State Republicans on Wednesday attacked Lt. Gov. Diane Denish for using thousands of dollars in federal funds to hire public information officers who were paid not only for organizing news conferences and writing news releases and speeches, but for working on Christmas cards, driving Denish to meetings and picking her up at the airport.

The federal funds allocated to New Mexico in 2003 were meant to stimulate the economy and create jobs. Denish's office received a total of $225,000, though only a fraction of that was spent on the activities being questioned.

Denish's chief of staff, Joshua Rosen, said all the funds were spent for legitimate purposes. A list of talking points included in documents the office gave The New Mexican said, "The money that was given to this office under the federal act represented less than 1 percent given to the state."

Among the expenses:

• Denish hired two part-time public information officers. At the time, her office had no funded position for a PIO. Tim Blotz, who worked from August 2003 to January 2004, earned $25 an hour. His invoices, provided by Denish's office, showed he was paid more than $18,000. Lauren Cowdrey worked for Denish's office between June 2004 and November 2004, according to her invoices. She earned $23.50 an hour and was paid a total of more than $14,000.

Though most of their work involved usual duties of public information officers, Cowdrey's invoice dated Nov. 24, 2003, lists some of her services as "pick up things at (lieutenant governor's) house ... work on Christmas card ... setting up Christmas decorations ... " The next day she listed, "Taking Christmas pictures, removing decorations ... " The day after that she billed the state for eight hours for working on the Christmas card and an unspecified history book. On other invoices, she listed duties including picking up Denish at the airport.

The decorations, according to Denish's office, were for a party open to the public, including homeless children. The printing of the Christmas card was paid for by Denish's campaign organization.

• Denish also spent nearly $20,000 on a poll by Research & Polling in Albuquerque — a fact also blasted by Republicans. However, a copy of the poll, provided by Denish's office, shows none of the questions dealt with politics. The poll was done for the Children's Cabinet, a group of Cabinet officers headed by Denish, and addressed such subjects as how well the state is dealing with pre-kindergarten, child care, teen pregnancy and after-school activities.

• Denish hired Jaime Estremera-Fitzgerald, a former lobbyist and radio reporter, in 2003 to produce 30-second radio spots about the Children's Cabinet and set up interviews and appearances for Denish. This cost just over $16,000.

• Denish hired an educational policy adviser, Hazel Mella, who was paid more than $3,100 in 2004.

• More than $6,000 was paid to Array Design of Santa Fe to design Denish's Web site.

Republicans — including some candidates who want to oppose Denish in next year's gubernatorial race — blasted the likely Democratic nominee. One of them, former state GOP chairman Allen Weh, wrote to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking for a federal investigation.

"It is my understanding that the funds were intended to benefit all New Mexicans and not the personal and professional livelihood of a sitting lieutenant governor," Weh wrote. "In my opinion, I believe this to be misuse of public funds. We are seeking an investigation because of the long history of ethics problems at the state level of government here in New Mexico."

Another GOP contender, Susana Martinez, said in a news release, "The Richardson/Denish Administration has routinely wasted and abused state funds that should have gone to create jobs and economic development."

The news about Denish using the federal funds broke on the New Mexico Watchdog Web site, which is associated with the conservative Rio Grande Foundation, an Albuquerque-based think tank.

Rosen released the following written statement Wednesday:

"The accusations made by this right-wing organization and advanced by Republican candidates for Governor are reckless manipulations of the truth. The fact is that the Office of the Lieutenant Governor used those funds to help small businesses create jobs and conduct research on early childhood education. Lt. Gov. Denish is proud to have taken a leadership role on these important policy initiatives. The office has found that, at times, an efficient way to support these ongoing policy efforts is to hire (part-time) help. We have no doubt that the reckless character attacks from political opponents will continue, but Lt. Gov. Denish is staying focused on our state's economic challenges and fighting to make government more open and transparent."

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.