State Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces) has been asked to return any campaign contributions that may have been illegally raised in violation of the federal Hatch Act. The request in a letter from New Mexico State House Republican Leader Jim Townsend stems from Small’s wife, Xochitl Torres Small, the current under secretary of Rural Development, being involved in a potential investigation into possible violations of the Hatch Act.
“While I assume these potential violations of the Hatch Act will be thoroughly investigated by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel immediately, such allegations are extremely serious as they undermine the fundamental principle and purpose of the act which is to maintain a federal workforce that is free from partisan political influence or coercion,” Townsend wrote in the letter to Nathan Small dated Oct. 3. “Therefore, I am writing to request that your re-election campaign announce publicly and as soon as possible that you are returning every dollar your campaign has collected as a result of your wife’s potentially improper fundraising activities.”
Townsend said he is hopeful Small will come clean about his involvement in the potential illegal scheme.
“I trust that Rep. Nathan Small will do the right thing and transparently return illegally obtained funds in the interest of regaining the public’s trust,” Townsend said.
The Hatch Act of 1939 limits certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs. Its purpose is to ensure federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan way and to make sure federal employees are promoted based on merit and not political affiliation.
In a Sept. 30 letter to Henry Kerner of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, James Comer, the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, requested an investigation into Torres Small’s potential violation of the Hatch Act for continuing to “fundraise for Democrats while she serves as a political appointee in the USDA.”
The letter, dated Sept. 30, went on to suggest Torres Small “may be using her official position to raise money for her spouse, Nathan Small’s re-election campaign for the New Mexico House of Representatives.” The letter also points out that before joining the USDA, Torres Small helped create Shield PAC, whose mission according to its website is to “build a protective barrier to rebut culture war attacks and help define and defend swing-seat Democrats in their districts.”
Comer requested the OSC investigate whether Torres Small violated the Hatch Act by “continuing to raise money for the Shield Pact and possibly advocating for her spouse’s re-election campaign in her official capacity as an official at USDA.”
Nathan Small, a Democrat, represents District 36 in Las Cruces and has been in office since 2017. His current term expires at the end of the year, and he is running for re-election to the New Mexico House of Representatives. According to his website, his priorities are health care, education, public safety, water and natural resources and to support hard-working New Mexicans. The former Las Cruces City Council member is opposed by Republican Kimberly Skaggs, who lost a bid for the State Senate seat in District 36 to Jeff Steinborn in 2020, according to Ballotpedia.
Torres Small was nominated to her post as under secretary of rural development by President Joe Biden in June 2021 and confirmed on Oct. 7, 2021, KOB 4 reported.