Fine doesn’t satisfy pair
Two progressive campaign consultants said they are not satisfied with Secretary of State Dianna Duran’s decision to levy a $250 fine on a high-profile political committee for failing to register in a timely manner with the state.
SANTA FE — Two progressive campaign consultants said they are not satisfied with Secretary of State Dianna Duran’s decision to levy a $250 fine on a high-profile political committee for failing to register in a timely manner with the state.
The consultants, Sandra Wechsler and Neri Holguin, questioned why Duran’s office waited until after the Nov. 6 general election — four months after they had filed a complaint — to levy the fine against Reform New Mexico Now.
“It just seems like there was an intentional effort to delay,” Holguin said this week.
The fine was communicated in a Nov. 20 letter sent by Duran’s chief of staff, Ken Ortiz, to the attorney for Reform New Mexico Now, which spent at least $1.8 million during the general election, much of it on mailers that targeted Democratic candidates seen as unfriendly to Gov. Susana Martinez’s agenda.
In the letter, Ortiz said the independent political group should have registered with the state by May 21. Reform New Mexico Now actually filed the necessary paperwork on May 29.
At issue was whether the political committee, which was headed by Martinez’s political consultant, failed to follow state law by registering with the Secretary of State’s Office within 10 days of receiving a pair of contributions from oil companies that totaled $180,000.
Reform New Mexico Now’s attorney had argued that a bank did not make the donations available for spending immediately upon their being deposited, which should have extended the legal time frame for registering with the state.
The political committee also complained, through its attorney, that at least three Democratic-leaning PACs also failed to register with the state in a timely fashion after taking in money.
However, Jay McCleskey, Martinez’s political consultant and the head of Reform New Mexico Now, said the group will not contest the fine.
“While we disagree with the secretary of state’s analysis, we respect her decision and will simply pay the small fine,” McCleskey told the Journal in an email.
Payment of the fine might not be the final chapter in the ongoing squabble, though.
Holguin said she and Wechsler have been in contact with several state legislators, who could ask Attorney General Gary King to look into the matter further.
In addition, Wechsler said in a statement they still want Duran’s office to ask Reform New Mexico Now to provide copies of the two large checks it received in order to prove its campaign reporting was accurate.