{"id":1181,"date":"2007-01-31T12:33:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-31T18:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/sen-rawson-questions-legality-of-governor-raising-presidential-cash-during-legislative-session\/"},"modified":"2007-01-31T12:33:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-31T18:33:00","slug":"sen-rawson-questions-legality-of-governor-raising-presidential-cash-during-legislative-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/sen-rawson-questions-legality-of-governor-raising-presidential-cash-during-legislative-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Rawson questions legality of governor raising presidential cash during legislative session"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>State Sen. Leonard \u201cLee\u201d Rawson<\/a>, R-Las Cruces, has asked the attorney general for an opinion on whether Gov. Bill Richardson can legally raise funds for a presidential campaign while the Legislature is in session. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In a letter sent Tuesday to Attorney General Gary King, Rawson asked whether a law that prohibits the governor from soliciting contributions for a \u201cpolitical purpose\u201d from Jan. 1 until 20 days after the end of the session applies to Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s federal campaign. You can read Rawson\u2019s letter by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The same law prohibits lawmakers from soliciting funds from Jan. 1 to the end of the session and prohibits lobbyists from contributing to such campaigns during those time periods. The intent, Rawson said, is to prevent political contributions from having an effect on decisions made by lawmakers and the governor.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> has been openly soliciting campaign contributions for his presidential exploratory committee since announcing on Jan. 21 that he\u2019s running for president. Having to delay fundraising until April while better-funded candidates raise millions of dollars would be a huge blow to Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

At issue is a 2003 amendment to state law that defines \u201cpolitical purpose\u201d as \u201cinfluencing or attempting to influence an election\u201d and defines election as \u201cany primary, general or statewide special election in New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> convinced the Legislature in 2003 to move the state from a presidential primary system to a nominating caucus. The difference is that a primary election is paid for by taxpayers, while a caucus is a private meeting paid for by the party. It technically isn\u2019t categorized as an election.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rawson asks in the letter whether New Mexico<\/st1:state>\u2019s shift to the caucus system may \u201cunintentionally open a loophole\u201d in state law that allows Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> to raise money for a federal campaign during the session.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> campaign spokesman Pahl Shipley said Rawson\u2019s question is irrelevant because state law only applies to state elections.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that the prohibition applies only to state elections and does not apply to candidates seeking federal office,\u201d Shipley said. \u201cThis is an obvious and not unexpected political attack from Senator Rawson. Is it ethical for him to use his official state office and state resources to sling political mud?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rawson said Shipley\u2019s argument is \u201cpretty weak,\u201d pointing out that the state has some jurisdiction over the regulation of federal elections in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, including, through running elections, setting polling locations and hours.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rawson said there\u2019s a deeper question that should be asked. It wouldn\u2019t be a big deal if Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> were only soliciting contributions from individuals, he said, but fundraising also involves taking contributions from people tied to corporate interests.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cLegal or illegal, is it ethical? Rawson asked. \u201cWhen you have Legislation dealing with industry coming up, I really wonder. \u2026 You know it has an effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not unusual for the attorney general\u2019s office to take months to respond to a request for a legal opinion. This will be the first test of King\u2019s ability to be independent of the governor, a fellow Democrat.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rawson, who served in the Legislature with King for many years, said he has no doubt about that.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI think Gary<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> will be independent of the governor,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a high degree of respect for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A prior version of this posting did not clearly communicate Rawson\u2019s concerns about donations from people tied to corporate interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Sen. Leonard \u201cLee\u201d Rawson, R-Las Cruces, has asked the attorney general for an opinion on whether Gov. Bill Richardson can legally raise funds for a presidential campaign while the Legislature is in session. In a letter sent Tuesday to Attorney General Gary King, Rawson asked whether a law that prohibits the governor from soliciting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181","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=1181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}