GOP Land Commissioner Candidate Matt Rush Caught Lying About Earning a Degree

If a candidate lies about something as simple and straightforward as whether or not he or she has a particular degree, what else will that candidate lie about? What does such behavior portend for the candidate's future conduct in office, if elected? Those are pertinent questions to ask about Matt Rush, the Republican candidate for the powerful position of New Mexico land commissioner, who has been caught lying about having earned an associate degree.

According to a story in today's Albuquerque Journal, Rush provided the paper, as well as others, with what certainly appears to be deliberately inaccurate information about his educational achievements:

About that degree: Matt Rush, the Republican candidate for state land commissioner, has told the Journal and others that he has an associate's degree in agribusiness from Lubbock Christian University. It turns out that's premature, at best.

According to the school, Rush is only one required course away from a bachelor's degree, but he never actually got an associate's degree. Rush said he assumed he had the associate's degree — although he didn't have the paper to prove it — because of all the coursework he had completed.

He said an inquiry from the Journal prompted him to check with the school, and he discovered he had not been awarded the associate's degree.

"I was absolutely confident, 100 percent, that's what I had. That is inaccurate," an embarrassed Rush said Thursday.

One slight problem -- turns out Rush never checked with the school about the associate degree, despite his claim to have done so:

Lubbock Christian University Registrar Janice Stone said school officials had never determined Rush's eligibility for an associate's degree because he hadn't asked them to.

Sure sounds to me that Rush reneged on his original claim only when he was confronted by the Journal about his record. Since he never contacted the university to check on whether or not he had legitimately earned an associate degree, he had to have known already that he hadn't done so. That makes two lies about this matter, doesn't it?

Rush finally admitted the truth to KNME's Lorene Mills on September 17 during a half-hour PBS TV interview, saying that he had no degree from Lubbock Christian University.*

According to the Journal, Rush was enrolled at Lubbock Christian University during the period 1992 to 1996 and also worked there for several years. You'd think he would have remembered what he, in fact, accomplished there, and what he didn't. Apparently, it was easier for Rush to "forget" the facts than to admit he had no college degree. What else is he "forgetting"?

Honesty and Integrity?
By the way, the Journal's original profile on this race (which included the candidate-provided info on education) reports that, "Businessmen from eastern New Mexico drafted him, according to Rush, and his campaign is being fueled in part by hefty contributions from oil and gas producers."

Ironically, Rush touted his "honesty and integrity" to the Journal in that report:

The GOP candidate says continuing that budget restraint, and operating with honesty and integrity, are his major campaign themes.

Oops.

Rush is running against Democrat Ray Powell in the public land commissioner race this year.

*You can see the entire interchange tonight on Report from Santa Fe at 10:30 PM on PBS Channel 5, repeated at 7:30 AM Sunday. For Las Cruces viewers it's 7:30 AM Sunday, PBS Channel 22. For the east side of New Mexico, it will air at 6:00 PM Saturday on PBS Channel 3.