Bill McCamley’s campaign contributor list includes a number of high-profile business owners and New Mexico Democrats, and it’s earning him some national attention.
McCamley announced Sunday that he raised $139,600 during the second quarter of 2007. He spent $6,300 and had $133,300 on hand. All money McCamley raised is for the primary election, according to the report he filed with the Federal Election Commission late Monday.
U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, the Republican McCamley is attempting to unseat, hasn’t yet filed his report with the FEC. Neither has Al Kissling, the other Democrat who has entered the race.
Two high-profile members of Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign team and two others with close ties to the campaign gave to McCamley during the second quarter. Dave Contarino,
In addition, Butch Maki, a close friend of Richardson who isn’t officially working for the campaign but is helping him in
Noel doesn’t work for the
The
McCamley also received a total of $9,700 from people I could identify as having ties to the El Paso-based Verde Group, which plans to build a
Other high-profile contributors to McCamley’s campaign were Hobbs oilman Johnny Cope and his wife, who each gave the maximum of $2,300; Las Cruces developer Edgar Lopez and his wife, who each gave $2,300; Santa Fe art dealer and developer Gerald Peters, who gave $2,300; lobbyist Domonic Silva and his wife, who each gave $2,300; Lt. Gov. Diane Denish’s husband Herb, who gave $1,000; Attorney General Gary King, who gave $1,000; lobbyist Dave Kimble, who gave $1,000; Las Cruces development partners David Steinborn and John Hummer, who each gave $1,000; New Mexico State University President Michael Martin, who gave $1,000; Public Regulation Commissioner Sandy Jones, who gave $500; the campaign of state Rep. Al Park, which gave $500; and Dan Glickman, a former U.S. agriculture secretary and current chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, who gave $500.
McCamley’s fundraising was good enough to earn him some national attention. A poster on the liberal blog Swing State Project wrote that his success at fundraising “could be evidence of an increased sense of optimism among ambitious Democrats” since McCamley is taking on an incumbent Republican in a conservative district.
Congressional Quarterly, in an article also published on the New York Times’ Web site, noted McCamley’s success in “a district that generally has a significant Republican tilt.” The D.C. publication The Hill also noted his fundraising total.
Update, 5:35 p.m.
The McCamley campaign just filed an amended report with the FEC. Essentially, the campaign erroneously identified four contributors in its original report as employees of the Verde Group. Those contributors do not work for the company, McCamley said.
I originally reported in this article that $15,300 was identifiable as coming from people with ties to the company. The change dropped that number to the $9,700 now reported in this article.
“We made a mistake. It was four typos, and we’re fixing it now,” McCamley said.
Update, 6:15 p.m.
The governor’s campaign released this statement:
“Campaign contributions are personal decisions made by the individuals and should not be construed as an endorsement by the governor or the campaign,” spokesman Pahl Shipley said.