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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Denish Raises Almost $81,000 with PAC
By Barry Massey
Associated Press
SANTA FE — Lt. Gov. Diane Denish's political action committee raised nearly $81,000 during the past year and used part of the money to promote voter turnout in New Mexico's Democratic presidential caucus.
Denish's state or nonfederal PAC — Progress, Vision and Commitment — spent $31,620 earlier this year for radio ads to encourage Democrats to vote in the Feb. 5 presidential preference caucus.
The ads — in both English and Spanish — aired across the state for about two weeks, but mostly targeted rural voters, Steve Fitzer, Denish's political director, said Tuesday.
Rural voters were part of the reason Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the New Mexico contest.
The caucus drew a much larger than expected turnout of voters. Almost 150,000 voters cast ballots in the caucus, about a 50 percent increase over the first presidential caucus four years ago.
Clinton narrowly won with nearly 49 percent of the vote. She defeated Barack Obama with strong support from women, Hispanics and voters in smaller towns and rural areas of the state, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks.
Denish supports Clinton, having endorsed the New York senator in early January after Gov. Bill Richardson dropped out of the presidential race.
Denish's PAC collected $80,652 in contributions from May 2007 through earlier this month and spent $79,344, according to a campaign finance report filed with the secretary of state's office.
The PAC reported a cash balance of $1,308 as of last week.
Among the top contributors were the Albuquerque-based Native American Investment Group, which provides financing for tribal projects, $10,000; brewing giant Anheuser-Busch Cos., $5,000; Mesa Del Sol, a residential and commercial development near Albuquerque's international airport, $5,000; Laguna Development Corp., Laguna Pueblo's corporation that operates tribal businesses, $5,000; the company that owns and operates the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, $4,000; and Phelps Dodge Mining Co., $4,000.
The PAC received an in-kind contribution of goods and services from Sandia Pueblo valued at $8,400.
Denish's main campaign committee gave $20,000 to the PAC, which Fitzer said was to help pay for the caucus radio ads.
Other expenditures by the PAC included a $5,000 donation to Project New West, a Denver-based group doing research and developing strategies to help Democrats in Western states, and $2,000 to the Conservation Voters of New Mexico.
Denish is running for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010. Richardson cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term.
Denish's state PAC is separate from her political organization that does fundraising for the gubernatorial campaign. She also operates a federal PAC with the same name, Progress, Vision and Commitment.
Using the federal PAC, Denish can make larger contributions to candidates for Congress and other federal offices than if she personally donated to a candidate or gave money from her state campaign accounts.
New Mexico law imposes no restrictions on the source of campaign money, unlike federal law. Corporations, national banks and labor unions are prohibited by federal law from contributing money out of their treasuries.
Denish's federal PAC raised no money during the first three months of the year. It spent $5,800 — with $5,000 of that contributed to Clinton's presidential campaign — and had a cash balance of $4,476 at the end of March, according to the most recent campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Copyright ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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