New Mexico isn't alone when it comes to phantom congressional districts where a government Web site says federal stimulus money has been spent.

Several other states that posted spending information online also showed more congressional districts than they actually have, including Tennessee, Ohio and Louisiana.

New Mexico, which has three congressional districts, until Wednesday was listed as having 13 districts on the www.recovery.gov site. The site now reports spending in the state's three districts and in "unassigned districts."

Officials from the federal Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board said Wednesday that they were working to correct the bad information.

"In cases where incorrect data results in a significant risk that the public will be misled or confused, the board, as it has previously done, may opt to step in and correct or omit data in lieu of the established (Office of Management and Budget) guidance that only recipients can enter or change data," board chairman Earl E. Devaney said in a statement.

Those responsible for inputting the data will need to list the correct congressional district for the next reporting period, which starts in January.

The news of "new" congressional districts in the state meant one New Mexican found a place to launch his campaign.

Republican Peter Shams-Avari jokingly said in an e-mail he would seek the nomination for the "13th district."

"As we move forward toward a new decade, we must always remember the past and learn from those mistakes. Today we repeat those same 'throw some money at the problem' mistakes we committed during the 1970s — this mentality crippled our economy then as it will today. Close to home, new figures released today show $3.5 million dollars in so-called economic stimulus money has created a mere five jobs. We could have done better with or without the stimulus money in the congressional district."

Other Republicans were quick to blast the Obama administration for the errors.

"Not only has the 'stimulus' not produced jobs the administration promised, but now we learn that the administration's reports intended to track the effectiveness of government spending are riddled with errors and gross inaccuracies. How many more mistakes have been made?" House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"How are Ohioans supposed to take the Administration seriously on the economy when its own Web site credits jobs saved or created in districts that don't even exist?"

Districts listed for New Mexico included the state's "22nd" and "25th" districts.

The New Mexico information posted online about spending here said nearly $9 million was used in the state's "35th Congressional district" while nearly $8 million was spent in the "40th Congressional district." That money supposedly created or saved 15.8 jobs in the 35th district but zero jobs in the 40th, according to the posting. Just 2.7 jobs were created in the state's "00 Congressional district," where $731,370 was listed as being spent.

Recovery officials have said the mistakes were honest errors and the spending can be accounted for.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.