People for Aerospace, the group formed earlier this year to promote approval of a 1/4 percent gross receipts tax in
The group provided its final financial figures to me Wednesday afternoon. They will be formally filed with the secretary of state’s office in mid-May, as required by law.
The group had contributions of $10,000 each from Citizen’s Bank, El Paso Electric, First Community Bank,
Click here to view the entire list of contributors.
The group has been criticized by opponents of the tax as being funded by the rich, and the list of donors won’t likely change their minds. Doña Ana County Commissioner Oscar Vasquez Butler has called the campaign “the rich versus the poor.”
But John Hummer, a real-estate executive and one of three co-chairs of the political action committee, said the opponents should ask themselves why they didn’t raise more money.
“It’s easy for the opposition to focus on our successful fundraising efforts, but it’s also fair to ask, as passionate as you were, why were you not able to get organized and raise funds like People for Aerospace was,” he said. “Every respectable organization has political action committees, and it’s fair to raise money.”
The group’s expenses included almost $60,000 for advertising through Wilson Binkley Advertising and Marketing and almost $47,000 to The Victory Group, which is owned by Butch Maki, a close friend of Gov. Bill Richardson.
Maki’s group coordinated door-to-door efforts and campaign strategy.
The PAC spent almost $20,000 paying canvassers to go door-to-door. The group also had dozens of volunteers who knocked on doors and helped with other tasks.
Even with all the money People for Aerospace spent and the volunteers who helped, the tax was approved by only a 1.6-percent margin.
The approximately $1,300 the group has left will be donated to the Las Cruces Public Schools Foundation.