{"id":11349,"date":"2010-01-14T12:20:38","date_gmt":"2010-01-14T19:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=11349"},"modified":"2010-01-14T15:01:51","modified_gmt":"2010-01-14T22:01:51","slug":"denish-arnold-jones-accepting-cash-during-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/01\/denish-arnold-jones-accepting-cash-during-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Denish, Arnold-Jones accepting cash during session"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)<\/p><\/div>\n

Law that bars legislators, governor from soliciting during and around sessions doesn\u2019t prohibit accepting donations<\/h4>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not currently accepting campaign contributions,\u201d Democratic gubernatorial candidate Diane Denish\u2019s Web site<\/a> states.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s apparently a reference only to the fact that the campaign isn\u2019t accepting contributions through its Web site. The campaign has taken its online donation system down as part of its efforts to voluntarily comply with a state law that prohibits lawmakers and the governor \u2013 but apparently not the lieutenant governor \u2013\u00a0from soliciting campaign contributions during and around the legislative session that begins Tuesday.<\/p>\n

But Denish is still accepting contributions if they\u2019re sent unsolicited, spokesman Chris Cervini said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Diane Denish<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cLt. Gov. Denish and her campaign voluntarily do not solicit campaign contributions during the legislative session,\u201d he said. \u201cThat means that until the bill-signing period is over, there are no fundraising calls, no fundraising events, and the campaign even blocked the ability to accept contributions from its Web site during this period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, if a supporter sends the campaign an unsolicited contribution, it\u2019s not mailed back,\u201d Cervini said. \u201cThe campaign voluntarily holds itself to the same law directed towards the governor and members of the Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

State law prohibits legislators and the governor from soliciting contributions from Jan. 1 \u2013 or in the case of special sessions, when the proclamation of the session has been issued \u2013 until the end of the session for lawmakers and 20 days after the session for the governor. The latter accounts for the time in which the governor has to act on legislation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Janice Arnold-Jones<\/p><\/div>\n

The law doesn\u2019t prohibit the governor and lawmakers from accepting contributions during the periods in which it\u2019s illegal to solicit. In fact, Republican gubernatorial candidate Janice Arnold-Jones<\/a> \u2013 a state representative \u2013 has accepted a number of contributions during the current period in which solicitation is illegal.<\/p>\n

Those contributions are revealed on Arnold-Jones\u2019 Web site<\/a>, which includes a real-time list of campaign contributions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone should happen to be so moved after hearing the representative speak and they choose to open up their checkbook, of course we\u2019ll accept it, but we are not soliciting because the law expressly prohibits it,\u201d Arnold-Jones Campaign Manager Steve Kush said.<\/p>\n

Richardson, Johnson did it too<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s nothing new. A quick check of contributions on the money-in-state-politics Web site FollowTheMoney.org<\/a> reveals that the last two governors \u2013 Democrat Bill Richardson<\/a> and Republican Gary Johnson<\/a> \u2013 accepted campaign contributions during periods in which solicitation was illegal.<\/p>\n

For example, Richardson accepted $25,000 from Sempra Energy of San Diego on Jan. 14, 2004. He also accepted $50,000 from Sonny Otero of Santa Fe on March 3, 2006 \u2013 which was after that session ended but during the bill-signing period.<\/p>\n

Johnson accepted $2,000 from contractor Gerald Martin of Albuquerque on Jan. 19, 1998.<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones, according to her Web site, has accepted 19 contributions since Jan. 1. Most are for small amounts, and together they add up to $2,720.<\/p>\n

Denish isn\u2019t releasing real-time information about contributors, so whether she\u2019s accepted contributions during the current reporting period isn\u2019t known, but a check of FollowTheMoney.org reveals that she has accepted a number of contributions over the years during periods in which it\u2019s illegal for governors and legislators to solicit.<\/p>\n

Some examples:<\/p>\n

\u2022 On the last day of a special session in 2005 \u2013 Oct. 12 \u2013 Denish accepted $10,000 from BGK Property Management of Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

\u2022 On Jan. 20, 2006, while the Legislature was in session, Denish accepted $5,000 from Garrett Thornburg of Santa Fe.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Twelve days after the 2006 session ended \u2013 on Feb. 28 \u2013 Denish accepted $5,000 from Brian Egolf of Santa Fe, who is now a state representative.<\/p>\n

\u2022 While the Legislature was in session in 2007, Denish accepted $25,000 from Public Service Company of New Mexico on Jan. 29.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Eighteen days after the regular session ended in 2009, Denish accepted $5,000 from High Desert Investment Corp. of Rio Rancho on April 10.<\/p>\n

Weh, Turner, Martinez are soliciting money<\/h3>\n

Denish has been loudly touting the fact that she\u2019s complying with the law that applies to the governor and lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the legislature is in session, I believe our focus must be solely on the issues important to\u00a0New Mexico families, not campaign fundraising,\u201d Denish said last month<\/a>. \u201cThat\u2019s why I go beyond what the law requires and have consistently chosen not to solicit contributions during legislative session.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that this is an election year changes nothing \u2013 the people\u2019s business always comes first,\u201d Denish said at the time.<\/p>\n

Aside from Arnold-Jones, the other three Republican gubernatorial candidates \u2013 Allen Weh<\/a>, Doug Turner<\/a> and Susana Martinez<\/a> \u2013 are continuing to solicit campaign contributions during the period in which solicitation is illegal for the governor and lawmakers. Denish has said repeatedly that it\u2019s important to lead by example, and Cervini pointed out that those three Republicans are continuing to solicit contributions while Denish and Arnold-Jones are not.<\/p>\n

Turner has said he\u2019s a candidate, not an elected official, and has no influence over legislation. Therefore, he said, there\u2019s no reason for him to stop soliciting campaign funds during the session. But he pointed out that Denish casts tie-breaking votes in the Senate, so he believes she should not solicit contributions during and around legislative sessions.<\/p>\n

Turner also said he believes the law should be amended so that the prohibited solicitation period applies to other elected officials \u2013 such as mayors and district attorneys \u2013 who lobby the Legislature.<\/p>\n

Arnold-Jones has called for a change in state law so that the prohibition on soliciting funds applies to all gubernatorial and legislative candidates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A state law that bars lawmakers and the governor from soliciting campaign contributions during and around legislative sessions doesn\u2019t prohibit them from accepting unsolicited contributions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[108,107],"class_list":["post-11349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-2010-election","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}