The resignation of State Rep. Andrea Reeb (R-64) of Clovis from the New Mexico House Thursday sparked condemnation from Democrats over Reeb working as a prosecutor.
Reeb, who represented parts of Chaves, Curry and Roosevelt counties, stepped down after a federal judge ruled Wednesday that her contractual work as a special prosecutor while in the Legislature violated the New Mexico Constitution’s separation-of-powers provision, according to a news release issued Thursday by the New Mexico House Republican Caucus.
U.S. District Judge Kea Riggs issued an order concluding that Reeb “simultaneously held two public offices in distinct branches of government” as a lawmaker and as special prosecutor in the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin, according to court records.
Under New Mexico law, the county commissions in each county in House District 64 will nominate a person to fill the vacancy created by Reeb’s resignation. The governor will appoint a replacement to the seat from that list.
Reeb, a former district attorney said she disagrees with Riggs’ order, which she argued forced her to choose between the legislative seat she has held since 2023 and her work as a prosecutor serving victims of crime.
“I respectfully disagree with the court, but I respect our Constitution and the institutions that uphold it. I won’t let a legal fight stand between victims and the justice they deserve,” Reeb said in the news release.
Reeb, in her letter of resignation addressed to New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, wrote that she had believed she could serve as a special assistant district attorney contracting with district attorneys’ offices across the state based on an April 2023 informal opinion by the New Mexico State Ethics Commission and a 2024 opinion provided to her by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez.
Reeb was appointed in 2022 by Carmack-Altwies to prosecute Baldwin on two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The charges stemmed from the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while filming the movie “Rust” in Santa Fe County. Baldwin denied wrongdoing. Reeb resigned from the case in March 2023, two months after she was sworn in to the New Mexico House. A judge dismissed the criminal charges against Baldwin in 2024.
Riggs’ ruling stemmed from a lawsuit in which Baldwin accused Reeb, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies of the First Judicial District and others of malicious prosecution and civil rights violations. Riggs dismissed most of the claims, citing absolute prosecutorial immunity.
House Democrats, GOP react
House Speaker Javier Martinez (D-11) of Albuquerque, in a news release Friday, expressed disappointment in Reeb for not disclosing her work as a special prosecutor with district attorneys’ offices across the state.
Financial disclosure reports filed by Reeb in January showed that she had provided “goods or services to in excess of $5,000” to district attorneys’ offices in the eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th judicial districts.
The speaker also pointed out that House Republicans had alleged wrongdoing by state Rep. Andrea Romero (D-46) of Santa Fe when she took a job with the district attorney’s office in the First Judicial District.
Romero denied any wrongdoing and in September resigned from her position with the district attorney’s office after Torrez issued updated guidance on the issue. A sitting legislator cannot hold a standing position in a district attorney’s office but can serve as a special prosecutor appointed to a specific case or matter, Torrez wrote.
“New Mexicans deserve an explanation and an apology from Rep. Reeb and House Republicans for this blatant hypocrisy,” Sanchez said in the news release.
In August, House Minority Whip Alan Martinez (R-23) of Rio Rancho filed an ethics complaint against Romero. He said in an Aug. 28 news release that her part-time employment with the district attorney’s office raised questions about potential violations of state law that prohibits lawmakers from receiving state compensation beyond their legislative pay.
The speaker also criticized Republicans for waiting until late Thursday to announce Reeb’s resignation.
Reeb did not respond to text messages and calls seeking comment on the speaker’s statement, but a screenshot of a comment from Reeb was posted on her personal Facebook page, in which she insisted that she had done nothing wrong.
“I disclosed all my contracts on my financial disclosures, followed the advice of my ethical opinion and my advisory opinion and my opinion by AG. And you want me to apologize?” Reeb wrote in the comment.
House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong (R-49) of Magdalena echoed Reeb’s defense Friday in a news release from the House Republican Caucus. Armstrong said that Reeb resigned from the Legislature almost immediately after Riggs issued the order that her contractual arrangement with several district attorneys’ offices was impermissible.
“For Speaker Martinez to now question Representative Reeb’s conduct, after she sought guidance from the appropriate state authorities and immediately responded to the court’s decision, is both disingenuous and misleading,” Armstrong said.
Reeb was also one of two Republicans on the New Mexico Survivors’ Truth Commission, a five-member bipartisan legislative subcommittee that included Reeb and was chaired by Romero. The commission was tasked with investigating possible crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein at the Zorro Ranch he owned in Santa Fe County.
Epstein was a financier who was charged with sex trafficking of minors before he died in 2019. The committee has released an interim report in August which alleged that evidence suggests that Epstein abused at least five women and girls at the Zorro Ranch between 1996 and 2012. The committee is expected to release final report at the end of the year.
A spokesperson for the House speaker’s office did not respond to an email query from the Roswell Tribune about whether Reeb will stay on the commission or if a new Republican will be appointed to replace her because of her resignation from the House.
