Montoya Disqualified from First Statewide Publicly Financed Race in New Mexico
March 31, 2010
Update: NMPolitics.net is reporting the Secretary of State has rejected Dennis A. Montoya’s application to become the first candidate in New Mexico to run a statewide campaign under the state public financing laws. In a letter to Montoya, Herrera reportedly states that Montoya exceeded the $5,000 limit a candidate seeking to run under public financing can contribute to his own campaign.
“Montoya’s seed money report indicates that he contributed $8,887.29 to his own campaign. That’s well over the limit, and it’s the reason Herrera gave in her letter for rejecting Montoya’s application for public financing,” Heath Haussamen wrote. (Read more at http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/2010/03/judicial-candidate%E2%80%99s-application-for-public-financing-rejected/)
Here is the original post, based on Montoya’s own announcement:
According to a press release, Dennis W. Montoya is the first candidate in New Mexico history to run a statewide campaign under the public financing laws of the state of New Mexico. In order to qualify, Montoya had to garner five dollar contributions from 1,123 voters.
In 2008 the State passed a bill to provide for public financing for candidates running for judicial offices. Montoya, a native New Mexican and practicing attorney in Albuquerque, is the only judicial candidate who has been willing to campaign with public financing.
Earlier in the decade, people in New Mexico decided that they would work to get private-money influence out of public office. Their hard-fought battle resulted in public financing for the Public Regulation Commission. Later, voters in Albuquerque adopted public financing for city elections
On March 16th, 2010 Montoya, his family and supporters walked in to the office of the Secretary of State with a load of papers and a ton of hope. He submitted over 1400 qualifying contributions of $5 each.
“New Mexico has been subject recently to a number of criminal indictments and claims of ethical violations on the part of some of the highest appointed and elected officials in the State,” Montoya said in a statement. The buzz word has been ‘pay to play which in lay terms basically means that folks will parlay their political contributions into a benefit for them or their companies, especially when these donations are considerable.”
Montoya continued, “Now we will see if the voters of New Mexico will be receptive to the idea of having their Judges elected in a manner where how much money you have raised is not the issue. Or, will they be influenced by those who continue to believe that “money talks” and those who don’t have it can walk. “
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