Congresswoman’s war chest bolstered by in-state support
Of $892K raised by gubernatorial candidate so far, 82% contributed by New Mexicans
In recent gubernatorial races in New Mexico, out-of-state interests have contributed about 40 percent of the winning candidates’ campaign money. But Albuquerque Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham may be reversing that trend, if her first campaign finance report is any indication.
Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is giving up a safe congressional seat to run for governor in next year’s election, reported raising more than $892,000 in her first and so far only campaign finance report. More than 82 percent of her contributions — $732,253 — came from New Mexico. The report covers December, when she announced her candidacy, through April.
In comparison, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez received about 61 percent of her 2014 campaign funds from New Mexicans. That’s approximately the same percentage of in-state contributions that former Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson received during his successful 2006 race for re-election.
Lujan Grisham’s percentage of contributions from New Mexico could drop as money arrives from national unions, out-of-state political action committees and groups such as the Democratic Governors Association. But if she keeps the percentage of money from New Mexicans high, she could stem cynicism that out-of-state interests have an oversized influence on state elections.
The congresswoman is one of three announced candidates for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. The others are businessman Jeff Apodaca and Peter DeBenedittis, an advocate to prevent alcohol abuse.
No Republicans have yet entered the race, but U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs says he will decide soon whether to give up his congressional seat to run for governor.
Pearce has been meeting with people, both inside and outside his vast congressional district, to gauge their reaction to him as a gubernatorial candidate. He also paid for a poll released last week that showed him 4 percentage points behind Lujan Grisham in a head-to-head matchup. With a 4.1 percent margin of error, the survey Pearce commissioned suggested that he and Lujan Grisham could be in a dead heat.
Martinez, the sitting governor, is prohibited by law from seeking a third consecutive term.
Not only does Lujan Grisham have a commanding lead in campaign funds, she’s also picked up endorsements, including a high-profile one from former U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman.
In addition to her contributions from New Mexico, Lujan Grisham received $29,936 from contributors with Washington, D.C., addresses, including several fellow Democrats in Congress. Texans gave her $24,113, while Californians contributed $21,761.
Martinez raised more than $8.5 mil-
lion for her 2014 re-election race. After New Mexico, her top contributing state was Texas. Texans contributed more than $1.1 million to her campaign, and about a quarter of that total came from the oil industry.
Democrat Richardson won re-election in 2006, then announced about two months later he was running for president. He raised about $13.6 million for his state reelection campaign. That was the last year before New Mexico adopted contribution limits for candidates.
Richardson’s campaign staff in 2006 scheduled fundraisers in New York and Washington, D.C. People from both cities contributed significantly to his campaign. Some considered Richardson’s massive fundraising effort that year as preparation for his 2008 presidential campaign.
One of Lujan Grisham’s top contributors so far is a Santa Fe lawyer whose past donations to Republican candidates and committees became the subject of an attack ad last year by liberal advocacy groups.
Dan Perry contributed $11,000 to Lujan Grisham’s campaign. He owns the 1,300-acre Trout Stalker Ranch in Chama, where sportsmen pay a fee to fish or hunt. Perry also founded the New Mexico Habitat Conservation Initiative, which last year gave more than $50,000 to various Republican political committees and candidates. Perry in 2014 donated more than $10,000 to Republican Martinez.
Through his limited liability corporation, Chama Troutstalkers, Perry in January gave Lujan Grisham $11,000.
“I’m backing Michelle for governor,” Perry said last week in an interview. “I like her policies.”
Perry said he especially supports Lujan Grisham’s positions on conservation and the environment.
An oil-and-gas lawyer, Perry has had a practice of contributing to both Democrats and Republicans. Through Troutstalkers, Perry last year donated $22,500 to Democratic committees and campaigns, including $10,000 to Attorney General Hector Balderas, who until recently had been considering a race for governor.
