{"id":1232,"date":"2007-02-07T18:02:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-08T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/ag-says-richardsons-presidential-fundraising-is-ok\/"},"modified":"2007-02-07T18:02:00","modified_gmt":"2007-02-08T00:02:00","slug":"ag-says-richardsons-presidential-fundraising-is-ok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/ag-says-richardsons-presidential-fundraising-is-ok\/","title":{"rendered":"AG says Richardson’s presidential fundraising is OK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>New Mexico Attorney General Gary King<\/a> issued a formal opinion today stating that Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s<\/a> fundraising for a White House run during the legislative session does not violate state law. <\/p>\n

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

King made the announcement in a four-page letter issued this afternoon, which you can read by clicking here<\/a>. State law is superseded by federal law in this instance, King\u2019s office found, based on a prior federal court ruling to that effect and the wording of state and federal campaign laws.<\/p>\n

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

King issued the opinion within days of a request from Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson<\/a>, R-Las Cruces, who asked in a Jan. 30 letter<\/a> whether a state law that prohibits the governor and lawmakers from raising money during legislative sessions applies to federal campaigns.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> has been raising money since announcing on Jan. 21 that he is running for president. Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s campaign responded last week to Rawson\u2019s request by saying that the state law doesn\u2019t apply to federal races.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI recognized the importance of this question as soon as it was raised and the reasons why a prompt response was needed,\u201d King said in a news release. \u201cBased on our office\u2019s thorough legal research and analysis, we conclude that the governor\u2019s fundraising activities for the presidency are subject to preemption and regulated entirely by federal law and do not contravene the state ban on fundraising during the prohibited period.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Zachary Shandler, states that the federal Court of Appeals has already ruled on the 1996 case of a Georgia state assemblyman who was considering running for United States representative. The court found that a Georgia<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> law prohibiting fundraising during a state legislative session did not apply to federal races because the Federal Election Campaign Act states that it supersedes state law.<\/p>\n

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

In addition, King\u2019s opinion states, the New Mexico Campaign Reporting Act states that it \u201cdoes not apply to any candidate subject to the provisions of the federal law pertaining to campaign practices and finance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The attorney general\u2019s office found that the same question was raised in the case of former state Sen. Richard Romero when he was a candidate for U.S.<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> representative in 2003. At that time, the secretary of state\u2019s office concluded that Romero could raise funds for his federal race during the legislative session.<\/p>\n

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

King cautioned in his letter that, though Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> can raise money during the election, he and future candidates for federal office can\u2019t make promises of official acts in exchange for money. They\u2019re not exempt from the state\u2019s Governmental Conduct Act.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI also believe it is appropriate to caution all interested persons that federal campaign fundraising must not be linked in any way to state legislative matters or that will run afoul of existing state laws,\u201d King said in the release.<\/p>\n

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

I couldn\u2019t immediately reach Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s campaign or Rawson for comment.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 5:20 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe ruling is clear and speaks for itself,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> campaign spokesman Pahl Shipley said.<\/p>\n

\n

Update, 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

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

Rawson pointed out that, because the opinion states that federal fundraising is still subject to the state\u2019s Governmental Conduct Act, it\u2019s illegal for lobbyists to offer Richardson<\/st1:City> cash in exchange for an official act, and it\u2019s also illegal for Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> to accept cash that comes with such strings attached.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWhat you\u2019re left with is ethics,\u201d he said. \u201cThe question of if it\u2019s legal or illegal is going to depend on what the motives are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Rawson said that\u2019s hard to determine, and it\u2019s \u201cessential to be above reproach.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cAlmost all political contributions are given with the intent to \u2013 you know, they\u2019re not pure,\u201d Rawson said.<\/p>\n

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

He thanked King for the timely response to his request.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cI appreciate that the attorney general was very prompt and thorough,\u201d Rawson said. \u201cI think they did a very credible job, and I respect their decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King issued a formal opinion today stating that Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s fundraising for a White House run during the legislative session does not violate state law. King made the announcement in a four-page letter issued this afternoon, which you can read by clicking here. State law is superseded by federal […]<\/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-1232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1232","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=1232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}