New Mexico state Rep. Reeb resigns following ruling in Alec Baldwin case

New Mexico state Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-Clovis) on Thursday announced her resignation from the state House of Representatives following a ruling by a federal judge that her role in the House represented a conflict with her work as a special prosecutor in the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin.

First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies brought that case following the October 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust after a bullet discharged from a gun held by Baldwin. Former Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case in July of 2024.

Baldwin subsequently sued Carmack-Altwies, Reeb and others. In decision Thursday, U.S. District Judge Kea W. Riggs ruled against many of Baldwin’s claims due to prosecutorial immunity, but he also found that Reeb violated the state’s separation of power provision when she “simultaneously exercised the sovereign power of two distinct branches of New Mexico state government by holding two public offices.”

In a news release issued Thursday, Reeb said she “respectfully” disagrees with the Court “but I respect our Constitution and the institutions that uphold it.” As such, she said she was resigning to continue her work as a special prosecutor and resigning, effective immediately.

“There are victims and families across this state who have trusted me with their cases, and many of them have already waited too long for justice,” Reeb said in a statement. “I made a commitment to stand with them in the courtroom, and I owe it to them to keep that commitment.”

Reeb also noted that she had “relied” on guidance from both the State Ethics Commission and the New Mexico Attorney General to continue serving in both roles.

State Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe), with whom Reeb serves on a special investigatory committee examining Jeffrey Epstein’s activities in the state, also cited Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s opinion when she was criticized for taking a job in Carmack-Altwies’ office while serving in the Legislature. She subsequently resigned after Torrez issued a letter that his 2024 opinion had :been read more broadly than intended.” He instructed any DA’s office employing a lawmaker to rectify the situation immediately and noted that he would not pursue legal action against any office that had previously hired a lawmaker “based on an honest misunderstanding of our 2024 opinion.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as needed.