NM-02: McCamley vs. Teague

Democrat Bill McCamley, running for Congress in New Mexico's Second District, today announced more endorsements from key elected officials in NM-02. Here's a PDF of the McCamley campaign's statement on the new endorsements from former State Rep. J. Paul Taylor (Doña Ana County), former Capitan Mayor Benny Coker, Socorro County Commission Chairman Jay Santillanes and Sierra County Commissioner Walter Armijo.

Personally, I'm a big fan of McCamley, who's been running a textbook grassroots campaign down South against Dem rivals Harry Teague, Al Kissling and Frank McKinnon. A candidate willing to work hard for every volunteer, every small campaign donation and every primary vote, McCamley has raised more than $280,000 the hard way, opened a live and kickin' campaign office in Las Cruces and continues to talk passionately about new ways to approach and solve the serious problems we face.

His campaign isn't funded by large donations from oil business tycoons, good ol' boys and personal wealth like McTeague's. It isn't based on more of the same old same old, but focuses on taking a fresh and creative look at how we can make the changes we need to get back on the right track, moving towards a positive future. It's evident that the voters in this election cycle want change, fresh ideas and challenges to business as usual. I think McCamley is a good example of the kind of candidate who can flourish is this atmosphere and tap into the voters' hunger for a new way of doing things that's responsive to the people, not the lobbyists and vested special interests.

Harry Teague and Oil Interests
McCamley's main rival, Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague, made millions in businesses related to oil and didn't enter the race until November. He stepped up to the plate with $200,000 of his own money and the backing of wealthy friends in Lea County, many of them former supporters of Steve Pearce and the Republican Party. Teague is running as a Democrat, but shares many of the conservative views of politicos on the other side of the aisle. It shows in who's donating funds to his campaign.

Recently, Harry Teague announced his year-end fundraising numbers. Between November 8th, when Harry announced his candidacy, and December 31st of last year Harry's campaign raised a total of $408,610.00 and reported $362,735.51 cash-on hand. Harry has loaned $200,000 of his own money to the campaign, so that means he raised about 208,000 from outside sources during the quarter.

Let's take a closer look at Teague's donations. A colleague who's much better with numbers than I am examined Teague's year-end FEC report and shed some light on the kinds of donations he's getting:

• the average donation was $1,300 per individual
• Teague is backed by the same people who have donated to Pearce
  • 28 (or 18%) of Teague donors have given a total of $94,635 to Pearce
  • $45,250 (or 22%) of Teague's contributions came from Pearce donors
• Teague gets his money from those who give to Republicans:
  • 34 of his donors (or 22%) have given a total of $143,385 to Republicans
  • $51,800 of Teague’s contributions (or 26%) came from Republican donors
• Teague gets his money from the oil industry:
  • 61 of his donors (or 39%) are linked to the oil industry
  • $103,470 (or 51%) of his contributions are from people linked to the oil industry
• Teague’s money comes almost entirely from Lea County:
  • 135 (or 87%) of his donors were from Lea County
  • $172,110 (or 85%) of his contributions were from Lea County
  • Just 5 (or 3%) of Teague’s contributors were from the district outside of Lea County

Teague is trying to convince folks that his oil-related businesses and close ties to oil-related wealth won't stop him from strongly supporting the development of new energy sources and technologies. But you have to wonder how independent a politico can be if so much of his campaign cash comes from interests that would benefit from keeping the creators of the energy status quo in the driver's seat.

You can get learn more and get involved in Bill McCamley's campaign at www.billmccamley.com/.

Also see New Mexico FBIHOP's on the Second District race and the recent profile of the contest by CQ Politics.

To see our previous coverage of the NM-02 Congressional race, check our archive.