A Valencia County magistrate judge candidate is coming clean about filing for bankruptcy nearly 20 years ago.

Despite being asked if he had ever filed for bankruptcy in the run up to the June 2026 primary race, Republican Eric Montano, who is running for the Division III Valencia County magistrate position, said “no.”

The question — “Have you ever filed for bankruptcy and if so, explain the circumstances?” — was put to all the candidates running for county-level offices, as well as those running for New Mexico State Representative seats, in this year’s primary in a candidate questionnaire distributed and published by the Valencia County News-Bulletin in May.

AT that time, Montano replied he had not filed for bankruptcy, but when he returned the News-Bulletin questionnaire for the general election candidates on Sunday, Sept. 20, his answer had changed.

“Yes. I previously answered no, based on my misunderstanding of the question. I filed nearly 20 years ago during divorce and financial hardship,” he wrote in his latest response.

Court records show Montano and his then-wife, Linda, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in December 2008 to a total of $379,846.66 in liabilities and it was discharged in March 2009.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows a person to discharge many, but not all, of their debts. A court-appointed trustee oversees the bankruptcy process, sometimes selling assets to repay creditors. The courts discharge any remaining eligible debts after a debtor education course is completed.

On Saturday, Sept. 19, the day before Montano returned his candidate questionnaire to the News-Bulletin, Los Lunas attorney Greg Gaudette reached out to the newspaper, saying he had filed a second ethics complaint with the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission against Montano since the candidate hadn’t been honest and disclosed his previous bankruptcy.

Gaudette filed an ethics complaint with the commission in July, alleging Montano had lied about his criminal history and job history, and participated in improper campaigning and soliciting.

The lawyer was the treasurer for Andrew Owen, another Republican primary candidate for the Division III magistrate seat who lost to Montano by only 80 votes.

In his first complaint, Gaudette provided documents to the judicial standards commission and then to the News-Bulletin showing Montano was charged with three misdemeanor charges of battery of a household member, one in December 2005 and two in October of 2006.

Ethics complaint filed against candidate

Magistrate candidate Eric Montano won’t comment on allegations

Those charged were dismissed without prejudice.

Montano’s answer to the News-Bulletin’s question about if he had been “arrested, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony offenses in New Mexico or any other state?” also changed in his Sept. 20 answer.

“Yes. In 2006, approximately seven years after my 1999 divorce, I was charged with battery following an allegation by my former wife. The case was dismissed, and I was never convicted,” he wrote.

“I overlooked the word ‘charged’ when previously answering this question and take responsibility for that mistake.”

During a live candidate forum hosted by the News-Bulletin on May 28, Montano and all other candidates present at the forum, were asked “Have you ever been terminated from a job or asked to resign in lieu of termination?”

Montano’s response was, “No.”

Records provided by Gaudette show Montano was terminated from three different positions between 2009 and 2015.

Gaudette also alleged Montano participated with other non-judicial candidates and directly solicited funds for financial support of his campaign during an April fundraiser called “Grill the Candidate,” actions which are prohibited for judicial candidates.

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Magistrate candidate discloses bankruptcy after denial