Errol Chavez succumbs to cancer

Last year’s Republican candidate for state auditor Errol Chavez has died. He had been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer just a few weeks before the 2010 election.

Chavez, who was raised in Española, talked to me for an hour after then GOP Chairman Harvey Yates announced his candidacy last January and said wanted “to save the money the state is losing by going after people who are corrupt.”

Balderas beat Chavez by more than 60,000 votes.

The former DEA agent, who originally planned to run for public land commissioner, worked 31 years for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), where he managed money laundering investigations; directed the administration’s policy implementation in Europe, Latin America and the United States; and supervised several hundred agents in various assignments.

After retiring from DEA, Chavez became the executive director of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), a federal drug-prohibition enforcement program. In this position, Chavez was responsible for administering and auditing $11 million of federal funds directed to law enforcement agencies and prosecutors in New Mexico.

Chavez served as president of both the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association and the International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association, an international law enforcement organization with 12,000 members.

Senator Ingle, who asked for a moment of silence to remember Chavez in Santa Fe this morning, said the state of New Mexico “appreciated Chavez’ willingness to serve the public his entire life. He said the state and the country is grateful to Errol Chavez”

Funeral services are still pending.

Democrats respond to GOP candidate recruitment

Yesterday, we were the first to report that former DEA agent Errol Chavez had been recruited out of the Republican primary race for commissioner of public land, by party Chairman Harvey Yates, and into the race for state auditor.

Today, the Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Javier Gonzales sent me an email, bolstered by some top Republicans supporting incumbent Auditor Hector Balderas, and called Errol's announcement "an unfortunate example of the Republican Party recruiting candidates who abandon races as soon as they start them."

“This is the kind of insider maneuvering that New Mexicans are sick of,” Gonzales said. “While Yates and Chavez sit around behind closed doors deciding which job they want next, our current State Auditor, Hector Balderas, has been working hard for the people of New Mexico, fighting government fraud, waste and abuse.

“By instituting the state's first fraud hotline and measures so all governments are annually held accountable for their spending, Balderas has proven that he will find innovative ways to protect New Mexicans," Gonzales continued. "New Mexicans deserve principled leaders who want to serve the public, not politicians who want to serve political insiders.”

Barbara Wold at Democracy for New Mexico reports Chairman Gonzales noted the irony in the fact that several prominent members of the Republican Party recently praised Auditor Balderas on the political blog, NMPolitics.net. Republican political blogger, Mario Burgos, was quoted as saying, “(Balderas) ... is leading the fight to get criminals behind bars. He seems to be doing his job well and with little concern whether the elected criminals have an R or D attached to their name.”

In addition, Republican House Minority Whip, Keith Gardner (R-Roswell), also applauded Balderas’ work, saying, “I may be partisan, but I’m more than willing to put politics aside when someone is doing a great job. Keep it up Mr. Auditor.” Now that's some mighty big praise, especially coming from the R side of the aisle.

In fact, Chavez was recently quoted in the NM Independent, explaining that “he considered running for Congress, but ultimately decided that his executive experience in law enforcement made land commissioner a better fit.”

“With the challenges New Mexicans face today and down the road, we need the proven leadership and experience that Hector Balderas has brought to the State Auditor's Office,” Gonzales said. “This office is too important to be decided by a game of musical chairs. State Auditor Balderas' campaign to aggressively fight government fraud and corruption deserves the support of all New Mexicans -- and that includes Yates and Chavez.”

The Republicans have not announced whether or not they will field statewide candidates for three offices, attorney general, secretary of state, or state treasurer.

GOP recruits Chavez for state auditor's race

Updated 6p

After putting 53,000 miles on his truck campaigning around the state for commissioner of public lands, Errol Chavez is switching races and will run for state auditor in 2010.

Chavez, 60, told us he was recruited by Republican State Party Chairman Harvey Yates because of his 36 years in law enforcement and his “ability to stop corruption in the state of New Mexico.”

The retired DEA agent, who lives in Las Cruces, said if he’s elected he will implement a priority targeting system, which he learned in classes at War College and used to root out criminals when he was assigned to manage High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDA).

For now, Chavez is the only Republican candidate vying for the auditor’s office. His website for land commissioner has been removed while it is being redesigned for the new campaign.

But, James Flores, a spokesman at the Secretary of State’s office in Santa Fe, told us that because Chavez is switching races he will have to collect a new round of qualifying petition signatures, and signatures he collected for the land commissioner’s campaign are not transferable.

Chavez, who grew up in Española, spent 31 years with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration before moving to Las Cruces in 2004 to be director of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program for the state. The program seeks to improve efforts by local, state and federal officials to stop drug trafficking through coordination and providing equipment, technology and other resources.

'I know how to prepare a case for a prosecution'

Chavez said he wants to “save the money the state is losing by going after people who are corrupt.”

“We’ve seen case after case recently of how people have gotten away with the crime because no one checked on them. And if they did check on them they couldn’t identify what was going on,” Chavez said. “I’m going to come in and I can evaluate the information that is there. I can develop a case and I know how to prepare a case for a prosecution. An effective prosecution means a success, and that’s the direction that I’m going.”

He wants people who are corrupt to "be fearful of being caught and prosecuted."

Corruption in New Mexico, he said “has become an acceptable practice. I want to stop that practice.”

Chavez would not say if he would support forensic audits on every state project with a budget over a certain dollar amount. Instead, he said there “are many ways to conduct an investigation.”

Chavez wants financial reports to be required from both public officials and state employees.

“As a Federal agent I had to routinely submit my financial disclosure reports to the attorney general’s office for review,” Chavez said. “We were monitored on the amount of money we made aside from our salaries and questioned every time there was a significant increase in our bank accounts. I think state employees should do the same thing.”

And Chavez didn’t waste anytime criticizing incumbent Auditor Hector Balderas.

“From my perspective there is a lot that could have been done that was not done, and that includes the state investment council,” Chavez said. “We had to be told from another state that we had a problem. Where was the state auditor on this?”

Chavez said he is pleased the party urged him to switch races.

“I’m in my element.”

Still two races without a candidate

At last check the Republican party did not have a candidate for state treasurer or secretary of state, but five people are running for governor, four are campaigning for lieutenant governor, and now three men are vying for commissioner of public lands.

Update 6p

Chavez said in the release, which was sent after we posted, that he's running for auditor "to ensure that government officials are using state taxpayer dollars wisely, not spending them in a wasteful, fraudulent or abusive manner.

“I am well equipped to perform the duties of this position and I pledge to use my experience to target criminal activity and expose any and all corruption revealed during the auditing process—for the good of the people of New Mexico.”

According to the release, Chavez has served as president of both the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association and the International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association, an international law enforcement organization with 12,000 members.

Note: We have audio from our interview with Chavez and will update this post shortly. Come back and hear why he disagrees, as a former DEA agent, with former Gov. Gary Johnson about the war on drugs.

Photo: MG Bralley