Block told voters his lawsuit was “resolved.” A judge set it for trial. Now a PAC tied to his news site is mailing his opponent’s 2008 record

ALAMOGORDO — On April 2, Rep. John Block told his constituents the lawsuit filed against him by his former domestic partner “has since been resolved amicably between the parties, and any claims otherwise are false.”

On July 13, District Judge Lori L. Gibson Willard denied Block’s two motions to throw the case out and set it for a four-day trial beginning March 30, 2027.

This week, with that trial on the calendar, a political action committee that shares an address with Block’s Piñon Post — and that writes checks to it — mailed District 51 voters a flyer about his opponent’s criminal record. It ends in 2008.

The mailer, paid for by Piñon PAC, lists Independent candidate Grace Nagamine’s convictions and no-contest pleas from 2005 to 2008 and calls her “too dangerous to be state representative.” A review of New Mexico court records shows no criminal case against Nagamine in the 18 years since. 

Nagamine, 

Nagamine , a mother of seven and founder of the Alamogordo nonprofit Royal Angels, has never disputed the record. She published it herself. Her memoir, The Grace Nagamine Story, released in August, describes those years — domestic abuse, addiction, homelessness, and a short jail term — in her own words. The campaign says it has handed out several hundred copies across Otero County, and the book was in circulation two months before the mailer was.

“I’ve never hidden my past, including the charges from my past, and I never will,” Nagamine said in a video released Tuesday. “I wrote an entire book about my life, including the mistakes I’ve made, the charges I’ve faced, and the struggles I’ve overcome. I’ve given away hundreds of copies throughout my campaign because I have nothing to hide.”

“If my opponent believes that bringing up my past, including my past charges, will somehow silence me, embarrass me or discourage me, he is mistaken.”

A link to her video can be found at https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1R5c4wrcao/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Eighteen years

The hit piece mailer’s framing — a two-decade-old record presented as current danger — drew sharp public reaction within hours of the video’s release, much of it from people who said they had read the book.

“All of this is clearly explained in her book,” wrote Stephanie Pacheco Hernandez in a public comment on social media. “While John may think he is attacking Grace, he is really attacking every person who is trying to rebuild their life after hardship. He is sending the message that no matter how much work you do, no matter how much you grow, you should forever be judged by your worst moments.”

“I met Grace and got a copy of her book. She’s quite open about her life,” wrote a response. “John Block could take a lesson about honesty from her.”

One District 51 voter texted the campaign after receiving the mailer: “After that super crappy ad that I got today in the mail that was not kind to you, I suggest you come put 10 signs in my yard, or maybe 20.”

Nagamine’s campaign said the mailer is designed to change the subject. “Rep. Block has had four years in Santa Fe,” the campaign said in a statement. “If he had a record he was proud of, he’d be mailing voters that.”

“Resolved amicably”

The record Block is not mailing includes his own case presently active in the courts. 

In Melton v. Block, No. D-1215-CV-2025-00757, 12th Judicial District Court, Otero County Treasurer Karl P. Melton alleges Block breached a written agreement, signed Nov. 7, 2024, governing shared property after the end of their gay four-year domestic partnership. Block has counterclaimed that the property — including family heirlooms — is his.

The timeline, from the docket:

— Dec. 19, 2025 — Block moves for summary judgment on a loan claim.

— April 2, 2026 — Block posts on his official Facebook page that the suit was “a private property dispute that has since been resolved amicably between the parties, and any claims otherwise are false.” The same day, his attorney sends this newspaper a cease-and-desist letter demanding retraction of its reporting on the case and the identity of its confidential sources. The story remains. 

— May 28, 2026 — Block files an emergency motion asking the court to strike a Melton filing, impose up to $5,000 in sanctions, seal the filing and its exhibits, and enter a protective order barring Melton “or anyone acting in concert with him” from disseminating its contents. The motion names this newspaper and the Eddy and Lea County Exposed newsletter.

— July 13, 2026 — Judge Gibson Willard denies both summary-judgment motions, strikes and seals the single Melton filing because of attached text messages, declines to seal the case — “Not sealing entire case, not sealing future motions; just saying be careful what you attach” — defers sanctions to trial, and sets trial for March 30–April 2, 2027.

Block has not publicly corrected his April 2 false statement.

Block’s filings describe Melton’s motion as “scandalous and impertinent” and categorically deny an affair alleged in it. His attorney, Michael J. Seibel, argued the material was irrelevant to a dispute over household goods and was filed to embarrass his client.

The cease-and-desist letter to this newspaper is now part of the record in a State Ethics Commission complaint against Block, Case No. 2026-016. No lawsuit against the newspaper has been filed. The Eddy and Lea County Exposed newsletter, which has published filings from the case, recently reached a $100,000 settlement in a separate public-records matter and continues to cover Blocks antics. 

The committee behind the mailer

Piñon PAC is not an outside group. Its disclaimer lists 1111 Tenth St. #402, Alamogordo, the same street address used by Pinon Post LLC, the company behind the Piñon Post, which Block founded and edits.

The money runs in a circle. According to Transparency USA’s compilation of New Mexico campaign finance filings, Piñon PAC paid Pinon Post LLC $2,336.90 on April 15, 2026, and another $2,336.90 on June 4 — $4,673.80 in all. Both payments are categorized only as “Other,” with the description “Monetary Itemized: Check.” No purpose is disclosed. Block’s own campaign committee, John for New Mexico, has in turn paid Piñon PAC $2,000 and the PAC has reimbursed Block personally for literature/mailings per Transparency USA. 

Karl Melton — the plaintiff suing Block — served as treasurer of Piñon PAC / John for New Mexico until early 2025, Secretary of State records show.. It reported roughly $31,600 on hand at the end of June.

In other words: Block’s campaign funds the PAC among other donations, the PAC pays Block’s news site and Block himself, and the PAC’s mailer attacks Block’s opponent — with the PAC, not Block, named on the disclaimer. Neither Block, the PAC, nor Pinon Post LLC has issued statements about who directs the committee’s spending or what the payments to Pinon Post LLC were for. An inquiry is being filed with the SOS and IPRA requests. 

The contrast

Nagamine’s legal history is 18 years old, self-published, and closed. Block’s is current, contested, and set for trial five months after Election Day — and he has spent the past six months asking a court to keep parts of it out of public view while telling voters it was over.

Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting in Otero County began. Civility is what matters in elections, let’s stop the hate and address the issues voters really care about: safe communities, affordability, roads and infrastructure. 

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