The New Mexico Project ordered to disclose donors, campaign expenditures

Colleen Heild, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·4 min read

Aug. 29—The New Mexico Project is a political committee under state law and must report its campaign contributions and expenditures by Sept. 9, according to a ruling this week by a state district judge.

Any further delay, according to an order by state District Judge Joshua Allison, "would irreparably harm the electorate by allowing TNMP to buy and place advertisements for candidates without requiring TNMP to explain who is paying for them." He gave the group until Wednesday to register as a political committee.

The ruling is a win for the state Ethics Commission, which since May has been seeking to compel TNMP and its founder, Jeff Apodaca, to register with the secretary of state as a political committee and file disclosures as required by the state Campaign Reporting Act. The independent state agency was created in 2020.

"TNMP has not done either of these required actions, and its failure to do so ... frustrates the purpose of the Campaign Reporting Act: to shine light on those who seek to influence our elections," the judge's order states.

"... The people have a right to know who is paying for TNMP's political advertisements before they cast their ballots," Allison's order added.

Allison granted the Ethics Commission request for a preliminary injunction against the committee, which Apodaca told the Journal is about six months old. Its website featured 15 candidates, both Democrats and Republicans, who were running for the state Legislature this year. Eight of them lost the June 4 primary, while the others are on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Apodaca contended his committee wasn't obligated to register and comply with the law because it had an "educational" purpose. After an Aug. 22 hearing on the issue in Albuquerque, he denied that the committee had endorsed the candidates.

The group's website states: "At the New Mexico Project, we are driven by the belief that a vibrant and inclusive democracy is built on the active participation of diverse voices, especially those from the Latino community and Moderate perspectives. Our mission is to ensure that these vital voices are heard and influential at every level of our state governance, from local municipalities to the roundhouse. We stand apart from partisan divides, focusing on elevating those caught between the progressive left and the far right."

Apodaca's lawyer, A. Blair Dunn, told Allison last week that his client would appeal if the ruling didn't go their way. That could further drag out the legal battle that began in state court in June, then was transferred by Dunn to federal court, where Chief U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson found no legal basis to hear the case. Johnson sent the matter back to Allison in state court.

Dunn didn't return a Journal phone call on Thursday, and Apodaca couldn't be reached.

In his ruling, Allison said the Ethics Commission's efforts to enforce the state Campaign Reporting Act before the Nov. 5 general election will be "forever thwarted" if he didn't grant the requested preliminary injunction. The commission's authority to seek compliance before the election "will be meaningless" without the injunction, his order stated.

"Time is of the essence," the judge added.

The Ethics Commission, an independent state agency created in 2020, based its case partly on statements Apodaca made on talk radio, on social media and in radio advertisements.

The advertisements, the judge noted, featured Apodaca saying, "We have the power to shape the future of the our State by voting for pro-health care, -business, -education and -public safety candidates." Allison said it was clear the committee had received more than $5,000 in contributions and has made independent expenditures of more than $5,000 in the 2024 election cycle.

For instance, the New Mexico NAIOP PAC, a registered political committee of the commercial real estate development group, reported contributing $15,000 to the The New Mexico Project in April.

In granting the injunction, the judge also noted that Apodaca has stated that The New Mexico Project had raised nearly $1 million to support its identified candidates.

Apodaca is the son of former New Mexico governor Jerry Apodaca and ran in the Democratic primary for governor in 2018, losing to then-U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

He has had a long career as a media executive for companies that included CBS, America Online and Univision.