All Politics is Money

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alan Webber received arguably the most attention after the first campaign disclosure reports for statewide candidates for raising $450,000 from his own pockets. 

Webber, a Santa Fe businessman and co-founder of Fast Company magazine, previously told several media outlets when he announced his intentions to campaign that he isn’t in favor of self-financed campaigns, though he also said he’d be putting “some” of his money into his candidacy. Overall, Webber raised a total of $811,000 for this reporting period [Disclosure: Richard Meeker, president of City of Roses Newspaper Company, which owns SFR, contributed $1,000 to Webber’s campaign.] 

But as of press time, Webber’s campaign was working to refile his campaign finance report after SFR found 67 instances where he named two donors for one donation, a possible violation of the Campaign Reporting Act. 

The remaining four Democratic candidates for governor are as follows: Lawrence Rael reported the second most donations for the period, which encompasses the past six months, at nearly $323,000. Gary King, who’s also currently New Mexico’s Attorney General, raised $229,000. Howie Morales, a current state senator, took in nearly $173,000 and Linda Lopez, another state senator, raised just $28,500.  

Of course, all of this fundraising pales in comparison to incumbent Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who reported $1.4 million this period—almost as much as all the Democratic candidates combined. Martinez also reported $4.2 million cash on hand. The Dems are set to face off in a June 3 primary.

Santa Fe Reporter