New Mexico lawmaker accuses election opponent’s employee of harassing her at events

New Mexico state Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces) on Tuesday accused her Republican opponent and the GOP’s leader in the state House of Representatives of failing to intervene to stop a campaign employee from harassing her and her husband at recent public events. 

Silva, who is running for re-election to a second term representing House District 53 in southern New Mexico against Republican Ben Luna, Jr., recounted in a social media post Tuesday “aggressive” encounters with Adalberto Rodriguez, whom Luna employed to help with his campaign at least until recently.

According to Silva, at several public events between April and July, Rodriguez approached her and her husband, journalist Heath Haussamen, while brandishing a tripod and a phone or camera and filming. Rodriguez can be seen on several videos Silva provided calling the lawmaker “baby” or “princess” and repeatedly insulting Haussamen as he tries to intervene.

In one instance July 13 at a Chaparral community meeting at the Becky McKnight Community center, Rodriguez repeatedly thrust the tripod in Haussamen’s direction while making kissing noises at him, according to video Haussamen captured and that Silva published Tuesday. 

Silva and Haussamen filed a police report in late July regarding Rodriguez’s behavior, which she described as “disruptive, offensive and dangerous in its escalation.” Silva also said she reached out to House Speaker Rep. Javier Martinez (D-Albuquerque), whom she said then spoke with House Minority Floor Leader Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena) regarding the matter, urging her to intervene.

Martinez told Source NM on Tuesday that Silva called him roughly two months ago regarding Rodriguez’s behavior, which he found troubling following his own experience as a target.

Martinez was one of several Democratic officials whose houses were shot at by failed Republican candidate Solomon Peña several years ago. Peña was subsequently sentenced to 80 years in prison.

Martinez said he reached out to Armstrong several times to see if she could help de-escalate the situation, but she only responded once, saying that Rodriguez did not work for Luna.

“It was not followed up on, unfortunately, and of course, myself being a victim of political violence, this is not something I take lightly for anyone, not just Democrats,” Martinez said.

New Mexico lawmakers last year began a special legislative session by denouncing what they described as a rise in political violence in the state and elsewhere. Last year alone included a case of arson at the state Republican party headquarters and bomb threats at the homes of Santa Fe Democrats Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth and House Majority Floor Leader Reena Szczepanski.

In the social media post Tuesday, Silva said Armstrong’s inaction prompted her to both hire private security for future events and also issue a public statement.

“I wish my opponent and Leader Armstrong would commit to keeping campaign workers from acting inappropriately. It’s clear I can’t trust them to do that,” she said. “So, with candidate forums and other public events coming up, I’m sharing this publicly…in the hopes that bringing this situation into the light will help ensure everyone’s safety.”

Armstrong did not respond to Source NM’s call seeking comment Tuesday. 

Luna told Source NM on Tuesday that he only employed Rodriguez briefly as a canvasser for the campaign but fired him in July. He said he decided to end Rodriguez’s employment both because of the conduct he saw on videos but also because Rodriguez did not meet a quota for outreach to potential voters. 

“He was hired for canvassing, and wasn’t meeting his quota, and he became uncontrollable in a sense of behavior,” Luna said. 

Luna said he’s reached out to several other Republican candidates in New Mexico who have hired Rodriguez in some capacity to tell them about Rodriguez’s misbehavior. He declined to say which other candidates are currently employing Rodriguez or in what capacity. 

Rodriguez posted at least two of the videos to social media accounts he controls called “The Border Gazette,” which has 75,000 Instagram followers. 

Rodriguez, reached by phone, told Source NM on Tuesday that he had “deleted the video,” though he did not specify which video, and declined to comment further on the allegations. 

Silva told Source NM on Tuesday that the sheriff’s office decided not to press charges. The sheriff’s office did not respond to Source NM’s inquiry about the status of the case as of publication time Wednesday.