Mayoral candidate charged with inappropriately touching former campaign staffer

Albuquerque mayoral candidate Daniel Chavez faces a charge of misdemeanor battery for allegedly inappropriately touching a campaign staffer, according to court records discovered this week, a month and a half before the election.

The alleged battery occurred after a June 19 campaign-related meeting, court records revealed.

A week later, Chavez allegedly asked the staffer to sign a nondisclosure agreement, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. The staff member refused to sign the NDA and was terminated the following day on June 27, the complaint said.

Chavez, 55, the president of Parking Company of America, did not immediately respond to messages left on the company’s voicemail or to an email sent to his campaign. His attorney, Carter Harrison, declined to comment on the case.

Chavez is one of six mayoral hopefuls challenging Mayor Tim Keller in the Nov. 4 municipal election. It is unclear how the misdemeanor charge will impact Chavez’s campaign.

Chavez pleaded not guilty Aug. 18 to the petty misdemeanor charge and was released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled for a bench trial on Oct. 14 before Metropolitan Court Judge Renee Torres.

According to the criminal complaint, the incident occurred after Chavez attended a June 19 board meeting with the New Mexico Restaurant Association in Albuquerque.

The former staff worker told police that as they exited the meeting and were walking down a hallway with Chavez, he “grabbed and patted their buttocks twice without consent.” The reporting officer from the Albuquerque Police Department described the alleged victim as nonbinary, using the pronouns they and them throughout the complaint.

Carol Wight, CEO of the restaurant association, told police she was present during the time of the reported incident, but did not witness the alleged touching. Wight added there were no surveillance cameras in the hallway where the touching allegedly occurred.

The alleged victim described the contact to police as “unwelcome and nonconsensual.” The former staff worker told police they later confronted Chavez, who responded that he thought the staff worker “was his wife and apologized for the incident.”

Chavez had secured the staffer an apartment and was their primary source of income, the complaint said, which added the former staff worker said they were in a committed relationship with a partner.