By Marjorie Childress and Trip Jennings, NM In Depth
A dark money group that ran political advertising in the weeks before the June primary election and has fought divulging the source of its money and the details of its spending for months will disclose both by next week.
News of the settlement with The New Mexico Project came Monday afternoon in a press release from the State Ethics Commission after a mid-morning court hearing in Albuquerque. The agreement requires the nonprofit to register as a political action committee (PAC) by the end of Monday and to disclose its donors and details of how it spent money by Oct. 2, a week from this Wednesday.
“In good faith, we have agreed to register our organization with the state of New Mexico,” the group’s president, Jeff Apodaca, confirmed in a statement provided to New Mexico In Depth by his attorney, A. Blair Dunn.
The New Mexico Project incorporated as a nonprofit with the state just over a year ago, in mid September 2023. It made a splash earlier this year when Apodaca announced on several radio shows the group hoped to raise upwards of $1 million to support its preferred primary candidates.
The overtly political advertising the group conducted, including a website, radio and Facebook ads and mailers sent to people’s homes, raised eyebrows because the group did not report its donors or spending to the Secretary of State. Such disclosure is required under state transparency laws related to political advertising.
The commission filed a civil suit in May to compel the group to register as a political action committee and disclose its financial records. District Judge Joshua Allison agreed with the commission, and in August ordered the group to comply, setting a deadline for disclosure of its donors and spending by September 9.
When the group failed to meet the deadline set by Allison, the commission asked the court on September 10 to require the group to explain why it shouldn’t be held in contempt or otherwise sanctioned for not complying with the court order.
Court records indicate a hearing before Allison was held Monday at 10am, where a settlement was reached. The commission issued a press release stating the terms of the agreement, which included the organization registering as a PAC, disclosing its donors and spending, and paying a $1,000 fine for violating the state’s Campaign Reporting Act plus $3,000 in attorney fees to the State Ethics Commission.
“The Commission’s commitment to disclosure and to the rule of law is independent of and irrespective of the content and viewpoint of political speech,” Jeremy Farris, Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission, said in the press release. “This settlement with The New Mexico Project and Mr. Apodaca reinforces the importance of transparency in New Mexico’s political process.”
For months in their court filings and on radio shows, Apodaca and Dunn questioned whether the state ethics commission had violated the group’s due process. On Monday, the group sounded more conciliatory.
In a press release provided to New Mexico In Depth by Dunn, the group said, “The New Mexico Project, an important voice for moderate Latino voters in New Mexico politics this election cycle, was able to reach an agreement with the State Ethics Commission that allowed for transparency in elections while pushing for reforms in the State Ethics Commission regarding the process by which they address concerns for violations of law and constitutional protections for private citizens.”
