Rep. Lord: "Being a woman does not excuse a public official from sexually violating anyone"

SANDIA PARK, N.M.--- Campaign finance reports filed with the NM Secretary of State yesterday revealed Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham paid out an additional $87,500 to her sexual assault accuser prompting State Representative Stefani Lord to call for Governor Lujan Grisham to immediately resign.

"Today I call on Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to resign from office. Being a woman does not excuse a public official from sexually violating anyone," said State Representative Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park). "No elected official is above the law. Her history of sexual harassment is a stain on the state of New Mexico and she should immediately resign. Democrats forced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from office for much less."

Rep. Lord continued, "I call on the Democratic Party and Democrat leaders to do the right by joining with the voices of her victims in calling for her to step down. If I were a donor to the Governor's campaign, I would be furious knowing that my money is paying out an enormous sexual abuse settlement, and I would be asking for my donations to be returned. She should not drag our state through the mud by remaining in office."

Rep. Lord's call for Lujan Grisham to resign follow recent revelations that former Lujan Grisham campaign staffer, James Hallinan, has been paid out an additional $87,500 from Lujan Grisham's campaign stemming from a sexual harassment claim, bringing the total payout to $150,000. Lujan Grisham's campaign previously filed in their April 2021 campaign finance report a $62,500 payout in response to serious accusations of the Governor grabbing the staffer's crotch and laughing in front her senior campaign staff during a meeting while Lujan Grisham was on the campaign trail in 2018. The embattled New Mexico Governor is no stranger to similar accusations; another New Mexican, Eddie Dehart, also accuses Lujan Grisham of similar behavior as far back as 2005.