Democratic candidates race to the lead in stocking war chests

Democrats are sitting on some swelling war chests in congressional campaigns around New Mexico.

Xochitl Torres Small, a relative newcomer in the race to flip a Republican district in Southern New Mexico, reported raising $313,000 over the past three months and ending March with nearly a quarter-million dollars in the bank.

In Albuquerque, former state Democratic Party chairwoman Debra Haaland raised more money than any other candidate for the 1st Congressional District during the last quarter, riding a wave of national publicity about her campaign to become the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Haaland reported raising about $297,000 from January through March and had about $347,000 on hand at the end of last month.

Still, low-key law professor Antoinette Sedillo Lopez had a larger war chest at the end of the quarter, with about $457,000 for her campaign for the Democratic nomination to succeed U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is vacating her Congressional post to run for governor.

And a third candidate in that primary, former U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez, reported finishing March with about $276,000 in the bank after raising nearly $145,000 over those three months.

The only Republican in the race, former state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, finished the period far behind with about $32,000 in contributions a little less than $27,000 on hand.

And Lloyd Princeton, who is running for the seat as a Libertarian, has about $1,700 in his campaign account.

In the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico, incumbent Democrat Ben Ray Luján sits on about three quarters of a million dollars and faces no competition in the party’s primary election. He faces Republican Jerald McFall and Libertarian Chris Manning in the general election.

The numbers come from just the latest round of quarterly campaign finance reports, which were due Sunday.

The National Republican Campaign Committee said early last year it would target both of New Mexico’s blue congressional districts — the 1st District around Albuquerque and the 3rd in Northern New Mexico.

But so far, GOP candidates from those districts have lagged in fundraising.

Those figures do not indicate which party’s candidates will win, of course. But the data can provide a gauge of campaign activity.

In the 2nd Congressional District, where Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce also is giving up his seat to run for governor, former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman outraised state Rep. Yvette Herrell in the race for the GOP nomination.

Newman reported raising nearly $143,000 to end the period with about $369,000 on hand.

He could get a boost later this month when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, visits New Mexico to campaign for him.

Herrell reported taking in nearly $114,000 to end the period with $256,000 on hand.

In the Democratic race, Torres Small, a water rights lawyer, appears to be enjoying a boon after mostly clearing the field for the primary. “The support our campaign has received from throughout southern New Mexico is energizing and inspiring,” she said in a statement.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made the border district a target now that Pearce is out of the running.

But winning the sprawling Republican district could still prove an expensive and difficult battle. Torres Small faces competition in the primary from college instructor and Coast Guard veteran Mad Hildebrandt. Her campaign finance report was not immediately available through the Federal Election Commission.

Contact Andrew Oxford at 505-986-3093 or aoxford@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twittee @andrewboxford.