Rep. accused of living outside district

KRQE TV

Updated: Apr 3, 2012 11:01 AM

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) — Controversy is brewing after a non-profit group says the place where Republican Representative Ricky Little sleeps is out of his district in Dona Ana and Otero Counties.

“Where he chooses to take a nap at work is a whole lot different from where he lays his head at night,” ProgressNow New Mexico’s Pat Davis said.

Representative Little says the allegations against him are not accurate. 

“It's not necessarily fabricated but it's probably twisted, which is what it is,” Little said.

Little says he sleeps at his construction business in Chaparral.

“There is more than one piece of property there, one of them is residence and one of them has a town and country mobile home on it with an ad on one the side,” Little said.

But Davis says it's not even legal for Little to claim the business as his address.

“It's a commercial property and it's vacant land according to the county. It's not permitted for residential use,” Davis said.

Davis says Little is staying in a home he owns that was outside his district when he was first elected in 2010. The home is where little's children and ex-wife live.

“My ex-wife and myself are reconciling and I spend quite a bit of time out here,” said Little.

Little is running for re-election, and says it shouldn't matter where is sleeping since under the new redistricting map his ex-wife's home is now in his district.

“But he's been a legislature representing the wrong district for two years,” said Davis. “It's not so much, ‘it's ok now don't worry about what happened in the past.”

Little says he has zero tolerance for corruption.

“I don't think, if somebody says they live there I think they should live there,” Little said.

Davis says the housing situation should have been caught earlier.

“I think had someone discovered this when he first ran two years ago we wouldn't be in this situation,” said Davis.

The secretary of state’s office says they were alerted to the allegations Monday afternoon.

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