State Ethics Commission files lawsuit against The New Mexico Project to enforce the Campaign Reporting Act

Albuquerque, NM, May 24, 2024 – The State Ethics Commission filed a lawsuit against The New Mexico Project (“TNMP”) and Jeff Apodaca to enforce the disclosure provisions of the Campaign Reporting Act (“CRA”). TNMP, a domestic nonprofit cooperation, or Apodaca spent thousands of dollars on creating and hosting a website and purchased radio and social media advertisements to influence the outcome of elections for at least 15 legislative districts in the New Mexico House of Representatives and Senate.

The CRA requires those who have made aggregate independent expenditures in excess of $1,000 dollars in a non-statewide election to disclose to whom those expenditures were made and the source of the contributions that funded the expenditures. TNMP has made more than $1,000 dollars in independent expenditures in support of specific “pro-moderate” and “pro-business” candidates but has failed to register as a political committee or make any disclosures related to those independent expenditures. Accordingly, the Commission filed suit to enforce the CRA’s disclosure requirements.

In 2019, the Legislature amended the CRA to shine light on “dark money” in New Mexico’s elections, requiring groups that pay for advertisements or advocacy in support of candidates to be minimally transparent about who funded those efforts. The CRA allows New Mexicans to know who funds efforts to influence their votes. The State Ethics Commission has authority to enforce the CRA and has pursued civil enforcement actions to bring greater transparency to New Mexicans regarding who is funding and coordinating election advertisements.

Click here to read the State Ethics Commission’s complaint.

About the State Ethics Commission

The State Ethics Commission is an independent, constitutional state agency with the authority to enforce civil violations of New Mexico’s governmental ethics and disclosure statutes, including the Procurement Code. The Commission is comprised of three Democratic Commissioners, three Republican Commissioners, and one independent Commissioner who is registered as “decline to state.” For more information about the State Ethics Commission, please visit sec.nm.gov.

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For more information about the State Ethics Commission, please visit sec.nm.gov.