values to their donors and then use donated funds to contribute to the campaign of one of the most radical Democrat members of the New Mexico House of Representatives.

Even worse, Alcon is up for reelection in November and has a Republican challenger. Paul Spencer is running for the District 6 seat and his platform aligns with the issues the House Republican Committee claim to “fight” for. The House Republican Committee has yet to donate to Spencer’s campaign, even though they claim to use donations to “flip the New Mexico state house.”

This sort of thing is nothing new on the Republican side. The Estancia News previously covered the fact that Republican legislator Greg Nibert was campaigning as an opponent of Governor Lujan Grisham’s agenda at the same time his law firm was actively fighting to uphold her most radical policies. Nibert was a prominent member of the House Republican Committee until he lost his primary election last month.

The House Democrat Campaign Committee only donated $145.63 to Alcon, less than 10 percent of the Republican contribution.

The Estancia News has reached out to the House Republican Committee to ask who authorized the donation to Alcon, what it was used for, and whether they feel the donation violates the representations they made to their donors. We also reached out to the Republican Party of New Mexico for comment. We have received no response.