DA Serna raises $118K, far short of Plame’s haul

Most candidates had not yet turned in campaign finance reports ahead of midnight filing deadline

The latest financial disclosures show that when it comes fundraising, former CIA operative Valerie Plame leads the pack in a crowded race for Northern New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District seat.

Ahead of the federal campaign finance disclosure deadline at midnight Tuesday, opponent Marco Serna — district attorney for Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties — announced that he had raised $118,257 in the period from July through September.

On Monday, Plame’s campaign announced that it had raised $446,749 — nearly four times the amount that Serna’s campaign collected over the same period.

Santa Fe lawyer Teresa Leger Fernandez’s U.S. House campaign said earlier this month that it raised $205,000 in the third quarter.

The candidates are Democrats vying to succeed U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., who is running for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Sen. Tom Udall, also a Democrat.

Most candidates had not yet turned in their campaign finance reports ahead of the midnight filing deadline. Third-quarter numbers for Plame, Serna and Fernandez were disclosed by their respective campaigns.

Democratic candidates for the 3rd Congressional House seat also include former New Mexico Deputy Secretary of State John Blair of Santa Fe; state Rep. Joseph Sanchez of Alcalde; Kyle Tisdel, a Taos attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center; Sandoval County

Treasurer Laura Montoya; former Navajo Nation presidential candidate Dineh Benally; and Gavin Kaiser of Santa Cruz.

Blair’s campaign announced Tuesday that the candidate raised $147,516 from late August — when he launched his campaign — through the end of September.

Blair was director of intergovernmental and external affairs within the Department of the Interior in the Obama administration and worked for U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., among other government officials.

“To see so many people step up and invest in this campaign is humbling,” Blair said in a statement. “I’ve spent my career putting progressive ideas into action, and I know that we don’t have a moment to waste when it comes to standing up to the NRA or taking action on our climate crisis.”

Sanchez said previously he raised around $53,000 in the third quarter.

Four Republicans also have registered for the 3rd District race: Alexis Johnson, Audra Lee Brown, Karen Bedonie and Ben Bateman.