Lujan Grisham raises over $892K for gov. race
Democrat reports $741,229 on hand, compared to state attorney general’s $682,511
U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham began her campaign for governor by raising sharply more in political contributions than some potential rivals.
Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is giving up a safe congressional seat to run for governor in the 2018 election, reported Monday that she had raised $892,744 in cash contributions.
Monday was the deadline for candidate committees to file campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State’s Office for the six-month period ended April 3.
State Attorney General Hector Balderas reported raising $211,569. The Democrat is frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for governor, although he has not announced his intentions. But while Lujan Grisham raised more money in the six-month period, her campaign didn’t take a significant lead on Balderas when it came to money in the bank.
Lujan Grisham reported having $741,229 on hand, compared to $682,511 for Balderas.
State Sen. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, who has said he will run for governor, reported loaning himself $190,000. He had $245,397 in the bank.
On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, who is considering a campaign for governor, said he raised $14,000 in cash plus $1,365 in in-kind donations
of goods or services. He had $231,987 on hand.
Lujan Grisham seems determined to try to cast an aura of inevitability over her campaign. Last month, she scored the endorsement of former U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a respected elder statesman among New Mexico Democrats.
Lujan Grisham listed three donors who each gave $11,000. Those were Radiology Associates of Albuquerque, Chama Trout Stalkers, which owns the Trout Stalker Ranch near Chama, and the Delta Consulting Group, a Santa Fe-based management consulting firm established by Lujan Grisham and state Rep. Debbie Armstrong, D-Albuquerque. Armstrong also is Grisham’s campaign treasurer.
Lujan Grisham received $10,000 contributions from The Branch Law Firm in Albuquerque and David Rigsby, owner of Embudo Valley Organics, which raises turkeys.
Her contributors included at least 16 members of Congress, including Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and the House’s top-ranking African-American, Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.
Former Attorney General Gary King, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014, gave $2,500, while his wife, Yolanda King, contributed $1,000. Former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in 2010, contributed $500, while her husband, Herb Denish, gave $250. Both King and Denish lost to Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who is constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third term.
Lujan Grisham also reported another $4,650 in in-kind donations of goods or services.
She reported spending more than $151,000 on her campaign. Of that, $31,719 went to Anne Lewis Strategies, a Washington, D.C., firm for online communication services. She also paid a little over $6,000 for fundraising consulting to CMT Consulting of Washington, D.C.
Balderas — who could seek a second term as attorney general next year if he doesn’t run for governor — also reported several large donors.
Giving $11,000 each were Baron & Budd, a Dallas law firm; Dianne Nunn, a health administrator from Washington, D.C., and three Albuquerque business people with the same last name and listing the same address: Priti Sangha, Manjit Sangha and Karanpree Sangha.
Contributing $10,000 to Balderas was Arabela Land and Cattle of Roswell. La Jolla, Calif., lawyer Patrick Daniel gave $8,000, and the New York law firm of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann contributed $7,500.
Balderas also received $1,000 from former Gov. Bill Richardson.
Balderas spent just over $20,000 in the six-month reporting period. His expenses included $6,185 to NGP VAN Inc. for fundraising software and $1,348 to Geoffrey Middleberg for policy research.
Cervantes reported just two contributions: $1,000 from the PNM Responsible Citizens Group and $700 from the Associated Contractors of New Mexico political action committee.
His only expense was $250 to Abeyta and Associates of Albuquerque for campaign cups.
Democratic political newcomer and gubernatorial candidate Peter DeBenedittis, a Santa Fe educator, filed a report saying he raised just over $2,300, most of which came through a Go Fund Me campaign. He spent $541 for website design.
Lt. Gov. Sanchez’s largest contributors were the Associated Contractors of New Mexico, which gave $2,500, and Presbyterian Health Plan, which donated $2,000. An in-kind contribution came from the Dallas law firm of R. Collins Enterprises.
Like Cervantes, Sanchez, who serves as the presiding officer of the Senate, was prohibited by law from soliciting donations while the Legislature was in session.
Sanchez’s expenditures totaled more than $62,000. Much of that went to Republican legislative candidates in last year’s election, but he did spend more than $11,000 on political consultants in February and March. He also paid $7,200 to Jose Ozozco of Albuquerque for “professional services.”
Others mentioned as possible Republican candidates for governor — U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs and Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry — had not filed state campaign finance reports by 7:30 p.m. Monday. They aren’t required to file such reports unless they form committees to run for governor.
Political action committees associated with Gov. Martinez have been active, according to their finance reports.
Advance New Mexico Now, run by Martinez political consultant Jay McCleskey, reported raising more than $57,000.
HBTB Corporation, a Kansas City, Mo., construction company contributed $25,000, and GM PAC, which is associated with General Motors, gave $20,000.
Advance New Mexico Now has spent $83,701 since early December. Of that, $48,290 went to McCleskey Media for professional services.
The PAC had $257,509 in the bank.
The governor’s Susana PAC had taken in $4,000 since December. The PAC reported spending $107,897. Of that, $71,148 went to McCleskey’s company. The committee had more than $57,000 on hand.