Southwest Citizens Coalition says it’s time to stop ‘left-wing’ groups from ‘working to destroy the cause of freedom in the Land of Enchantment’
The debate over the political and policy work of nonprofits is taking a new turn with the formation of a nonprofit that aims to stop progressives from “building a permanent ultra-liberal majority in New Mexico.”
Southwest Citizens Coalition (SCC) Chairman Allen McCulloch urged those who support “free-market values and constitutional freedoms” to unite behind the group in a recent mass e-mail.
“In the state of Colorado, left-wing non-profit organizations — like the progressive groups operating right here in New Mexico — have singlehandedly changed the face of that state’s government from free-market to ultra-liberal in just a few short years,” McCulloch’s e-mail states. “Now, these progressive groups see New Mexico as the next state to fall prey. They’re working to destroy the cause of freedom in the Land of Enchantment.”
“… The time is short. It’s time to fight fire with fire,” the e-mail states.
Democratic and Republican incumbents have lost several seats in the New Mexico Legislature and on local boards in Albuquerque and Las Cruces to progressive challengers in recent years. The attorney general and secretary of state have accused two progressive nonprofits — New Mexico Youth Organized (NMYO), which is a project of the Center for Civic Policy (CCP), and SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) — of engaging in political activity in last year’s legislative races with mailers like this one.
The AG alleges that the mailers were aimed at helping progressive legislative candidates win elections. Because of that, the AG says those nonprofits have to register as political action committees.
The nonprofits say the mailers were designed to educate the public about lawmakers’ votes, not influence the election. They point out that the mailers were sent shortly after last year’s legislative session and two to three months before the June primary.
The nonprofits have sued the AG and secretary of state to try to stop the attempt to force them to register as PACs. The lawsuit is pending.
A different type of nonprofit
There’s a difference between SCC and the progressive groups. It’s a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, while they are classified as 501(c)(3) nonprofits. While the latter cannot support or oppose a candidate for office, groups like SCC can engage in expressly political campaign activity as long as that’s not their primary activity.
McCulloch, a Farmington doctor who has run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate and GOP party chairman in recent years, cited that difference when asked whether he expects the AG to try to force SCC to register as a PAC.
He made clear in an e-mail to me that, while the group will focus on “promoting the discussion of public policy issues and encouraging participation in the governmental process by all segments of society,” there’s definitely a political purpose to the organization.
“In 2008, the New Mexico State Legislature lost six pro-business Republican legislators and three pro-Second Amendment Democrats,” McCulloch wrote in the e-mail to me. “These legislators were defeated by anti-business and anti-gun liberal interest groups. For the sake of protecting our state’s future and our rights as citizens, the Southwest Citizens Coalition will be standing up and fighting for these values.”
McCulloch said the group is non-partisan and will focus on education. Asked if it’s a conservative group, he said, “Our membership is diverse, and I don’t think you can apply a one-word label to it; however, we are committed to educating the public on issues of free markets and constitutional rights — especially when they’re in jeopardy.”
Lynn Southard, spokeswoman for Attorney General Gary King, pointed out the difference between what a 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) can do when asked about SCC, saying the group “is allowed to do some lobbying and political activity per the IRS.”
‘An outlandish distortion of our work’
SCC specifically mentions NMYO and CCP on its Web site in claiming that the efforts of “a network of ultra-liberal, progressive non-profit organizations” led to the defeat “pro-freedom” Republicans and Democrats last year.
Matt Brix, CCP’s policy director, said SCC appears to be forming “based on an outlandish distortion of our work. For example, they say that we are ‘working to destroy the cause of freedom in the Land of Enchantment.’ I’m pretty sure we don’t do that.”
Asked how SCC fits into the battle between the progressive nonprofits and the government agencies, Brix said the “actual battle has been between the secretary of state and the attorney general and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It’s unclear if the Citizens Coalition will also take a position against the First Amendment, or if they’ll go in a different direction.”
McCulloch didn’t opine on the battle between the progressive nonprofits and the government agencies in his e-mail, and his group doesn’t either on its Web site.
By way of disclosure, I also write for the New Mexico Independent, which is owned by the Center for Independent Media in Washington. When the group was starting up its New Mexico news site last year, CCP helped it locate funding sources. CCP has never tried to use that fact to influence anything I have written.