New Mexico Attorney General Gary King said Wednesday that it was legal for him to accept a $15,000 political contribution from a New York City law firm late last month despite a new state law that appears to prohibit contributions that big.

The 10-month-old campaign-finance law applies only to candidates, not to public officials elected to office, King said Wednesday. Because he was no longer a candidate when the check arrived Sept. 22, King said, it was legal for him to accept the money to help pay off his campaign debt.

The state attorney general's acceptance of the money has come under scrutiny this week because the new law appears to have banned campaign contributions of $5,000 or more per election cycle as of Nov. 3, 2010.

Both King and his spokesman have said the $15,000 from Bernstein Litowitz Berger and Grossmann LLP of New York is being used to pay off debt King incurred during last year's campaign.

Even though his campaign remains active, he is technically not a candidate, King said.

"The easy legal solution is that it applies to candidates in elections 2012 and after," King said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon. "And I am not a candidate. I went back and read the act this afternoon."

King, a Democrat, added that his GOP opponent in last year's attorney general race also could accept contributions of $5,000 or more.

That isn't Republican Matt Chandler's reading of the law.

"The law is very clear that any funds that were raised after Nov. 3 could not exceed $5,000 per election cycle," said Chandler, the district attorney in Clovis, who tried to unseat King last year.

Steven Robert Allen, executive director of New Mexico Common Cause, a good-government organization, allied with King during a multiyear effort to enact limits on what contributors could give to political campaigns in New Mexico. The New Mexico Legislature passed the law in 2009 after years of New Mexico being one of a handful of U.S. states that didn't restrict money going into political campaigns.

"When we worked on this law, the Attorney General's Office worked on this with Common Cause," Allen said. "We wanted this to cover both candidates before an election and public officials after an election. Common Cause's intention was to put the limit on the amount of money that could be given by a private interest to an official decision-maker. That is why we have this law. If that isn't the purpose of the law, then what's the point?"

King will get an opportunity to persuade Secretary of State Dianna Duran of his position in coming days. Duran's office, which administers the state's campaign-finance laws, plans to send a letter Thursday to King and his campaign requesting an explanation of how the $15,000 contribution is legal under the new law.

"Based on his response, then the secretary of state will review and issue a final determination," said Ken Ortiz, Duran's chief of staff.

Like other state agencies, the Secretary of State's Office often looks to the Attorney General's Office for legal advice, although in this case the agency will handle the issue internally, Ortiz said.

"Because this issue directly involves the attorney general, I don't foresee going to them for any guidance," Ortiz said.

King sounded confident Duran would see the issue his way.

"I actually think when the secretary of state lawyers look at this, they'll agree" with his legal analysis, King said.

Duran's general counsel was among those present Wednesday when the decision was made to send King and his campaign a letter seeking an explanation, Ortiz said.

On Wednesday, the New Mexico Republican Party demanded that King return the contribution, noting his past support for the law.

"We would certainly hope that he would not take a convenient position and would do the right thing," said Bryan Watkins, executive director of the state GOP.

King said Wednesday that he had no intention of returning any portion of the contribution.

King said he is friends with an attorney at Bernstein, Litowitz, Berger and Grossmann. In addition, "we have a national Democratic attorney generals' organization that does fundraising," and the organization solicited contributions from those who had given in the past, King said.

According to its website, Bernstein, Litowitz, Berger and Grossmann LLP works on complex litigation including helping institutional investors, states and others recover money lost due to securities fraud. It also advises institutional investors on issues related to corporate governance, shareholder rights and securities litigation, and has prosecuted employment discrimination, civil rights and consumer protection cases, the website said.

The firm does not have any existing contracts with King's office, nor is it bidding on any contracts, King said.

Contact Trip Jennings at 986-3050 or at tjennings@sfnewmexican.com.