On Friday, House Democrats in New Mexico sought explanations and acknowledgments of wrongdoing tied to a Republican legislator's departure from office the previous evening. On Thursday evening, Andrea Reeb — a Republican state representative from Clovis — notified the Legislature of her departure after a federal judge determined that holding both a prosecutorial post and a legislative seat at the same time ran counter to the state constitution's separation of powers clause.
The timing of the announcement follows a dispute over state Rep. Andrea Romero's employment that drew objections from House Republicans. Questions about a part-time position Romero held at the First Judicial District Attorney's Office — work taken on alongside legislative duties — drew public attention in the period leading up to the report. Romero's departure from the district attorney's office on Sept. 1 came after New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez determined on Aug. 31 that holding both positions simultaneously was not permissible.
In a Friday news release, House Speaker Javier Martínez — an Albuquerque Democrat — pointed to the attorney general's clarification in the wake of Romero's exit from the district attorney's office, noting that an earlier appeal to Republican counterparts to meet the transparency and accountability standards expected of elected officials had drawn no visible response, and that Representative Reeb's choice not to disclose a longstanding employment conflict left him disappointed, particularly given that she and other House Republicans had publicly voiced criticism of Representative Romero. Martínez argued that New Mexico residents are owed both an explanation and an apology from Rep. Reeb and House Republicans, pointing to what he characterized as inconsistent standards in their behavior.
Neither Reeb nor a House Republican spokesperson had provided a response by Friday afternoon.
Noting her disagreement with the federal court's position but stating that a legal dispute would not delay accountability for those who had brought her their cases, Reeb explained that many of the victims and families across the state had already waited too long and that she felt bound by the commitment she had made to stand alongside them in court. Her departure leaves a vacancy on the four-member panel examining Jeffrey Epstein's activities in New Mexico. Under the resolution that established the commission, authority to appoint its members rests with the House speaker.
On the truth commission, Romero holds the chair position, with Rep. Marianna Anaya, D-Albuquerque, and Rep. Bill Hall, R-Farmington, rounding out the panel's membership alongside her.
In a written statement, Anaya contended that Rep. Reeb had not disclosed a personal conflict of interest while publicly criticizing Chairwoman Romero, and had also taken actions over the preceding months that, in Anaya's view, worked against the Truth Commission's progress — a pattern Anaya characterized as raising questions about what Reeb and her Republican colleagues were seeking to conceal. Anaya further indicated that House Democrats remained focused on pursuing accountability for survivors, and expressed hope that Reeb's resignation would remove what she described as politically motivated interference with that objective.
Reeb took on a brief role as special prosecutor within the First Judicial District Attorney's Office during proceedings brought against actor Alec Baldwin over the on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was struck by a live round that discharged from a firearm Baldwin was holding at the time. A Santa Fe judge's finding that prosecutors had improperly withheld evidence led to the dismissal of the case against Baldwin in 2024.
A lawsuit filed by Baldwin named the prosecutors on the case — Reeb among them — while a separate constitutional challenge took aim at the dual role Reeb occupied, arguing it violated the separation of powers. A ruling issued that Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Kea Riggs found that prosecutorial immunity blocked several of the claims Baldwin had brought against the prosecutors. Riggs went on to determine that Reeb's holding of two roles at once ran afoul of separation of powers principles.
In her Thursday statement, Reeb noted that the guidance she had drawn on from both the State Ethics Commission and the New Mexico Department of Justice stood at odds with the position the court reached that week. A 2024 opinion from the New Mexico Department of Justice — drawn up at Reeb's request — concluded that a private attorney taking on special prosecutor duties in limited matters faced no legal barrier to occupying both positions at once.
Torrez's Aug. 31 written guidance to Romero drew a line between permissible and impermissible roles, stating that a sitting legislator cannot hold an ongoing position in a district attorney's office regardless of how that position is labeled, though service as a special prosecutor tied to a particular case or matter remains an option under narrow conditions. The guidance further stated that any district attorney's office with a sitting legislator on staff in a capacity beyond that limited appointment under Section 36-1-23.1 should treat the arrangement as unlawful and move to correct it — a directive that bears on Reeb, whose contract with the 9th Judicial District Attorney's Office — running from 2024 through 2027 — came to light through records obtained under public records law.
Though the agreement leaves individual cases unspecified, its terms direct Reeb to take on both intricate and day-to-day matters within the 9th Judicial District, billing at $125 for each hour of work up to a monthly ceiling of $18,000. Curry and Roosevelt counties both fall within the boundaries of the 9th Judicial District. No reply from the 9th Judicial District Attorney's Office had arrived by the time questions were submitted Friday.
As of Friday, the New Mexico Department of Justice had not provided a response to inquiries about the judge's ruling, nor had it addressed whether the 2024 opinion might be reconsidered given the judge's interpretation, or whether department staff had reached out to Reeb regarding her contracts following the issuance of the Romero guidance.
On the Nov. 3 ballot, Reeb stands as the sole name listed for a district drawn across portions of Chaves, Curry, and Roosevelt counties. Commissioners from the affected counties are anticipated to put forward candidates for the vacancy, with the governor holding final authority to make the appointment.
