{"id":31805,"date":"2011-09-11T22:08:05","date_gmt":"2011-09-12T04:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=31805"},"modified":"2011-10-08T21:44:10","modified_gmt":"2011-10-09T03:44:10","slug":"huerta-supporting-pac-won%e2%80%99t-have-huerta%e2%80%99s-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/09\/huerta-supporting-pac-won%e2%80%99t-have-huerta%e2%80%99s-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Huerta-supporting PAC won\u2019t have Huerta\u2019s support"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Michael Ray Huerta<\/p><\/div>\n

Las Cruces mayoral candidate Michael Ray Huerta<\/a> initially said he was honored to have the support of a Rhode Island political action committee formed by a corporation, but he now says he \u201cstrongly\u201d disagrees with such PACs getting involved in any election.<\/p>\n

Huerta is also criticizing two other candidates in the Nov. 8 mayoral election \u2013 incumbent Ken Miyagishima<\/a> and District 2 Councilor Dolores Connor<\/a> \u2013 for failing to do anything as city policymakers to stop corporations from being able to give unlimited amounts to political campaigns.<\/p>\n

As NMPolitics.net reported last week<\/a>, the Total Newport Campaign PAC plans to aid Huerta by taking advantage of the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2010 Citizens United ruling<\/a> allowing unlimited corporate spending to affect elections as long as there\u2019s no coordination between the corporation or its PAC and the candidate it\u2019s supporting.<\/p>\n

Huerta said he \u201cstrongly\u201d disagreed with the Citizens United ruling in an Aug. 25 commentary<\/a> for NMPolitics.net, before the PAC announced its involvement in the Las Cruces race. When questioned Wednesday about the PAC, Huerta said he was honored by the support of all his backers, including the PAC, and said the campaign should be about Las Cruces\u2019 future, not the PAC or Citizens United.<\/p>\n

At the time, Miyagishima pointed to Huerta\u2019s commentary and said the PAC\u2019s involvement in the race would test whether Huerta would stand by his convictions.<\/p>\n

Friday, Huerta sent NMPolitics.net an additional statement \u2013 and posted it online<\/a> \u2013 denouncing any corporate-funded PAC that gets involved in an election.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I stated before,\u00a0I strongly disagree with the Citizens United decision, I strongly disagree with the ability for corporations to contribute without limit, and I strongly disagree with these type of PACs getting involved in any race anywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Huerta once again challenges opponents<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Huerta also pointed to the fact that Las Cruces doesn\u2019t limit campaign contribution sizes or outlaw direct contributions from corporations to candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn short, we\u2019ve always operated under our own version of Citizens United,\u201d Huerta said. \u201cAnd my opponents have done nothing\u00a0in their entire political careers to have that changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local governments can pass laws outlawing direct contributions from corporations. The Citizens United ruling rejected laws that banned corporate-funded independent expenditures that don\u2019t coordinate with candidates, but didn\u2019t reject laws that ban direct contributions.<\/p>\n

Huerta also pointed out on Friday that, in his recent commentary, he challenged his opponents to limit contributions to $2,300 apiece and reject corporate money.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo this day, they have stayed silent, choosing to defend the status quo rather than take clear action toward making this the most fair and clean election in our city\u2019s history,\u201d Huerta said. \u201cAnd now, when my campaign is faced with the opportunity to benefit from tens of thousands of corporate dollars, I stand by my values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still silent on disclosure issue<\/h3>\n

The PAC\u2019s founder, Bobby Oliveira, says he doesn\u2019t intend to file finance reports disclosing funding sources and spending in Rhode Island or New Mexico. He said he expects that to lead to legal battles in both states but believes the secrecy will withstand legal scrutiny because of Citizens United and weak finance laws in New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Las Cruces\u2019 clerk says the city elections ordinance requires the PAC to file finance reports, and Common Cause New Mexico\u2019s director says nothing in Citizens United would exempt the PAC from that law.<\/p>\n

Despite his challenge to make this a \u201cclean\u201d election, Huerta has, to date, refused to comment on the PAC\u2019s intention to keep its financing and spending secret, saying he\u2019s not commenting because it\u2019s against the law for PACs and candidates to coordinate.<\/p>\n

Huerta\u2019s full statement<\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s the full statement Huerta released Friday:<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday I learned that a group of Las Crucens came together, contacted a Political Action Committee out of\u00a0Rhode Island, and urged them to get involved in this mayoral race on my behalf. That PAC, the\u00a0\u2018Total Newport Campaign PAC,\u2019 agreed to get involved and announced that they will be sending staff, money and resources into this race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is against federal law for campaigns to coordinate with a PAC in any capacity, nor do campaigns have any legal say or influence in the decision of a PAC to enter or leave a race. In short, because of federal law, my campaign has no say in the implementation, planning or strategy of this, or any other PAC. What makes this situation unique, however, is that this PAC is operating under new rules established in Citizens United. Under Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that corporations have the right to donate unlimited funds to outside groups to campaign for or against candidates. In this case, the \u2018Total Newport Campaign PAC\u2019 will be receiving limitless corporate money to achieve their goals in this race.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I stated before,\u00a0I strongly disagree with the Citizens United decision, I strongly disagree with the ability for corporations to contribute without limit, and I strongly disagree with these type of PACs getting involved in any race anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what\u2019s more concerning is that even if Citizens United never became law, and even if the Supreme Court reversed its decision today,\u00a0Las Cruces\u00a0election law has\u00a0and still does\u00a0allow for corporations\u00a0anywhere\u00a0to donate an\u00a0unlimited\u00a0amount of money to any city candidate. In short, we\u2019ve always operated under our own version of Citizens United. And my opponents have done nothing\u00a0in their entire political careers to have that changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why weeks ago, I asked my opponents to join me in rejecting any corporate money in this race. To this day, they have stayed silent, choosing to defend the status quo rather than take clear action toward making this the most fair and clean election in our city\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now, when my campaign is faced with the opportunity to benefit from tens of thousands of corporate dollars, I stand by my values.<\/p>\n

\u201cKen and Dolores, it\u2019s real now. I\u2019m putting my money where my mouth is. Will you join me, or will you again stay silent?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Update, Sept. 12, 9:20 a.m.<\/h3>\n

The Total Newport Campaign PAC posted a comment<\/a> below in response to Huerta. I wanted to highlight part of it here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe Mr. Huerta\u2019s campaign strategy is flawed, while he will make the best mayor, he cannot get there from here,\u201d the PAC said. \u201cWe believe that he cannot win without us. Therefore, we will drag him kicking and screaming to victory.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATED: Las Cruces mayoral candidate Michael Ray Huerta initially said he was honored to have the support of a political action committee formed by a corporation, but he now says he \u201cstrongly\u201d disagrees with such PACs getting involved in any election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[109,145,214,111,116],"class_list":["post-31805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-ethics-reform","tag-las-cruces","tag-las-cruces-election","tag-open-government","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31805","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=31805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}