Two Republican state lawmakers seeking reelection continued to employ a New Mexico campaign canvasser accused of harassing their Democratic colleague even after another GOP candidate fired the man over his behavior, campaign finance records show.
Last month, New Mexico state Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces) accused Adalberto Rodriguez, whom her Republican opponent hired as a canvasser, of harassing her and her husband at public events.
At several public events between April and July, Silva said Rodriguez approached her and her husband, independent journalist Heath Haussamen, while brandishing a tripod and a phone or camera and filming. Rodriguez can be seen on several videos Silva provided calling the lawmaker “baby” or “princess” and repeatedly insulting Haussamen’s testosterone levels and appearance as he tries to intervene.
Silva and Haussamen filed a police report in late July regarding Rodriguez’s behavior, which she described as “disruptive, offensive and dangerous in its escalation.” The Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office ultimately declined to bring charges.
Silva’s Republican opponent Ben Luna, Jr. previously told Source NM he fired Rodriguez in July due to his behavior and because he wasn’t meeting his quota as a canvasser. Luna also said he reached out to fellow Republican candidates in New Mexico who hired Rodriguez in some capacity to tell them about Rodriguez’s misbehavior.
In a social media post in early September, Silva shared videos of the encounters and accused House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena) of failing to intervene to ensure candidates’ safety. Armstrong, in a previous statement, told Source NM that she considered the matter to be “already-resolved” by the time it came to her attention.
However, recent Secretary of State’s Office filings show that two southern New Mexico lawmakers — Reps. Luis Terraza (R-Silver City) and Jenifer Jones (R-Deming) — continued to employ Rodriguez until at least September.
Jones and Terrazas paid Rodriguez more than $8,000 between June 28 and Sept. 7, according to campaign finance reports.
Terrazas paid Rodriguez more than $6,300 for unspecified “campaign contract labor” in seven installments between July 9 and Aug. 26. Jones paid Rodriguez nearly $1,900 on Sept. 1 for “campaign paraphernalia/misc.,” the documents show.
Rodriguez did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Monday, though he previously told Source NM that he deleted one of the videos he posted of his encounters with Haussamen and Silva. Rodriguez controls social media accounts called “The Border Gazette.” The handle has roughly 75,000 Instagram followers and primarily contains posts regarding Mexico politics and sports.
Terrazas declined to comment Thursday afternoon, saying he was heading into a debate with his Democrat opponent Raul Turrieta for the District 39 seat. He did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment Monday.
Jones told Source NM that she was unaware that she’d hired or paid Rodriguez.
In an emailed statement Friday afternoon on behalf of Terrazas and Jones, Armstrong did not address Source NM’s questions about what services the lawmakers procured from Rodriguez or why they continued to employ him.
“This is a blatant attempt by Source New Mexico and Sarah Silva to distract from the growing scrutiny of Silva’s critical support for Project Jupiter,” Armstrong said, referring to the controversial data center project in Doña Ana County.
Both Terrazas and Jones have successfully held their seats in recent elections despite serving districts in which Democrats outnumber Republicans. Democrats currently outnumber Republicans 42-26 in the state house.
Sila Avcil, campaign manager for Jones’ District 32 opponent Democrat Laura Parra, told Source NM on Friday that she was immediately concerned for her candidate after seeing Jones’ financial reports.
“Our immediate reaction was just being appalled at the fact that she had hired someone like that knowingly after another Republican had just fired him for harassment,” she said. “Right after that, we were slightly concerned for Laura’s safety.”
Avcil said she and Parra ultimately opted not to hire additional security, but that they are “keeping an eye on the situation.” They have not seen Rodriguez at any campaign events or other public appearances, Avcil said.
Turrieta, Terrazas’ opponent, also told Source NM he has not had any safety concerns.
Still, Silva told Source NM on Friday that Rodriguez continuing to serve on campaign shows that Armstrong continues not to take the matter seriously.
“Leader Armstrong and my opponent had both said at the time that this was taken care of,” Silva said. “Clearly, it wasn’t taken care of, and that bothers and worries me.”
Early voting begins Tuesday. Election Day is Nov. 3.
