This is a guest post by George Colombo, you can find more of his writing on his substack.

If you’re a voter here in Valencia County, you need to make sure you avoid the Montaño Mixup in November. Haven’t heard of it? Well, let me explain.

In November there will be not one but two candidates with the last name of Montaño on Valencia County ballots and they’re running in different races. One is Alan Montaño and one is Eric Montaño and it’s extremely important to not get them confused because they are very, very different candidates. Let’s take a look at both of them because there’s good news here and there’s bad news…

We’ll start with the good news. Alan Montaño is the Democratic candidate for Valencia County Sheriff. Alan Montaño has served in law enforcement for over 28 years. He’s served in Corrections as Commander of the Maximum-Security Unit at the New Mexico Corrections Department. He’s also been a Sheriff’s Deputy with the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office.

Alan is an experienced law enforcement professional and is the only candidate for Sheriff who is committed to doing whatever he can to protect Valencia County residents and their families from ICE and its illegal overreach into immigrant communities. He’s running to make Valencia County law enforcement more effective, more respected, and more focused on the community’s needs.

The bad news involves the Republican candidate for Magistrate Judge in Division III: Eric Montaño. And the story is a real mess. Eric Montaño is accused of lying about his criminal history, about his job history. He’s also been accused of improper campaigning and soliciting. But don’t take my word for it. It was a headline story in The Valencia County News Bulletin

Let’s not forget that we’re talking about a Magistrate Judge position here. Valencia County residents don’t need a sitting judge who is surrounded by public questions of misbehavior like this. Valencia County deserves better than a candidate who is so flawed that his own party is scrambling for ways to distance itself from his campaign.

So, don’t fall for the Montaño mixup. ALAN Montaño is an outstanding candidate for Valencia County Sheriff who opposes ICE and who has great ideas about making law enforcement more effective.

ERIC Montaño is trying to outrun credible allegations that are disqualifying for a candidate for Magistrate Judge.

This year, I’m voting for ALAN Montaño for Sheriff. And I’m NOT voting for ERIC Montaño for Magistrate Judge in Division III… or anything else.