The Money Game

New Mexico campaign finance reports were just submitted by candidates for the period May 1, 2005 to May 1, 2006. They show who made donations, in what amounts, and list expenditures the campaigns have made to date. As I've said before, it pains me to report on races according to funds raised. I don't believe the level of campaign contributions necessarily tracks with the strength, electability or positive attributes of a candidate. And raising loads of money in the current political climate can mean the candidate is compromised and hamstrung by big donors.

Ideas count. Grassroots outreach counts. Perceived honesty and ethics count. Personality and other variables count. Of course money counts too, but not always as much as fundraisers, media consultants and big dollar donors would like us to believe. For instance, when Russ Feingold ran for his first term as Senator in Wisconsin, his primary opponents outraised him by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet Russ won.

Nevertheless, the amount of money raised by a campaign can often indicate something about how organized and efficient an operation is, provide a window into how things are going out in the field or merely show that someone is taking in big bucks from special interests. You decide.

Governor Bill Richardson's reelection campaign has raised a whopping $3.8 million this past year, for a total of $6.9 million. He has more than $5.5 million cash on hand. Richardson raised $8 million in his first run for governor in 2002. The campaign allegedly has its sights on raising at last $10 million by the November general election.

Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish raised $1 million for her reelection campaign, but returned $10,000 of that to Guy Riordan, who has been tarnished by testimony in the Robert Vigil kickback trial.

In the Democratic primary race for Attorney General, Geno Zamora leads the field with more than $430,000, Gary King is second with $300,000 and Lem Martinez lags with $200.000.

In the crowded primary for Secretary of State, Stephanie Gonzales and Mary Herrera are in a virtual tie for second at $43,000 each, although most of Gonzales' total was in the form of a personal loan from her. The almost entirely self-funded campaign of Letitia Montoya is in the lead with $61,000. Shirley Hooper is last with $25,000, including her personal loan to her campaign of $5,000.

In the Dem primary race for Land Commissioner, Ray Powell raised $98,000, including $45,000 he provided his campaign as a loan. His cash in hand totals $69,000. Jim Baca raised about $77,000 with $29,000 cash in hand.

Check out Joe Monahan for his view of what the finance reports mean, as well as the totals raised by Republicans. Although our current Secretary of State, Rebecca Vigil-Giron, was supposed to have a searcheable database in place for campaign reporting this cycle, things are still in disarray at her site despite three years to prepare. Many candidate reports are incomplete, and none are in the form of a searchable database. You can read more about this snafu in this Albuquerque Journal article. Excerpt:

Campaign finance reform advocates say they are disappointed by the delay, particularly with scandals unfolding in New Mexico that involve campaign contributions.

"If you think about all the things going on now, if we are truly interested in more disclosure, we've got to make this system work," said Matt Brix, executive director of New Mexico Common Cause and a member of an ethics reform task force created by Gov. Bill Richardson.

The Albuquerque Tribune has articles on Monday's campaign finance report submittals:

Governor and Lt. Governor

Attorney General and other statewide races