近距离内射合集

SANTA FE 鈥� An influential Democratic state senator is facing an ethics complaint over records that suggest he lobbied a New Mexico Department of Transportation engineer in 2024 about his sons鈥� paving company.

But Sen. George Mu帽oz, D-Gallup, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Thursday he was following guidance he鈥檇 sought from the State Ethics Commission and did not cross any ethical bright lines.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 get paid in any way from that company,鈥� Mu帽oz said in a Thursday interview.

The complaint against him and the NMDOT 鈥� along with three individual DOT employees 鈥� was filed with the Ethics Commission last week by former state Sen. Jacob Candelaria, who is an attorney in Albuquerque.

It hinges on DOT emails discussing work done by Prestigious Paving, a Gallup-based company established in 2019 by Mu帽oz鈥檚 two sons that has been paid more than $18.8 million by the state over the last four-plus years.

One particular email referenced in the complaint was sent in November 2022 by DOT district engineer Lisa Boyd Vega to a state DOT official. It references a phone call Boyd Vega said she received from Sen. Mu帽oz about 鈥渟triping.鈥� The email goes on to say that Prestigious Paving was requesting approval for a change of plans regarding road painting projects it was doing under contract for DOT.

Separate emails appear to show that approval was granted, along with an additional $175,000 to pay for road striping work on U.S. 550.

While Candelaria did not specifically allege any criminal wrongdoing in his ethics complaint, he did question whether Mu帽oz 鈥� and the state DOT 鈥� had violated provisions dealing with nepotism in the state Governmental Conduct Act. 

Specifically, those provisions deal with state contracts with companies owned by a legislator or a legislator鈥檚 family, and when legislators are allowed to represent others before a state agency.

In requesting advice from the State Ethics Commission in 2022, Mu帽oz said he had rented storage space to his sons鈥� company. But he said he removed himself from any other involvement with Prestigious Paving before the company began receiving state contracts.

He also said Thursday he does not remember making the phone call referenced in the 2024 email.

But Candelaria questioned that assertion, saying the denial 鈥渟trains common sense.鈥� He also cited the rapid rise of Prestigious Paving as a state contractor.

As for DOT, an agency spokeswoman said Thursday the department does not maintain an information database about the family members of private contractors or legislators. But some DOT employees might be aware of such family connections, she acknowledged.

鈥淎s a general matter, NMDOT does not provide preferential treatment to any contractor and adheres to the Governmental Conduct Act and all procurement procedures,鈥� agency spokeswoman Kristine Mihelcic added.

Mu帽oz is a five-term state senator who took over the reins of the Senate Finance Committee in 2021. In that position, he has significant sway when it comes to crafting the state鈥檚 annual budget bill, which is set at $11.1 billion for the current fiscal year.

During recent legislative sessions, Mu帽oz has worked closely with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham鈥檚 office to codify a universal childcare initiative in state law and overhaul New Mexico鈥檚 behavioral health system.

For his part, Candelaria has verbally sparred with the governor鈥檚 administration and some former legislative colleagues since leaving the state Senate in 2022.

In addition to filing the ethics complaint against Mu帽oz, Candelaria also referred the matter to New Mexico Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez and First Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison for further investigation, according to records provided to the Journal.

Candelaria鈥檚 law firm has also filed a lawsuit against the state General Services Department for allegedly not complying with an open records request for records dealing with Prestigious Paving, including the company鈥檚 bids for state road projects.

Meanwhile, the ethics complaint against Mu帽oz was cited by Senate Republican floor leader William Sharer of Farmington in a statement this week accusing Democrats of having a 鈥渃orruption problem鈥� in New Mexico.

Specifically, Sharer said Mu帽oz was entitled to have the allegations against him 鈥渇ully and fairly investigated,鈥� but claimed they fit into a pattern of self-dealing among Democratic legislators.

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on Twitter at @DanBoydNM or reach him at dboyd@abqjournal.com.