After onslaught of ads, Dems target PAC for shaky claims

New Mexico Democrats are at war with a political action committee tied to Gov. Susana Martinez that is spouting a seemingly endless stream of negative, unfactual ads and mailers. The PAC, Advance New Mexico Now, is using a lot of resources against state Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez of Belen, a longtime Martinez nemesis who […]

After onslaught of ads, Dems target PAC for shaky claims

New Mexico Democrats are at war with a political action committee tied to Gov. Susana Martinez that is spouting a seemingly endless stream of negative, unfactual ads and mailers.

The PAC, Advance New Mexico Now, is using a lot of resources against state Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez of Belen, a longtime Martinez nemesis who has led the Senate to oppose many of her core policies.

Its most recent ad and mailer show the wife of a slain Rio Rancho police officer Gregg “Nigel” Benner officer claiming Sanchez was “cold and dismissive” when she met him and told him to support tough-on-crime laws.

Sanchez, who faces a tough reelection against Republican Gregory Baca, said this meeting actually never happened.

“I have never met the widow of Rio Rancho police officer Benner, not once,” Sanchez said Wednesday in a prepared statement. “To lie to the voters of District 29 is a huge disservice.”

Angie Poss, Sanchez’s campaign manager, said the Senate Majority Leader’s Office corroborated reviewed schedules and notes throughout the past year and found no mention of a meeting with Benner.

NM Political Report left messages with two phone numbers associated with Advance New Mexico Now and will update this post if we hear back from them.

The ad also cites votes Sanchez took against Baby Brianna’s law, Katie’s law and a ban against child pornography. The bills cited are old and tallies of votes posted online do not show the names of legislators making the votes, though their accuracy hasn’t been disputed.

The PAC, which shares a phone number and address with Martinez’s top political advisor Jay McCleskey, is getting scrutinized for using outright falsehoods in several ads and mailers.

As of early October, Advance New Mexico Now has raised more than $1.5 million and spent more than $700,000 this election cycle. More than $200,000 of than money has gone to McCleskey Media Strategies, which McCleskey owns.

Another mailer against Sanchez accused him of traveling to Hawaii with taxpayer dollars without citing evidence. Sanchez said he has never been to Hawaii.

The Santa Fe New Mexican first reported on this mailer and confirmed that Sanchez never received reimbursements for a trip to Hawaii.

Two years ago, Advance New Mexico Now infamously attacked state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard, D-Los Alamos, for casting a vote on a bill that she never made.

State Democrats’ contempt for the PAC—and possible fear of a loss this year for Sanchez—was on display Wednesday afternoon during a press conference held in Albuquerque’s Civic Plaza.

There, First Judicial District Attorney candidate Marco Serna criticized a TV ad from the PAC featuring Nicole Chavez and Veronica Garcia, the mothers of 4-year-old Iliana “Lily” Garcia and 17-year-old Jaydon Chavez-Silver, both of whom died last year in high-profile killings.

In the ad, the two mothers accuse Sanchez of “cradling criminals” and having “no empathy.”

“What really breaks my heart is the two mothers are being exploited by the governor and Jay McCleskey,” Serna said before praising Sanchez for supporting drug treatment programs as a means to prevent crime.

“We’re not weak on crime,” he added. “We want to be smart on crime.”

Sanchez has since responded with his own ads denouncing the PAC and its support from “out-of-state fracking corporations.” He’s also tied the PAC to his opponent.

But since Advance New Mexico Now’s blitz of ads and mailers against Sanchez began last month, Baca has maintained that he isn’t associated with the PAC. Instead, he labeled the PAC as “political opponents that [Sanchez] has accumulated over the last 24 years” of serving in the Senate.

“I have never exchanged an email or phone call with them,” Baca said of Advance New Mexico Now in an interview Wednesday. “I haven’t received money or donations from them.”

But he still said that the ads and mailers “can’t be totally disregarded.”

“We have accusations in those ads from three individual sources of how they’ve been treated in Santa Fe,” Baca said. “I think you have to take it seriously.”

Poss, for her part, called on Baca to denounce the PAC.

“We are simply questioning the validity of statements made in widely circulated radio, television and mail that is paid for by Greg Baca’s friends at Advance NM Now,” she wrote in an email to NM Political Report. “They are attempting to influence an election and voters deserve to know about their documented pattern of deceit.”

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

A New Mexico-based LGBTQ rights organization endorsed 15 candidates for state House and Senate seats for the 2024 elections.  Marshall Martinez, executive director of…
Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…
Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republican-backed legislation in the U.S. Congress would make it harder for the government to designate new national monuments. The proposed Congressional Oversight of the…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News Four years after hospitals in New York City overflowed with covid-19 patients, emergency physician Sonya Stokes remains shaken by…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid announced on Wednesday that it will cover the cost of Opill, the first oral contraception approved for over-the-counter use. It is…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

The Navajo Nation and San Juan County reached an agreement Monday about commission districts after the tribe alleged that its members were not adequately…
MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

New Mexico’s 2022 election was ranked most well-run in the country by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Data and Science Lab’s Elections Performance Index.…
Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report