ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) A state Public Regulation Commission member is using some of his public campaign funding to pay himself and his fiancee for their work on his re-election campaign. Campaign finance reports say Commissioner Ben Hall paid himself and Maria Cottom nearly $7,000 for campaign work over a month's time. Hall says he pays himself only for campaign work done outside commission work time. He says he'd otherwise have to pay somebody else for the work.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that it's not unusual for a public official to pay a relative for campaign work, but it is for a candidate to pay himself. Hall is a Republican ex-legislator who faces Democratic former Commissioner Sandy Jones in the Nov. 4 general election race for a commission seat for southwestern New Mexico.
