Adrian Pedroza

Last-minute Santolina PAC donations targeted in ethics complaint

By |

A former Bernalillo County commission candidate is accusing a political action committee that advertised against him of not disclosing the bulk of its funding in time to meet state guidelines. Adrián Pedroza, a community organizer who in June lost a Democratic primary bid for an open county commission seat, filed a campaign ethics complaint against New Mexico for New Mexicans PAC last week. The complaint, filed with the Secretary of State’s Office, alleges that the PAC violated state law by not properly disclosing nearly $35,000 of its funding until one month after the June 7 primary election. That money, the vast majority of which came from Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, encompassed more than half of the PAC’s $64,500 in donations during the election cycle. “It’s really about maintaining the integrity of the election and voters knowing whose contribution went to what and for what reasons,” Pedroza’s campaign manager Neri Holguin said in an interview.

Adrian Pedroza

Santolina developers spent another $36K opposing Pedroza in BernCo race

By |

The developer of the controversial Santolina development in western Bernalillo County poured nearly $36,500 in June in successful efforts to defeat vocal opponent Adrian Pedroza in the District 2 commission race. New Mexicans for New Mexico, a political action committee, raised nearly $64,500 from April through the end of June. More than half of that came in the days leading up to the June 7 primary from Western Albuquerque Land Holdings LLC, the Arizona-based developer of Santolina, according to afinal report filed Thursday. Breaking Bad actor and Albuquerque Public Schools board member Steven Michael Quezadawon the three-way Democratic primary on June 7. New Mexicans for New Mexico bought billboards, hired canvassers, sent mailers and used robocalls to support Quezada and Robert Chavez as well as criticize Adrian Pedroza, who opposes the development.

2016 elections

Latest campaign cash reports in 5 easy charts

By |

New Mexico candidates and political action committees filed reports Monday of contributions and spending from April 5 through May 2. Here’s a quick look at that month’s worth of reporting. This piece originally appeared at New Mexico In Depth. Candidates for secretary of state top the list of fundraisers for the reporting period, with Republican Nora Espinoza leading Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver, followed by several legislative candidates. Here are the top 15 candidates:

Toulouse Oliver leads all candidates in spending for the past month at nearly $31,000.