Gov. Susana Martinez has more than twice the campaign contributions of her rival, Democratic Candidate Gary King ahead of tomorrow’s election.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 14, Martinez has more than $4,961,307 in contributions, and King had more than $1,774,420 in contributions, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website.
One example of the financial disparity between the candidates is that King had not had any television ads for about two months before appearing back on TV on Oct. 12.
Martinez has been running advertisements consistently.
According to followthemoney.org, most of the money flowing into these campaigns is local money from New Mexico.
“This race is not seen as competitive by the national players so you’re not seeing as much outside money as you might in the states where there are competitive races,” said Sandra Fish, a reporter and analyst for New Mexico In Depth.
“The Republican Governor’s Association, which is one of the two big players in governor’s races, they spent money back in June and July and donated to the Susana Martinez campaign, but you just don’t see anyone else coming in and doing anything in terms of outside money and I think that the Democratic Governor’s Association doesn’t appear to be doing anything for Gary King,” Fish said.
When voting for Martinez or King, voters automatically vote for the lieutenant governor candidates because they are on the same ticket.
Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor Deb Haaland has contributions of $101,551. The Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez has contributions of $115,819.
The biggest contributor to Martinez’s campaign was from the Republican Governors Association, which donated $1,311,964, according to followthemoney.org.
King loaned himself money and was his own biggest contributor donating a total of $490,406.
The most money contributed by sector for Martinez was $3,607,805 in uncoded distributions. Sectors are categories that contributors are put into.
“There are 425 codes and then those codes are broken into industries and sectors. For example, the healthcare industry is part of the health sector,” Eve Byron, from followthemoney.org said.
According to Byron, uncoded contributors means they have not gotten to that record or have not received enough information to give it an economic code.
Energy and natural resources donated the second most as a sector with $1,726,663.
“If you look at oil and gas interests, those interests traditionally, in most places, are going to side with the Republican party candidate,” Fish said.
The most money contributed by sector for King is $498,806 by candidate contributors. After uncoded donations, government agencies and education donated a total of $49,200.
Fish said King put a lot off effort and money into winning the Democratic primary. The primary was a bitter race and King has had trouble raising money ever since, Fish said.
Followthemoney.org keeps track of who donates money and how much. Individuals can either donate money to a specific group so their name doesn’t show up on the website, or one can donate as an individual and their name will be made public.
People and companies sometimes donate as little as one dollar to the campaigns.
Not only is Martinez outpacing King in the race for contributions, she’s leading him in the race for votes. According to polls online if the election was held today, she would win.
According to the Albuquerque Journal polls from Oct. 26, Martinez holds 53 percent of likely New Mexico voters and King holds 38 percent.
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