Paying her daughter $6,000 for hair and makeup services constituted a legitimate campaign expense by New Mexico’s Democrat governor, the secretary of the state has determined, clearing her of any impropriety.
Thus, it was apparently okay under state law for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to do business with her daughter, hair and makeup specialist Erin Grisham of “Beauty by Erin,” according to regulators.
John Block, the editor of the New Mexico-based, Pinon Post conservative news and opinion website, had filed an ethics complaint against Grisham based on a premise that using campaign dollars for such personal expenses violated state law and pursuant to the 2020 Candidate Campaign Finance Reporting Guide published by the New Mexico secretary of state’s office.
In a letter, the state’s election director told Block, however, that the expenses in question were “reasonably attributable to the candidate’s campaign and not an expense that would have existed but for the Governor’s candidacy…The key analysis is whether the expenditure is reasonably attributable to the candidate’s campaign, not solely what the expense is,” the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
Current requirements for state-required campaign-finance recordkeeping in “no way precludes a candidate from making an expenditure on hair, makeup and nails,” the official, Mandy Vigil also noted, which seems to contradict what is set forth on page 27 of the guidelines.
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2021/06/17/new-mexico-governors-6000-beauty-bill-for-daughter-reportedly-deemed-legit-campaign-expense-1090250/