GOP PACs Tops in Donations, Spending

Some readers complained about the column Wednesday that focused on Texas contributors to Susana PAC, the political action committee of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.

The column should also have included a look at fundraising by Democrats, the readers said. One caller left a message challenging my manhood.

So, using more than 30,000 computer records provided by the Secretary of State’s Office, I examined fundraising and spending by all PACs registered with the office for the six months that ended on April 2.

State PACs, through their support of candidates, are major players in elections in New Mexico, but there are other players: candidate committees, federally registered PACs, individuals and some nonprofits, some of which aren’t required to disclose where they get their money.

With that caveat, here’s a look at the biggest New Mexico PACs and their finances for the six-month reporting period:

Top fundraisers:

1) Susana PAC, $336,034

2) Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico, $107,802

3) Democratic Party of New Mexico, $84,339

4) Committee on Individual Responsibility (trial lawyers), $71,349

5) ActBlue New Mexico (fundraising group for Democrats), $67,526

6) Realtors Association of New Mexico, $55,317

7) Plumbers & Steamfitters, UA Local Union No. 412, $53,239

8) Right to Life Committee of New Mexico, $53,045

9) Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, $51,888

10) Republican Party of Bernalillo County, $47,054

Top spenders:

1) Susana PAC, $341,742

2) Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico, $111,989

3) Democratic Party of New Mexico, $84,355

4) ActBlue New Mexico, $60,621

5) Right to Life Committee of New Mexico, $59,290

6) Republican Party of Bernalillo County, $38,412

7) Realtors Association of New Mexico, $38,122

8) Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, $34,982

9) Plumbers & Steamfitters, UA Local Union No. 412, $34,825

10) Associated Contractors of New Mexico, $33,810

As you can see, the lists are dominated by Republican or right-leaning groups.

The major contributors to the Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico included oil and gas companies and milk producers.

The big donors for the state Democratic Party included a carpenters union, a potash company and URENCO USA, operator of a uranium-enrichment plant in southeastern New Mexico.

Fidelity Investments and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association each gave $5,000 to both the Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico and the state Democratic Party.

For other PACs, it’s obvious where they get their money — trial lawyers and Realtors, for example.

This examination of PAC fundraising and spending is limited to PACs that are based in New Mexico and file finance reports with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Excluded are PACs that are registered with the Federal Election Commission and file reports with that agency. Such PACs can be active in New Mexico in support of candidates here.

Independent Source PAC of Albuquerque, a Martinez critic that operates independently of any candidate, has separate state and federal accounts and files with both the Secretary of State and FEC. The $190,000 that it has received from the Communications Workers of America went into the federal account.

At the state level this election year, most of the action will be in races for the Legislature. All 70 seats in the House and all 42 in the Senate are up for election.

We’ll know more later this year about who is pumping big money into legislative races and which candidates they are supporting.

In 2008, the last time all seats in the Legislature were up for election, oil and gas interests dominated the list of top givers to legislative candidates, with most of the money going to Republicans.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Thom Cole at tcole@abqjournal.com or 505-992-6280 in Santa Fe. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal