Brad Winter, a councilor since 1999 and a longtime public school administrator, is expected to guide the agency through the November general election, when a new secretary of state will be chosen and take office in January 2017.
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Winter is serving his fourth term as an Albuquerque City Councilor and was council president in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2008. He worked with Albuquerque Public Schools for more than 20 years before being named an interim superintendent in 2014.
“Brad Winter has the integrity, skills and temperament to step in as Secretary of State and serve New Mexicans with distinction”, Martinez said.
Winter will serve at least through November’s general election, when New Mexico voters will elect a new secretary of state. Governor spokesman Chris Sanchez says Winter will begin working as New Mexico’s top elections official Tuesday.
The secretary of state’s office is charged with overseeing and enforcing New Mexico’s elections and campaign finance laws.
Winter holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., and a Doctorate of Education from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
First District Judge T. Glenn Ellington, left, listens to former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran during her sentencing hearing on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015, in Santa Fe, N.M. Duran was sentenced to 30 days in jail for siphoning money from her election account to fuel a gambling addiction in a case that has led to calls for an overhaul of the states campaign finance and ethics laws.
“I believe it’s a start in restoring the faith the public has in the office of the secretary of state and in the other candidates that seek public office”.
Winter was re-elected in October as city councilor and plans to hold onto that job.
Under the agreement, the 60-year-old Duran can withdraw her guilty pleas if Ellington orders time in prison.
The sentence issued Monday by District Judge T. Glenn Ellington also involves in-person apologies to campaign donors and appearances before school children across the state.
Judge T. Glenn Ellington sentenced Duran to 30 days in jail, five years of supervised probation and to pay $14,000 in restitution to campaign donors and contributors. “I think there is a fair question about whether this guy can get it done”.
Winter said after his swearing-in he had this message for critics he called “naysayers”: “Please, give me a chance”.
Former Secretary of State Dianna Duran resigned in October as she pleaded guilty to charges involving the misuse of campaign donations. She also must wear a Global Positioning System monitoring device for at least two years, a period in which she is to stay away from gambling establishments. There’s no law in New Mexico that allows the courts to do that.
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He suspended all but a month of the initial 7.5-year sentence and ordered Duran to report to jail Friday after denying a motion that would have allowed her to spend time with her family over the holidays.
