April 11, 2016

Toulouse Oliver leads in cash in SoS race; leg leaders raise big cash

In the rare presidential-year Secretary of State’s race, the Democratic candidate raised more money and has more cash on hand at the end of the most recent filing period.

Maggie Toulouse Oliver, the county clerk from Bernalillo, raised $189,931.20 in the time period from Oct. 6, 2015 to April 4, 2016. The Republican candidate, state Rep. Nora Espinoza, raised $72,431 in that same time period.

Toulouse Oliver spent much more money, $84,769.31. She started the period with $1,520.72 cash on hand, leaving her with over $105,000.

Espinoza spent just $2,741.11. She has $78,537.68 cash on hand left.

Toulouse Oliver spent over $65,000 on “political consulting.” Espinoza’s largest expense was $1,213.08 to replace a damaged computer.

Neither candidate has an opponent in their party primaries this June.

Legislative races

Legislative candidates also faced the filing deadline on Monday. Below is a list of notable candidates, including those in most key races either this June or November.

The first thing that jumps out is House Majority Leader Nate Gentry. The Republican from Albuquerque raised $132,560, adding to his already-six-figure total. After expenses, Gentry finishes with $317,336.71.

Gentry’s Democratic counterpart, Minority Leader Brian Egolf, raised $61,169.48. He stated wtih $19,745.55 and finished with $36,436.20.

On the Senate side, Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez raised $53,062.50. He spent $31,100.33 after starting with $52,319.45, leaving the Democrat from Belen with $74,281.62 cash on hand.

House Minority Leader Stuart Ingle raised $50,300. The Portales Republican started with $56,193.58 and spent $19,168.48. This left him with $87,325.10 cash on hand.

These totals don’t account PACs tied to the two leaders or the political parties.

Below includes the basic details from campaign finance reports for most import legislative races in both the House or Senate. The races could have interesting primaries or be interesting in the general election—or they could just include leadership.

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