Democrats raising more than GOP in key House districts

Republican incumbents, falling behind in money race, may face tough contests

Once again, the Democrat who is challenging state Rep. Monica Youngblood — who was convicted in September of aggravated drunken driving — raised more money than the incumbent, according to campaign finance reports filed this week with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Karen Bash, a political newcomer who few regarded as a serious threat to the Albuquerque Republican until her DWI arrest in May — raised more than $34,000, compared with Youngblood’s $29,000. Youngblood still has raised more money over this election than Bash has — $101,330 to Bash’s $86,261. But, according to the latest reports, Bash actually has slightly more money in the bank for the last days of the campaign.

And, as has been the trend in recent campaign finance reports, Democratic candidates for the state House of Representatives outraised their Republican opponents in districts considered competitive and reported having more money in the bank during the reporting period covering most of October.

Besides Youngblood, at least three incumbent GOP House members — Rep. Jim Dines and Rep. Jimmie Hall, both of Albuquerque, and Rep. Ricky Little of Chaparral — lagged behind in fundraising in October. That’s also the case in at least two open seats represented by Republicans who didn’t seek re-election. Hall, however, has more cash on hand than his Democratic challenger, Melanie Stansbury.

One Democratic incumbent who raised less money than her opponent last month is Rep. Liz Thomson of Albuquerque. She raised just over $10,000, compared with almost $28,000 for Republican newcomer Trey Morris. Thomson, however, has more money in her campaign account — over $32,000 to Morris’ just under $18,000.

A loyal legislative supporter of outgoing Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, Youngblood has represented House District 68 in northwest Albuquerque since 2013. She was a consistent backer of tougher crime bills with harsher sentences and a strong backer of police budgets — which she pointed out to the Albuquerque officer who arrested her.

Youngblood is using Martinez’s political consultant Jay McCleskey during this campaign. She paid McCleskey’s company more than $35,000 and spent $15,000 with McCleskey’s wife’s polling company, Public Opinion Strategies.

Youngblood’s major contributors in the last report were $4,500 from the PNM Responsible Citizens Group PAC and $2,500 each from Marathon Oil Co. of Houston and incumbent Rep. David Adkins’ campaign.

Adkins made the contribution Oct. 26, even though Democrats have targeted his seat as a possible pickup. He raised $4,000 more than his Democratic opponent, Joy Garrett, in October, though Garrett has raised about $1,000 less than Adkins during the election cycle and has $9,000 more in the bank than the incumbent.

Here are the numbers from the latest campaign finance reports for competitive House districts:

District 68 (Albuquerque)

Monica Youngblood, R, incumbent Raised: $29,300 Spent: $53,906 Balance: $33,963 Karen Bash, D Raised: $34,493 Spent: $26,785 Balance: $34,904

District 15 open seat (Albuquerque)

Day Hochman, D Raised: $48,368 Spent: $54,717 Balance: $45,215 Brad Winter, R Raised: $30,000 Spent: $25,878 Balance: $22,557

District 30: open seat (Albuquerque)

Natalie Figueroa, D Raised: $32,002 Spent: $48,209 Balance: $30,629 John Jones, R Raised: $5,450 Spent: $38,875 Balance: $8,641

District 20 (Albuquerque)

Jim Dines, R, incumbent Raised: $4,548 Spent: $21,477 Balance: $13,495. Abbas Akhil, D Raised: $47,554 Spent: $40,930 Balance: $14,385

District 26 (Albuquerque)

Jimmie Hall, R, incumbent Raised: $21,375 Spent: $17,960 Balance: $55,756 Melanie Stansbury, D Raised: $31,474 Spent: $85,524 Balance: $43,337

District 29 (Albuquerque)

David Adkins, R, incumbent Raised: $40,985 Spent: $56,607 Balance: $18,489 Joy Garrett, D Raised $37,523 Spent: $41,418 Balance: $27,650

District 24

Liz Thomson, D, incumbent Raised: $10,170 Spent: $69,988 Balance: $32,325 Trey Morris, R Raised: $27,902 Spent: $18,464 Balance: $17,909

District 46 open seat (Santa Fe)

Andrea Romero, D Raised: $23,960 Spent: $21,481 Balance: $18,812 Heather Nordquist, D (write-in) Raised: $9,483 Spent: $8,446 Balance: $2,015

District 43 open seat (Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Sandoval counties)

Christine Chandler, D Raised: $19,045 Spent: $52,081. Balance: $39,973 Lisa Shin, R Raised: $8,827 Spent: $25,088 Balance: $13,530

District 63 (Curry, DeBaca, Guadalupe, Roosevelt and San Miguel counties)

George Dodge, D, incumbent Raised: $36,780 Spent: $78,600 Balance: $37,309 Martin Zamora, R Raised: $20,085 Spent: $16,359 Balance: $48,821

District 32 (Grant, Hidalgo and Luna counties)

Candie Sweetser, D, incumbent Raised: $14,950 Spent: $7,843 Balance: $51,172 Laura Boyd, R Raised: $7,499 Spent: $6,120 Balance: $4,663

District 53 (Doña Ana and Otero counties)

Ricky Little, R, incumbent

Raised: $16,520 Spent: $52,704 Balance: $23,522 Willie Madrid, D Raised: $24,327 Spent: $22,486 Balance: $37,800