GOP governors group gave big in NM, nationwide
The national Republican and Democratic governors associations were the top two donors in races for statewide offices and state legislative seats across the country in 2014, according to a new study.
The Republican Governors Association contributed a total of $68.6 million to statewide and legislative candidates, state political parties and independent groups that were active on TV in statewide and legislative races, according to the study by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization based in Washington, D.C.
The RGA donated $700,000 to a New Mexico political action committee that supported the re-election last year of GOP Gov. Susana Martinez.
The Democratic Governors Association donated a total of $31.6 million across the country, the study found. The DGA made an early decision to sit out the New Mexico governor’s race in 2014. It spent nearly $1.1 million on the governor’s race in 2010, including at least $275,000 in direct contributions to Democratic nominee Diane Denish, then lieutenant governor.
The study by the Center for Public Integrity says the top 50 donors to statewide and legislative races across the country last year spent a total of $440 million.
The study includes contributions made in 2013 and 2014. Not included in the study was money spent by socalled dark money groups — tax-exempt “social welfare” organizations that aren’t required by law to publicly disclose their donors. Dark money groups weren’t major players in New Mexico elections last year.
The Republican Governors Association donated $700,000 to a PAC it created in New Mexico last year for the governor’s race. The PAC aired TV ads in opposition to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gary King, then the state attorney general, who was soundly defeated by Martinez.
The RGA was Martinez’s biggest donor when she was first elected governor in 2010, contributing more than $1.3 million.
State limits on the size of campaign donations took effect after the 2010 election, barring groups like the RGA from again giving such large amounts directly to candidates.
Martinez was elected vice chairwoman of the RGA last year and has traveled often to association meetings and fundraisers.
The top two contributors to the RGA in 2014 were Koch Industries of Wichita, Kan., and Las Vegas Sands Corp. in Nevada, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that collects and analyzes federal campaign finance data.
Koch Industries is the multinational company headed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, and Las Vegas Sands is the casino and resort company of billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The Kochs and Adelson are major funders of conservative and libertarian candidates and causes nationwide.
For each state, the Center for Public Integrity also published a list of the top 5 contributors to its statewide and legislative races. Here’s the New Mexico list:
1. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, $790,800.
2. The National Education Association, $693,200. 3. King, $642,106. 4. Santa Fe businessman Alan Webber, $403,704
5. American Federation of Teachers New Mexico, $311,700.
King and Webber, who finished No. 2 to King in the Democratic primary for governor, were on the list because of the personal money they contributed to their campaigns.
Reity O’Brien, who worked on the study for the Center for Public Integrity, said she couldn’t immediately explain why the Republican Governors Association didn’t make the New Mexico top 5 list, given its $700,000 in donations to its New Mexico PAC that aired TV ads opposing King.
Also noticeably absent from the list was the Republican State Leadership Committee, a Virginia-based group that last year contributed $350,000 to Advance New Mexico Now, a PAC that worked to elect Republicans to the Legislature.
The Republican State Leadership Committee also gave a total of $18,400 last year to three GOP candidates for statewide office: Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, Secretary of State Dianna Duran and Susan Riedel, who was defeated in the race to succeed King as attorney general, according to candidate reports filed with the Secretary of State’s Office.
O’Brien also said she couldn’t explain why the Republican State Leadership Committee didn’t make the top 5 list for New Mexico.
AFSCME, NEA and the AFT made the list in large part because of the unions’ contributions to Patriot Majority Fund, a PAC that was active in legislative races.
AFSCME gave a total of $730,000 to Patriot Majority, NEA $687,500 and AFT $300,000, according to Patriot Majority finance reports filed with the Secretary of State’s Office.
AFSCME, the NEA and the AFT were three of the top four contributors to the Democratic Governors Association in 2014, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.