In September, Progress Now New Mexico and the New Mexico Wildlife Federation ran television and radio commercials accusing Gov. Martinez of privatizing state streams to benefit a campaign contributor — Perry. Perry’s name wasn’t mentioned in the ad, though his name appeared for several seconds on shots of Martinez’s campaign finance reports. The spot also showed a sign at Perry’s ranch informing fishermen that a $2,000 pass was good for 10 days.
The political ads suggested Perry’s contributions were to thank Martinez for signing legislation in 2015 that created liability protection for landowners from recreational users of public water. The bill prohibited the public from accessing waterways that bisect private plots. It voided an order by former state Attorney General Gary King that made all New Mexico streams open to the public.
A spokesman for Martinez said last year the bill “helps ensure that people aren’t trespassing on someone’s private property.”
And Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for Lujan Grisham, said last week: “Michelle Lujan Grisham has received support from thousands of New Mexicans, and she is committed to conserving and preserving public access to public lands.”
Lujan Grisham reported two other $11,000 contributors. That is the maximum amount an individual can contribute to a candidate for statewide office for both the primary and general elections. If Lujan Grisham doesn’t win the Democratic primary, she would have to return half the money.
One of the donations was from Delta Consulting Group, a Santa Fe-based management consulting firm established by Lujan Grisham and state Rep. Debbie Armstrong, D-Albuquerque.
Armstrong, who also contributed $5,500 of her own money to the campaign, is Grisham’s campaign treasurer. Armstrong worked for Lujan Grisham at the old state Agency for the Aging. Both were Cabinet secretaries during Richardson’s administration.
The third $11,000 donor was Radiology Associates of Albuquerque.
Her other contributions show backing from some traditional Democratic constituencies, such law firms and attorneys. They have given her a total of nearly $160,000. The Branch Law Firm in Albuquerque donated $10,000 to her campaign.
Indian tribes that have — or hope to open — casinos have donated a total of $29,500 to Lujan Grisham. The biggest contributors were the pueblos of Pojoaque and Sandia, and the Fort Sill Apache Tribe, all of which gave $5,500.
Two of the three have had long-standing feuds with Martinez.
The Fort Sill Apaches, driven from New Mexico by the U.S. cavalry and now based in Oklahoma, want to operate a casino on land in Southern New Mexico that in 2002 became federally recognized reservation. But the proposal has run into roadblocks from the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Martinez administration. Tribal members are descendants of Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache tribes that in 1886 were forced from their homelands in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
Pojoaque Pueblo has been fighting with Martinez for years. After negotiations with her administration broke down, the tribe refused to sign the gambling compact that was approved in 2015. Pojoaque went to federal court, hoping to win the right to negotiate a separate compact with the U.S. Department of Interior. But last month a federal appeals court rejected the tribe’s appeal. The pueblo operates Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino and Cities of Gold Casino and Hotel north of Santa Fe.
Labor unions, normally a big giver to Democrats, so far have been modest with their contributions to Lujan Grisham. A political action committee associated with the International Association of Firefighters gave $5,500; the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union in Albuquerque contributed $2,500; and Jobs Unite Labor and Industry in America donated $1,000. Often labor organizations wait until closer to a primary to contribute to candidates.
In Lujan Grisham’s most recent congressional campaign last year, the industries that supported her most heavily were lawyers and law firms ($185,927); health professionals ($154,635); casinos and gambling interests ($102,400); retired people ($92,135); and public sector unions ($74,500).
With the Democratic primary a year away, Lujan Grisham has not had to spend significant amounts of what she’s collected. Her first report showed expenses totalling $151,615 between December and April.
Her biggest expense, $31,719, went to a Washington, D.C., online communications strategist, Anne Lewis. Lujan Grisham spent another $20,177 for video production with another Washington company, Putnam Partners.
She paid two campaign staffers — Stefanie Weber and Jake London, both of Albuquerque — a total of $14,651 in salaries. Lujan Grisham’s next-largest expense category was consultants on fundraising, for which she spent a total of $12,084. Half of that went to the Yost Gold company and the other half to CMT Consulting, both of Washington.