ALBUQUERQUE—Today, Steve Pearce, candidate for Governor, called for the state legislature and U.S. Department of Justice to step in and conduct an independent investigation into Delta Consulting’s non-competitive contract to manage the state’s high-risk insurance pool.

“Today’s report that Michelle Lujan Grisham’s company, Delta Consulting, was awarded a non-competitive contract, which has spanned years and billed millions of dollars at direct cost to health insurance customers of our state, must be investigated. Neither Delta Consulting nor the high-risk insurance pool board have provided any evidence that the bid for the multi-million dollar, multi-year contract was done openly or within guidelines for such a contract.

“With serious questions still unanswered, cronies of Michelle Lujan Grisham and her campaign treasurer and business partner Debbie Armstrong, have blocked every effort by the State Auditor to review the contracting process. Worse, State Attorney General Hector Balderas’s deep ties to the Grisham campaign make him incapable of investigating the matter while openly campaigning for her. This is unacceptable.

“I am calling on the legislature, which created the high-risk pool by statute, along with the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into the contracting process surrounding Delta Consulting’s high-risk insurance work. We must put an end to cronyism, phony contracts, and rampant corruption that undermines faith in our institutions,” said Pearce.

Read the full AP story on Michelle Lujan Grisham’s non-competitive, multi-million dollar contract here: https://www.apnews.com/b9ced9b1749944e991d6ff9c09b43324