It’s not very likely that she will be appointed, but the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State in 2014 announced on Thursday that she applied for the vacant Secretary of State position.
Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver wrote a letter to Gov. Susana Martinez, saying it was “in the spirit of nonpartisanship.”
“As you know, I am currently the most experienced election administrator in our state, having effectively served New Mexico’s largest county and approximately one-third of all its voters for nearly nine years,” Toulouse Oliver wrote. “I have the experience, expertise and desire to bring transparent, accountable, and—most importantly—fair leadership to the Secretary of State’s office.”
The full letter, as sent to media, is available at the bottom of this post.
Martinez is accepting applications for the position, which is vacant after Secretary of State Dianna Duran resigned from the position last week. Hours after her resignation, Duran pleaded guilty to six counts including two felonies for transferring campaign finance money to personal accounts.
Martinez, herself a Republican, has a history of appointing Republicans when given the choice. Most recently, she chose Republican Ted Barela to fill the seat left by Phil Griego after the Democrat resigned amid scandal earlier this year.
Whoever Martinez chooses will not be serving the rest of Duran’s term, which would have ended in 2018. Instead, the position will be up in the next general election—in this case, the 2016 general election.
Many expect that the person who Martinez chooses will be the likely Republican nominee for the next election.
So far, no one else has announced they have applied for the position.
Duran was the first Republican to be Secretary of State since the 1920s. She won reelection in 2014 after beating Toulouse Oliver in the general election.
Toulouse Oliver is widely expected to run for the position again. This letter applying to be Secretary of State now will do nothing to stop that speculation.
