Susana Martinez
Republican gubernatorial candidate Susana Martinez raised almost $143,000 in monetary contributions during the fourth quarter of 2009, her campaign announced today.
That’s slightly better than the $141,000 Martinez raised from July to September.
Martinez raised $142,697.68 in monetary contributions and had another $19,348.97 in in-kind contributions from October to December, according to a campaign finance report she voluntarily released today. She spent $45,196.46 during the period and ended it with $228,159.06 on hand.
Martinez released the report in four parts – a summary sheet and lists of monetary contributions, in-kind contributions and expenditures.
To date, Martinez has raised almost $284,000 in monetary contributions for her campaign. She said in a news release that 85 percent of her contributions have been for $100 or less.
“I’m humbled by the support my campaign is receiving from across the state as people respond to a fresh message of reform and accountability,” Martinez said. “The campaign is on track and I am confident we will have the resources we need to win the Republican primary in June and ultimately take back the Roundhouse so we can put the needs of New Mexicans first.”
Martinez was criticized when her first report came out in October because most of her contributors were from Las Cruces and the 2nd Congressional District. The campaign was quick to point out today that, in the fourth quarter, she had 483 contributions, compared to 265 in the third quarter. To date, 65 percent of her contributions come from outside Las Cruces, with 22 percent of them coming from Albuquerque.
Denish, Arnold-Jones also voluntarily released info
Martinez and other state candidates aren’t required to file campaign finance reports this week, but Democratic gubernatorial candidate Diane Denish has been voluntarily releasing such reports quarterly for some time, and Martinez announced this week that she would do the same for the fourth quarter of 2009.
The law requires their release twice in off-election years. This year reports must be filed more frequently, but the first isn’t required until April 12.
Denish released her fourth-quarter report on Thursday. It showed that she had raised just under $750,000 and had more than $2.5 million on hand.
Republican candidate Janice Arnold-Jones is going beyond what Denish and Martinez are doing in terms of campaign contributions. She recently posted on her campaign Web site information about every contribution she’s received to date, and she is keeping the list of contributions current.
Arnold-Jones has not put a list of campaign expenditures online, or information about how much cash she has on hand, so Denish and Martinez have gone beyond what Arnold-Jones is doing in that regard.
Arnold-Jones’ Web site reveals that she raised approximately $30,000 during the fourth quarter of 2009. She’s raised about $50,000 in monetary contributions.
What about Turner, Weh?
The other gubernatorial candidates – Republicans Doug Turner and Allen Weh – have not answered my question about whether they will release a fundraising report this month. All we know about them is what was revealed on the finance reports they filed in October.
As of the end of September, Weh had raised about $245,000 in monetary contributions and added his own $250,000 personal loan to his campaign’s funds. Turner had raised almost $12,000 in monetary contributions and added his own $243,500 personal loan to his campaign’s funds.