New Mexico governors legally can't ask for campaign contributions during a legislative session.

But that didn't stop Gov. Susana Martinez's political-action committee and her regular campaign account from raking in tens of thousands of dollars during the Legislature's recent special session and the days that followed.

Campaign-finance reports filed this week show the first-year Republican governor's re-election campaign took in more than $66,000 between Sept. 6, when the session convened, and Sept. 30.

In that same period, the governor's SusanaPAC — established earlier this year to support legislative candidates backing Martinez's agenda — reported collecting more than $16,000.

However, a spokesman for Martinez's political committees said she "adheres to both the spirit and letter of the law."

A state law passed in an effort to remove suspicion that campaign contributions play a role in legislation makes it unlawful during a "prohibited period" for the governor "or any agent on his behalf to knowingly solicit a contribution for a political purpose."

The "prohibited period" in the case of a special session is "after the proclamation has been issued, and ending on the 20th day following the adjournment of the regular or special session." In this case, that period would be from Sept. 6 to the end of this week.

The key word, however, is solicit. While governors and legislators aren't allowed to ask for money during a session, there's no law against accepting contributions. The dates in the campaign-finance reports reflect when contributions were deposited and processed, not solicited, said Danny Diaz, a spokesman for Martinez's political-action committee.

"Gov. Martinez is deeply appreciative of the strong support she has received from people committed to turning New Mexico around," Diaz said in an email. "In raising resources, the governor's PAC operates transparently by disclosing all donors, limits contributions, and adheres to both the spirit and letter of the law, including only soliciting contributions during appropriate times and not during any prohibited period."

Diaz said that applied to the governor's re-election campaign account as well.

During the prohibited period, Martinez's re-election account received more than 800 contributions. Most were relatively small, averaging about $79. During the same time, SusanaPAC received 39 contributions averaging about $412 each.

Legislators are forbidden to solicit political contributions between the opening and closing days of a session. The prohibited period for governors is longer because a governor has 20 days after a session adjourns to sign or veto bills.

The executive director for New Mexico Common Cause, a political watchdog group, said the contributions for Martinez show that the prohibition against fundraising during a session is "largely meaningless" and illustrates a need for a system of public campaign financing.

"So much money is not good for the health of our democracy," Steve Allen said.

In another development stemming from Martinez's campaign-finance report, a politically liberal group on Wednesday took aim at a trip by the governor to California wine country last month that was paid for with campaign funds.

Diaz told The Associated Press that Martinez, a state security officer and political adviser Jay McCleskey made the trip to Sonoma, Calif., where Martinez gave a speech at a Republican National Committee dinner Sept. 24. — the final day of the legislative session.

Martinez returned to New Mexico the next day, Diaz told the wire service.

The group ProgressNow called the trip a "$4,800 wine country vacation paid for with campaign contributions" and referred to Martinez as "Sonoma Susana."

Diaz said this week's campaign-finance disclosure doesn't reflect final costs because the reporting period ended before reimbursements and credits from last-minute travel changes. He said the national GOP organization would reimburse the Martinez campaign for its expenses.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.