Gov. Bill Richardson raised almost $17,000 last month to help chip away at his presidential campaign debt.

The largest share of the contributions came from attorneys with a Midwestern law firm. Fifteen attorneys collectively gave $10,000. The firm, Gilmore & Bell, is one of the nation's leading public finance law practices and represents state and local governments in bond transactions, according to its Web site.

The firm has offices in Kansas City, Mo.; St. Louis; Lincoln, Neb.; and Wichita, Kan. In October, Richardson's campaign received $10,000 from attorneys in the law firm, including those who made contributions in November.

Richardson has been appointed commerce secretary by President-elect Barack Obama but plans to remain as governor until the U.S. Senate confirms his nomination, which he says might not happen until February. The governor dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination last January and later endorsed Obama.

Richardson's campaign reported a cash balance of $25,462 at the end of November, according to the latest report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Richardson received $16,869 in contributions last month and the campaign spent about $24,060, including repaying some campaign debt.

The campaign listed debts of $135,670 at the end of November, which was down almost 10 percent from October. The largest amount, $118,850, is owed to Lea King LLC, which was organized by two of Richardson's political supporters, businessman Johnny Cope and U.S. Rep.-elect Harry Teague, both of Hobbs. The campaign made debt repayments of $20,000 to Lea King in November.

The rest of the campaign's debt is owed to fundraising consultants and to the Branch law firm in Albuquerque for the use of its aircraft.

Richardson has said he hoped to retire his campaign debt by the end of the year. To help accomplish that, the governor held a fundraiser earlier this month in the Washington, D.C.

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On the Net:

Federal Election Commission: www.fec.gov

Richardson presidential campaign: http://richardsonforpresident.com




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