NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – As election season heats up, so does an ongoing legal battle between the New Mexico State Ethics Commission and a local organization. At the crux of the issue is whether the New Mexico Project is a political committee and should therefore have to register as one and disclose its donors.
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In May, the state ethics commission filed a lawsuit against former gubernatorial candidate Jeff Apodaca and the group he runs called The New Mexico Project. On its website, the group said its goal is to “amplify Latino and moderate voices.” Its site has a list of their priority candidates and a link to donate to the group.
It claims to be a 501(c)(4) nonprofit but the suit claimed it was acting as a political committee. In the suit, the state ethics commission cited the amended Campaign Reporting Act that aims to shed light on “dark money” in state elections which claims groups who pay for political ads or support candidates to be transparent about who funds the ads and advocacy efforts. The suit claims under the Campaign Reporting Act, TNMP has to disclose the sources of its receiving and using to “influence their votes.”…