Petition flub may keep some off ballot

SANTA FE (KRQE) - A very small mistake could have a big impact on the futures of some powerful lawmakers including Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings of Roswell.

According to a law passed last year, all candidates seeking office must list their political districts when gathering signatures on their nominating petitions. But a dozen candidates, including Jennings, failed to do so.

In a letter the Attorney General Gary King, Secretary of State Dianna Duran asked for advice on what to do with the candidates who did not indicate the districts for their offices.

They include:

• Rep. Rick Little, R-Chaparral
• Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park
• Sen. Tim Jennings, D-Roswell
• Rep. Dianne Hamilton, R-Silver City
• Rep. James Roger Madalena, D-Jemez Pueblo
• Rep. Rodolpho Martinez, D-Bayard

Six other candidates also did not indicate their political districts, according to Duran.

The issue came to light after Rep. Thomas Garcia, D-Ocate, who is running against incumbent Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, notified Duran that Campos did not correctly fill out his petition.

"There is no district that is specified and that is one of the requirements," said Garica.

Petitions are required to qualify for the ballot. Garcia said listing political districts on the paperwork is the ensure signatures are actually from voters in that district. According to the law, omission of information could be a misdemeanor crime.

"If someone signs a petition that simply would state "state senator," one could argue they could gather signatures from anywhere across the state," said Garcia.

Campos said it was an honest mistake.

"Everything I did was within the district and the confines of the law and again there was no intent whatsoever to mislead anyone," said Campos, who is running for his sixth Senate term.

Campos also said the move is Garcia's attempt to play petty politics early in the game. Garcia said rules are rules.

"If it calls for disqualification on those grounds, it's not petty, it's not trivial. It's state law," said Garica.

Jennings said he doesn't think anything will come of the mistake. He faults the recent law change for the confusion and says he wasn't trying to deceive anyone.

Late Friday, the attorney general's office advised Duran that the courts likely would not require her to turn down nominating petitions only because the district is left out.