NM-01: Darren White's (More Than) White Lies

Bernalillo County Sherfiff Darren White was for drug decriminalization before he was against it. Or something. And it appears that he lies about the reason he resigned his post as Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety in 1999. Not good for a candidate running on his "integrity."

For awhile now Darren White, the GOP's presumed candidate for Congress in NM-01, has been explaining his resignation as Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety in the Gary Johnson administration as a moral stand against Johnson's call for discussions on decriminalizing certain drugs, starting with marijuana. Johnson had proclaimed that the nation's "war on drugs" was a miserable failure and that new thinking on the matter was critical. He compared America's illegal drug policies to the nation's previous misbegotten attempt at liquor prohibition.

White has repeatedly said he couldn't go along with Johnson's position on drug decriminalization, and that he had to leave the administration to make that point. His campaign website says:

White served as Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety under Governor Gary Johnson ... White resigned his Cabinet position after Governor Johnson began advocating the legalization of drugs.

The trouble with White's explanation is two-fold. For one thing, he's quoted in the The November Coalition's publication Razor Wire in 1999 essentially agreeing with Johnson's stance:

State Public Safety Secretary Darren White said the federal government spends about $17 billion annually to fight drugs, including about $6 million in New Mexico. "And we're probably only seizing 5 to 15 percent of all the drugs coming into the country," White said in an interview. "We're not going to arrest ourselves out of this drug problem. The governor is absolutely right. We should be looking at other options because our current policy is failing."

Kinda undermines White's excuse for resigning as Secretary of Public Safety, doesn't it? However, it's not surprising that White would try to cover up the real reason he gave up his post -- an overwhelming vote of 'no confidence" in White by members of the New Mexico Police Association. In September 1999, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that "89 percent of ballots cast by members of [the] state police association express lack of faith in public safety secretary's leadership." The NMPA "described White as inexperienced, immature and a glory hound." There was a 61% turnout for the vote.

The paper also quoted Rick Anglada, then vice president of the Police Association, who said, "A good leader needs to gain the people's trust... you talk to our members, and they don't trust him because he says one thing and does another."

So much for "integrity" on the part of Darren White.

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