Santa Fe Republican voter challenges Varela’s ballot petition

Representative Luciano "Lucky" Varela
From Capitol Report New Mexico.com - Luciano “Lucky” Varela has served in the state House of Representatives for 25 years and is one of the most influential Democrats in the Roundhouse but Capitol Report New Mexico has learned that a registered Republican in Varela’s district is looking to oust Varela from the ballot in the upcoming primary election on June 5. Santa Fe resident John Onstad and his attorney filed a formal complaint in Santa Fe District Court claiming that Varela did such a careless job collecting signatures to get on the primary ballot and failed to specifically list the district he represents on many of his petitions that a judge should declare Varela’s candidacy void. “This is grand scale sloppiness,” Onstad said by phone Wednesday morning (April 4), adding that, “To me, Lucky has been there so long he probably handed it over to somebody else and they messed it up … but rules are rules.” Onstad’s attorney says the case has been assigned to Judge Raymond Ortiz . No hearing date has been set yet it must be done within 10 days of filing. Onstad’s papers to the court say that Varela submitted 181 signatures (90 were required) on 15 nominating petitions and goes on to say that seven of the nominating petitions do not list Varela’s district (House District 48) and therefore should be ruled invalid. Read more

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