Legal battle between New Mexico ethics commission and former candidate’s group continues

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – As election season heats up, so does an ongoing legal battle between the New Mexico State Ethics Commission and a local organization. At the crux of the issue is whether the New Mexico Project is a political committee and should therefore have to register as one and disclose its donors.

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In May, the state ethics commission filed a lawsuit against former gubernatorial candidate Jeff Apodaca and the group he runs called The New Mexico Project. On its website, the group said its goal is to "amplify Latino and moderate voices." Its site has a list of their priority candidates and a link to donate to the group.

It claims to be a 501(c)(4) nonprofit but the suit claimed it was acting as a political committee. In the suit, the state ethics commission cited the amended Campaign Reporting Act that aims to shed light on "dark money" in state elections which claims groups who pay for political ads or support candidates to be transparent about who funds the ads and advocacy efforts. The suit claims under the Campaign Reporting Act, TNMP has to disclose the sources of its receiving and using to "influence their votes."

A New Mexico judge agreed. In an order last month, a judge cited the group's contributions and donations saying TNMP met the definition of a political committee. The judge issued a preliminary injection requiring TNMP to register with the Secretary of State's office by September 4, 2024 and disclose its expenditures and contributions. But neither has happened and the group is fighting back with new motions asking the judge to reconsider.

"They are a 501(c)(4) engaged in issue advocacy and they may have spent money on campaigns but they didn't exceed the independent expenditure limits such that they would have to register and disclose donors. So, we think the judge has the law wrong," said A. Blair Dunn, attorney for TNMP.

He claimed the judge interpreted the law too "broadly." He also believes the initial complaint is ideologically driven and personal against Apodaca. "We think the best evidence of why that is, is that they targeted Jeff personally even though he was only one of three officers for the group," said Dunn.

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A hearing for the motions to reconsider is scheduled for next week.