An old lawsuit that didn't receive media attention until now is a topic Democratic state Senate candidate Chris Ponce doesn't care to discuss.
De Richardson, then a lieutenant with the Silver City Police Department, sued the town in 2005. She claimed she was harassed by high-ranking officers, including Ponce, who was a captain and for a time interim chief of police.
Beyond that, Richardson in her federal complaint accused Ponce of malfeasance and criminal conduct.
Her lawsuit stated: "Richardson reported Ponce for participating in a romantic relationship with a [police department] clerk and threats by Ponce of physical harm to the same clerk. These threats were made over the police radio."
In an initial telephone interview, Ponce said the lawsuit was dismissed and he remembered little else about it. I left messages in follow-up calls to Ponce with the exact language in Richardson's complaint, and I asked if he had any response or comment. He did not reply.
Richardson also claimed Ponce as interim chief ignored complaints she made about cronyism and violations of the city ethics policy by high-level police supervisors. Richardson said she was branded as a troublemaker, falsely accused of using illegal drugs and moved to the night shift as a retaliatory action.
Neither Ponce nor any other police officers were listed as defendants. Richardson directed her suit at the city, then-Mayor Terry Fortenberry and City Manager Alex Brown.
Silver City in 2006 paid a settlement to Richardson to end six months of litigation. The terms of that agreement are a mystery.
"The records you are seeking have been destroyed. We do not have anything with the terms and the amount of monies that were paid in the lawsuit of De Richardson v. Town of Silver City," Alfred Sedillo, the city clerk, wrote in an email.
For Ponce, an appointed candidate who got a late start campaigning, the old case threatens to dampen his support. At a least a few Democratic women voters in an email chain expressed concerns about Ponce's record in law enforcement.
So did Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, D-Silver City. "This information is deeply troubling," she said Thursday. "I stand in solidarity with survivors of violence, and will continue to fight for a world where women are safe, respected and empowered in every corner of society."
Ponce, a Grant County commissioner in his second term, applied to be the Democratic nominee in Senate District 28Â after Correa Hemphill ended her reelection campaign in May.
Correa Hemphill gave up a well-paying job as a school psychologist to devote full time to a legislative office that pays no base salary. She said she had to return to work to help support her family.
Eleven members of the state Democratic Central Committee from the Senate district met to choose a replacement candidate. Ponce received the nomination with eight votes. His competitor, Cindy Renee Provencio, got three votes.
With a late start, Ponce lags far behind Republican candidate Gabriel Ramos in fundraising. Ramos this week listed $139,000 in his campaign account. Ponce reported his balance was $21,643.
Before I asked him about Richardson's lawsuit, Ponce told me his fundraising was picking up and support for his campaign was strong.
"It was David and Goliath in July and August [fundraising]," he said. "It's improving. I think we're going to win."
Ponce has an odd history with Ramos, a former Democrat who represented southwestern New Mexico in the Senate for nearly two years.
After Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, was elected lieutenant governor in 2018, the commissioners of the three counties in District 28 recommended Ramos to be his appointed replacement.
Ponce, the swing vote in Grant County, backed Ramos, giving him a 3-2 win. Correa Hemphill received the other two votes. She easily would have secured the Senate appointment from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham if Ponce had supported her instead of Ramos.
Because Ramos was the only nominee from the counties, Lujan Grisham had no choice but to appoint him to the Senate.
Ramos was an anti-abortion Democrat who'd also had troubles in his insurance business. State Farm in 2013 terminated his license to act as a broker agent, and the state Securities Division said Ramos introduced two people to an investment proposal marred by misleading claims. Ramos is back in the business as a Farmers Insurance agent.
Ponce said his vote for Ramos came during his second meeting as a county commissioner, and he regrets it. "I could have and should have supported somebody else," Ponce said.
Correa Hemphill challenged Ramos in the 2020 Democratic primary. She trounced him, taking 62% of the vote. Ramos switched to the Republican Party to run for the Senate this year.
Ramos and Ponce, now political adversaries, once were legal opponents, too. Ramos sued Ponce and other police officers in a federal civil rights case. It happened after a police sergeant removed Ramos from the Grant County building on election night 2004.
In a federal suit, Ramos and several witnesses said he was peacefully observing returns. Someone claimed Ramos had harassed election workers, and the sergeant escorted him from the public building.
Ponce had no part in the decision, but Ramos named him and other supervisory officers in the lawsuit. Court records show his lawsuit against Silver City was dismissed, but Ramos said he received a settlement of $4,500.
"I didn't care about the money. I wanted people to know I didn't do anything wrong," Ramos said in an interview.
Ponce was involved in another federal case that might hurt him in his Senate campaign.
He and his wife Julie filed for bankruptcy in June 2005. They listed assets of $116,000 and debts of $165,000. A judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court discharged their debt in October 2005.
In a small, isolated town, Chris Ponce's troubles didn't make news or hinder his political career. State legislative candidates receive more scrutiny, as he's about to discover.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.
