Gov's campaign spending on hair, makeup deemed allowable

Jun. 15—SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's use of campaign funds on hair and makeup services in advance of photo shoots and high-profile speeches did not violate campaign finance laws, New Mexico's state elections director has determined.

Mandy Vigil, the elections director in the Secretary of State's Office, said the campaign expenditures made by Lujan Grisham's campaign to her daughter's beauty business were "reasonably attributable" to the governor's campaign, a finding that means they are permissible under campaign regulations.

The determination the governor's campaign spending did not violate state law appears to put to rest — at least for now — an ethics complaint filed last month by a conservative activist.

The complaint filed by John Block, who is also the founder of a conservative online media outlet, focused on a $1,040 payment in October last year to "Beauty By Erin Grisham," an expense the governor's reelection campaign listed on mandatory campaign finance reports as being for media preparation.

In a response letter, an attorney for Lujan Grisham's campaign said the expenditure had a clear campaign purpose — live interviews and a prime-time speech during the Democratic National Convention.

An affidavit from the governor's former campaign manager Dominic Gabello, who is now a political consultant, also cited six other campaign expenditures made to Lujan Grisham's daughter's beauty business.

In all, the seven expenditures totaled roughly $8,003. They include several photo shoots and campaign commercial shoots before Lujan Grisham was elected in November 2018, along with hair and makeup services in advance of the governor's State of the State addresses in 2020 and this year.