A judge on Wednesday disqualified State Representative Rebecca Dow's nominating petitions for the June 2 Republican primary election. Dow represents New Mexico's 38th House District and is seeking reelection. The judge ruled that screenshots that Dow submitted of her nominating positions are invalid because they do not contain the addresses of voters who signed the petitions.
In a statement on social media, Dow vowed to appeal the decision and called the matter, "a dispute over paperwork."
But Daymon Ely, a former state representative and the attorney who filed the complaint, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that the missing addresses mean there is no way to tell if signatures on the petitions have been duplicated.
Without Dow, there is no Republican on the primary ballot. Democrat David Mooney is running as a write-in.
A New Mexico trade organization filed a petition with the Water Quality Control Commission to reuse water byproducts from oil and gas extraction but two state nonprofits allege that the petition fabricates quotes from several scientific studies.
The Water Access, Treatment, & Reuse Alliance recently filed a petition with the Water Quality Control Commission, seeking to permit the use of treated produced water for a wide variety of uses outside New Mexico oil and gas fields, including for growing crops and irrigating pasture for livestock.
Produced water refers to the water byproduct of oil and natural gas extraction. A bill in the last state legislative session proposed reusing this water, but it was shot down in committee due to concerns about safety from Democratic legislators.
The New Mexico nonprofits New Energy Economy and the Center for Biological Diversity allege that the Alliance fabricated quotes from several scientific studies in their petition. The quotes claim that produced water has no adverse effect to humans, plants, soil, or aquatic life. The two nonprofits argue that the studies referenced do not fully support these claims.
