Lobbyists Gave Former Speaker Thousands And May Have Received Keys To Capitol In Return
Albuquerque, NM — Republican Party of New Mexico sent a letter to Attorney General Hector Balderas today asking his office to investigate a possible deal between two lobbyists and former Speaker of the House Kenny Martinez. TV news recently revealed that Martinez may have given government office space and keys to the Roundhouse to two lobbyists, Natasha Ning and Drew Setter, in exchange for over $20,000 in campaign cash.
“After last week’s investigative report, there is reason to believe that former Speaker Kenny Martinez and certain lobbyists may have engaged in inappropriate actions. We believe this to be a serious issue that deserves the attention of the Attorney General,” Maestas said. “The people of New Mexico can’t continue to have pay-to-play politics and unacceptable handouts given in return for cash. We should be made aware if special privilege was given to lobbyists in exchange for their financial backing of the former speaker’s political operation.”
In the letter, RPNM asked Balderas to appoint a special prosecutor to the case to avoid a conflict of interest. Setter and Ning are big contributors to Balderas. In addition, Ning was a business partner of Balderas’s political consultant from 2007 to 2014.
RPNM also sent the letter to Secretary of State Dianna Duran because these actions appear to have violated campaign finance law by accepting contributions over the cap limit.
Picture is of Kenny Martinez from the State Legislature website