Judge Throws Out Matching Money Provision of Public Financing Law

A federal judge has struck down the matching- funds provision of New Mexico’s public financing law, declaring it unconstitutional.

The ruling was issued Thursday by David Ebel, a U.S. Circuit Court Judge from Colorado who had been assigned to hear the case.

State law allows candidates for the Public Regulation Commission and the state’s appellate courts to finance their campaigns with public money. The law also contained a provision that said publicly funded candidates who were being outspent by their opponents were entitled to extra matching funds.

The Bernalillo County Republican Party and a Democratic PRC primary candidate, Al Park, challenged that matching funds provision.

In ruling it unconstitutional, Judge Ebel cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision that had struck down a similar matching-funds provision in Arizona law.