New Mexico State Treasurer

Last updated
State Treasurer of New Mexico
Seal of New Mexico.svg
Seal of New Mexico
Laura Montoya.jpg
Incumbent
Laura Montoya
since January 1, 2023
Term length Four years
Formation1912
First holderOwen N. Marron
Website State Treasurer of New Mexico

The state treasurer of New Mexico is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of New Mexico. Thirty individuals have held the office of state treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Laura Montoya, a Democrat who took office on January 1, 2023, after being elected on November 8, 2022.

Contents

Eligibility and term of office

No person may be elected state treasurer other than a United States citizen of at least 30 years of age who has resided continuously in New Mexico for five years preceding the election. [1] The state treasurer is elected to a four-year term and is able to serve up to two consecutive terms; more terms may be served after one full term has intervened. [2]

Powers and duties

In New Mexico, the state treasurer serves as the chief banker and investment officer of the state. As such, the state treasurer provides cash management to state agencies, invests the state agency and local government investment pools, and administers New Mexico's ABLE and retirement savings programs. [3] [4] [5] The state treasurer also chairs the State Treasurer's Investment Committee and is an ex officio voting member of the Capitol Buildings Planning Commission, the Educational Retirement Board, the New Mexico Educational Assistance Foundation, the New Mexico Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority, the New Mexico Retiree Health Care Authority, the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation, the Public Employees Retirement Association, the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority, the State Board of Finance, and the State Investment Council. [6] These bodies manage public pensions, invest New Mexico's permanent funds, issue state debt, provide financing for various economic development programs, and supervise the state's financial affairs, among many other responsibilities.

History of corruption

The Office of the State Treasurer has been the subject of multiple corruption scandals in recent decades. [7] In 1975 Treasurer Jesse D. Kornegay pleaded guilty to perjury charges and served time in federal prison. [8] Again in 1985, Treasurer Earl Hartley pleaded guilty to malfeasance in office related to the diversion of funds from a treasurer's conference to his personal account. His deputy, Ken Johnson, was also arrested in December 1984 and pleaded guilty in 1985 to extortion. [8] Hartley resigned from the office in 1985 and was succeeded by James B. Lewis, an appointee of Governor Toney Anaya.

Treasurer David King testified against one of his office's division managers, Joseph O. Garcia, who was charged with bribery of a public official after offering King a bribe for investment activities. Later in 2005, Treasurer Michael A. Montoya pleaded guilty to federal charge of extortion, and in 2007 he also pleaded guilty to a state charge of racketeering. A Democrat, he served four years in prison. [8] Most recently in 2006, Treasurer Robert E. Vigil was convicted of one count of attempted extortion and was acquitted of 23 counts of extortion and racketeering with regard to the investment of state funds. He served time in Federal prison. [8] Robert E. Vigil was a protege of Michael A. Montoya. Robert Vigil resigned in December 2005 and was succeeded by Doug Brown, who was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson. [9]

List of state treasurers

#ImageNameTook officeLeft officePartyYears in office
1 Owen N. Marron 19121916 Democrat 5 [note 1]
2 H. L. Hall 19171918 Democrat 2
3 Charles U. Strong 19191922 Republican <4 [note 2]
4 O. A. Matson 19221922 Republican <1 [note 3]
5 John W. Corbin 19231923 Democrat <1 [note 4]
6 Warren R. Graham, Sr. 19231928 Democrat <6 [note 5]
7 Emerson Watts 19291930 Republican 2
8 Warren R. Graham, Sr. 19311933 Democrat 2 [note 6]
9 Clinton P. Anderson - Secretary of Agriculture.jpg Clinton P. Anderson 19331934 Democrat 2 [note 7]
10 James J. Connelly 19351938 Democrat 4
11 Rex French 19391942 Democrat 4
12 Guy Shepard 19431946 Democrat 4
13 H. R. Rodgers 19471950 Democrat 4
14 R. H. Grissom 19511954 Democrat 4
15 Joseph B. Grant 19551958 Democrat 4
16 Joe Callaway 19591962 Democrat 4
17 Joseph B. Grant 19631966 Democrat 4
18 H. E. Thomas, Jr. 19671967 Republican <1 [note 8]
19 Merrill B. Johns, Jr. 19681968 Republican <1 [note 9]
20 Jesse D. Kornegay 19691974 Democrat 6
21 Edward M. Murphy 19751978 Democrat 4
22 Jan Alan Hartke 19791982 Democrat 4
23 Earl E. Hartley 19831985 Democrat <3 [note 10]
24 James B. Lewis 19861990 Democrat <5 [note 11]
25 David W. King 19911994 Democrat 4
26 Michael A. Montoya 19952002 Democrat 8
27 Robert E. Vigil 20032005 Democrat <3 [note 12]
28 Douglas M. Brown 20052006 Republican 1 [note 13]
29 James B. Lewis 20062014 Democrat >8 [note 14]
30 Tim Eichenberg 20152022 Democrat 8
31 Laura Montoya.jpg Laura Montoya 2023present Democrat

Notes

  1. ↑ Since the first state election was in an odd-numbered year (1911), the term lasted five years.
  2. ↑ Resigned on February 11, 1922.
  3. ↑ Appointed by Governor Mechem on May 31, 1922.
  4. ↑ Tenure in office ended in early 1923.
  5. ↑ Appointed by Governor Hinkle on May 7, 1923.
  6. ↑ Died on January 2, 1933.
  7. ↑ Appointed by Governor Seligman on January 7, 1933.
  8. ↑ Resigned on December 19, 1967.
  9. ↑ Appointed by Governor Cargo in January 1968.
  10. ↑ Resigned in December 1985.
  11. ↑ Appointed by Governor Anaya on December 12, 1985. First African-American elected to a New Mexico state executive office.
  12. ↑ Resigned on October 26, 2005.
  13. ↑ Appointed by Governor Richardson on November 7, 2005.
  14. ↑ Took office on December 15, 2006.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Ryan</span> Governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003

George Homer Ryan is an American former politician who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as secretary of State of Illinois from 1991 to 1999 and as lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1991. He was later convicted of federal racketeering, bribery, extortion, money laundering and tax fraud stemming from his time in office.

The Genovese crime family, also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American Mafia. They have generally maintained a varying degree of influence over many of the smaller mob families outside New York, including ties with the Philadelphia, Patriarca, and Buffalo crime families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward D. DiPrete</span> American politician

Edward Daniel DiPrete is an American politician. He served as the 70th Governor of Rhode Island for three two-year terms, serving from 1985 to 1991. Convicted of numerous corruption charges, he is the only Rhode Island governor to have gone to prison.

Operation Boptrot, also referred to as Boptrot, was an investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into corruption among the Kentucky General Assembly, the Commonwealth's legislature. The operation was highly successful, with the investigation culminating in several indictments in 1992, leading to the conviction of more than a dozen legislators between 1992 and 1995. The investigation also led to reform legislation being passed in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toney Anaya</span> American politician; 26th governor of New Mexico

Toney Anaya is an American politician and attorney who served as the 26th governor of New Mexico from 1983 to 1987.

Robert E. Vigil is an American politician from the U.S. state of New Mexico. He was twice elected New Mexico State Auditor, serving from 1991 to 1998 and was New Mexico State Treasurer from 2003 until his resignation on October 26, 2005.

Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria, also known as "Prateek" and "the Conductor", is a New York mobster and Caporegime in the Gambino crime family. He is considered by law enforcement to be a close associate of Nicholas Corozzo and has served as his right-hand-man for almost 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob McCord</span> American former politician and convicted felon

Robert Maxwell McCord is an American former politician and convicted felon. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Treasurer of Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2015. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania in the 2014 election.

Corruption in Illinois has been a problem from the earliest history of the state. Electoral fraud in Illinois pre-dates the territory's admission to the Union in 1818. Illinois had the third most federal criminal convictions for public corruption between 1976 and 2012, behind New York and California. A study published by the University of Illinois Chicago in 2022 ranked Illinois as the second most corrupt state in the nation, with 4 out of the last 11 governors serving time in prison.

James Beliven Lewis is an American politician from the state of New Mexico. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the state treasurer of New Mexico from 1985–1990 and from 2006–2014. To date, he is the only African American to serve in the role.

Paul J. Silvester is an American white collar criminal who served as Connecticut State Treasurer from 1997 to 1999. Convicted of racketeering and conspiracy to launder money, he served four years and three months in prison.

Michael A. Montoya is an American politician and former Certified Public Accountant who served as the 26th New Mexico State Treasurer from 1996 to 2002. Montoya was the first Hispanic-American elected to the position.

Douglas M. Brown is an American businessman and academic who briefly served as the 28th New Mexico State Treasurer after the resignation and conviction of Robert E. Vigil. In 2019, Brown was nominated to serve as the president of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents.

John Patrick McGonigle was an American corrections officer and politician who served as Sheriff of Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1985 to 1994. He was convicted of tax evasion and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering for demanding kickbacks from two of his deputies.

Al Benedict was an American politician who served as Pennsylvania Auditor General from 1977 to 1985. He was convicted on federal racketeering and tax fraud charges in 1988 and sentenced to six years in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph B. Montoya</span> American politician

Joseph Bernardino Montoya Jr. was an American politician who served in the California State Legislature from 1973 to 1990. He served in the State Assembly from 1973 to 1978 from 50th and 60th districts, and in the California State Senate from the 26th district from 1978 until his resignation in 1990. Prior to that, he was a member of the La Puente City Council and served as Mayor of La Puente.

References

  1. ↑ "Article V, Section 3, Constitution of New Mexico". New Mexico Compilation Commission. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  2. ↑ "About NMOSA". New Mexico Office of the State Auditor. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  3. ↑ "What the Treasurer's Office Does". New Mexico Office of the State Treasurer. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  4. ↑ "ABLE New Mexico". New Mexico Office of the State Treasurer. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Work and Save". New Mexico Office of the State Treasurer. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Boards and Commissions". New Mexico Office of the State Treasurer. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  7. ↑ Colleen Heild (October 30, 2005). "Treasurer's Office has a Corrupt Past" . Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Officials behaving badly: A look back at the misdeeds of New Mexico public officials". December 15, 2015. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Despite denying extortion charge, State Treasurer Resigns in NM". October 27, 2005. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.