Group hits Sen. Rawson with mailers, radio ad

Posted 7/25/2008 12:27:00 PM

A flier hitting mailboxes this week in the district of Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces, accuses him of engaging in “monkey business” instead of taking reform seriously.

A radio ad that will run in the Las Cruces area in the coming days makes the same claim.

While debating a bill during the 2007 legislative session that would have made New Mexico the 46th state to enact campaign contribution limits, Rawson, who opposed the bill, proposed an amendment that would have made the proposal take effect in 3007 instead of 2007. The amendment briefly passed, then was removed, before the Senate approved the bill, but a dispute between the House and Senate led to the bill’s demise.

“Senator Rawson acted to block campaign reform for 1,000 years. … Monkey business was substituted for serious legislation,” the mailer from New Mexico Youth Organized states. “… It’s no joke. … Now, with a special legislative session on health care reform coming up, it’s time to get serious.”

The mailer is part of a “Legislative Accountability Campaign” from several Albuquerque-based progressive groups. It comes at a time when progressives have set their sites on defeating the Senate minority whip in November and electing Democrat Steve Fischmann. The left wing of the Democratic Party has had significant success in recent elections in Las Cruces and Albuquerque in defeating longtime incumbents from both major parties.

But Juan Reynosa, who heads the non-profit New Mexico Youth Organized, said the accountability campaign has nothing to do with the election. It’s about the upcoming Aug. 15 session on health-care reform and other issues, he said.

Rawson disagreed. He pointed out that the attorney general’s office said earlier this year that New Mexico Youth Organized’s mailers targeting other legislators weeks before the June primary crossed the line into campaign activity. The AG advised the secretary of state to change the status of New Mexico Youth Organized to force it to comply with standards for political groups instead of those for nonprofits. The group is disputing the AG’s position. A spokesman for the secretary of state’s office said its decision will be announced next week.

The mailer doesn’t refer to the election and instead urges Rawson’s constituents to call him and tell him, as the special session approaches, that “he works for you, not special interests.” Regardless, Rawson’s constituents will receive at least two mailers between now and Aug. 15 attacking him in an election year in which he’s facing a credible challenge. The group’s radio ad will air in the coming days with a similar theme: Its narrator highlights Rawson’s 3007 amendment before stating that “we can’t wait 1,000 years for health-care and ethics reform.”

Other lawmakers also targeted

As evidence that the group’s motives are pure, Reynosa said it is also targeting state Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Española, with mailers beginning this week. Rodella is unopposed in November, but she is a powerful committee chair whose record needs highlighted for purposes of impacting the special session, he said.

Other lawmakers currently being targeted by groups who are part of the accountability campaign are Sens. Diane Snyder, R-Albuquerque, and David Ulibarri, D-Grants, whose constituents are also receiving mailers this week. Like Rawson, Snyder is facing a tough election challenge from a progressive Democrat. Ulibarri is also opposed in November.

The Synder mailer comes from SouthWest Organizing Project, while the Ulibarri mailer comes from the SAGE Council.

The contribution-limits bill

Rawson said there were numerous problems with the contribution-limits bill including the fact that, according to an AG analysis, one provision in it violated an individual’s right against self-incrimination.

And he said it would be easy to skirt limits by giving to political committees or parties and in other ways. Rawson said he, under the $2,300 limit the bill proposed, could have given $105,800 to a candidate by funneling money through his wife, sons and daughters-in-law, granddaughter and 14 companies.

“Quite simply, this is a bad bill,” Rawson said. “It is bad for New Mexico and is only a piece of ‘feel-good’ legislation that won’t accomplish reform. We must invest our efforts in effective and sincere legislation and not deceive the people to whom we have pledged ourselves to serve.”

A hypocritical group?

Rawson also fired back at New Mexico Youth Organized. He said the mailer “deceitfully” implies that he worked to delay health-care reform for 1,000 years.

The front of the mailer doesn’t mention campaign-finance reform but states that the Legislature will address health-care reform this year and Rawson “wanted to block reform for 1,000 years.” The situation with the contribution-limits bill is discussed on the back of the mailer.

Rawson said that, though the attorney general has said the group must comply with campaign reporting laws “as their actions are clearly to influence an election… they have refused and are defiant.”

“They refuse to reveal from where they obtain their money in accordance with our existing state laws, yet they want campaign-finance reform,” Rawson said. “Perhaps they are more than hypocritical. New Mexico Youth Organized is certainly the very type of group they complain about that buys influence.”

Since the AG originally advised the secretary of state to change his group’s status earlier this year, Reynosa said the group has sent two letters to the AG but received no response. The AG and secretary of state are currently working together to finalize a decision, officials from both agencies said.

James Flores, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said a letter has been prepared to send to New Mexico Youth Organized announcing its decision. He would not reveal details, but said the letter will be sent next week after the AG approves it. He said he will discuss it at that point.

Though non-profits aren’t required to reveal the identities of donors, Reynosa agreed to release some information. He said two of the group’s main funders are the TIDES and New World foundations. According to its Web site, the TIDES Foundation supports “progressive social change.” The New World Foundation also uses the word “progressive” on its Web site and states that it supports “organizations working to strengthen and expand civil rights and the active participation of citizens in American democracy.”

New Mexico Youth Organized is part of the Center for Civic Policy, an Albuquerque-based progressive group that, according to its Web site, works to “increase voter turnout; educate the public on issues like ethics reform, heath care, the economy and the environment; and train new leaders for civic life.”

A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that the 2007 contribution-limits bill would have limited contributions from businesses but not unions. The versions of the bill approved by the House and Senate both would have limited contributions from individuals, political committees, parties, businesses and unions.