A New Mexico district court judge has signed a settlement agreement allowing former state lawmaker Sandra Jeff to run in the Democratic primary for a Senate district traversing tribal lands in the northwest of the state.
The order from Judge Sarah Singleton was released Tuesday and reverses a decision to disqualify Jeff's candidacy against incumbent Democratic Sen. Benny Shendo.
Jeff frequently voted with Republican colleagues during her past tenure in the New Mexico House of Representatives. She was disqualified from running in a Democratic primary for her House seat in 2014 for not collecting enough petition signatures and lost later as a write-in candidate.
Jeff asserted in her recent court appeal that state election officials overstepped their authority in a dispute over a late-filed campaign finance report.
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