![\"Maggie](\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Oliver-Maggie-Tolouse-336x224.jpg\")
Courtesy photo<\/p>
Maggie Toulouse Oliver<\/p><\/div>\n
But in 2018 those dollars won\u2019t stretch far, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver told state lawmakers Wednesday.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because it\u2019s dramatically underfunded.<\/p>\n
Fifteen candidates have started the process to qualify for public financing for the 2018 election. If all 15 qualify, a candidate running for, say, a statewide judicial position who normally would receive $100,000 would get much less \u2014 around $42,000, Toulouse Oliver said.<\/p>\n
The fund that finances the campaigns \u2013 the Public Election Fund \u2013 is underfunded because the Legislature has taken money from it to pay for operations at the Secretary of State\u2019s office during the past two years.<\/p>\n
The state could face a lawsuit over the chronic underfunding, Toulouse Oliver said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the statutes, it\u2019s not like (they say) if the secretary of state has a shortfall you can move money over there,\u201d she said. \u201cAs we\u2019ve mentioned to staff, the risk we could run if they continue to take from the public election fund to put into our operating budget, and there\u2019s not enough funding for candidates, we could get sued for that. So we are potentially vulnerable to litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n