The state Republican Party raised more money than the Democratic Party during the past year as New Mexico prepared for a busy election season.

Oil and natural gas companies were the top contributor to the GOP while elected officials, developers and an out-of-state philanthropist were among the big donors to Democrats.
The GOP collected $692,390 in its state campaign account from May 2007 until early this month while the Democratic Party received $245,556, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed by the parties with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Republicans reported a cash balance of $155,319 as of last week and the Democratic Party had $3,085 in its state political account.

All 112 seats in the Legislature are up for election this year, and New Mexico is a battleground for federal offices — the presidential race as well as U.S. House and Senate campaigns that are important nationally because they will help determine whether Democrats strengthen their control of Congress.

Oil and gas companies gave $266,500 to the GOP, including $90,000 from Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Corp., $55,000 from Yates Petroleum Corp. in Artesia; $50,000 from Marbob Energy of Artesia and $50,000 from Mack Energy Corp. of Artesia.

Other top donors to the GOP were SCM Property Co., a commercial developer in Albuquerque, $25,000; Ben Spencer, an Albuquerque developer and investor, $25,000; Select Milk Producers, an Artesia-based milk marketing cooperative, $20,000; and $15,000 from Peabody Investments Inc. of St. Louis, which is part of the coal mining company, Peabody Energy Corp. CSI Aviation Services Inc., a company owned by GOP state chairman Allen Weh, contributed $30,500.

The GOP received in-kind contributions valued at about $53,000 from DePonte Investments Inc., a commercial real estate company in Albuquerque, for charter air travel, and $32,550 from Rose Marketing Group in Albuquerque for designing and building the party’s Web site.

Among the top contributors to the Democratic Party were: Alice Roe, a Tucson philanthropist, $25,000; Sallie Bingham, a Santa Fe writer who is part of the family that once owned the Louisville Courier-Journal, $25,000; U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s re-election campaign, $20,000; Westland DevCo, part of a California-based company developing Albuquerque’s west side, $14,000; a property fund of Coast Range Investments, which is planning a 6,000-acre industrial park and residential development near Belen, $10,000; Meyners + Company, an Albuquerque accounting firm, $12,500; Heard, Robins, Cloud, Lubel & Greenwood, a Texas law firm with offices in New Mexico, $10,000; and Gov. Bill Richardson’s re-election campaign, $8,000.

Democrats spent $284,550 during the past year, with much of that for the presidential preference caucus the party held in early February.

The expenditures included about $112,100 to a Maryland firm, TrueBallot Inc., which provided election services such as printing ballots and voter rosters for the caucus; and $15,000 to REDW, an Albuquerque accounting firm that performed an audit and helped with vote counting.

The caucus cost about $279,000, according to Josh Geise, executive director of the Democratic Party.

Republicans spent $585,048 during the past year, including about $17,000 for a consultant in Maryland who does research on candidates and $16,000 for “Hispanic outreach.”

Scott Darnell, a spokesman for the GOP, said the outreach initiatives will be started soon, including a Web site aimed at Hispanic voters.

The political parties have separate campaign funds to comply with state and federal election laws.

Under state law, parties can accept contributions in unlimited amounts. Those campaign reports — for so-called nonfederal or state accounts — are filed with the secretary of state.
Federal law imposes limits on contributions and restricts use of that money. The federal campaign reports — for the so-called federal accounts of the parties — are filed periodically with the Federal Election Commission.Some expenditures can be jointly financed with money raised under federal and state laws. That includes administrative expenses, such as salaries and office expenses.

Some of the GOP’s contributions included transfers of money from its federal account to help pay for those so-called joint activities. At the end of April, the GOP’s federal campaign account reported a cash balance of $138,243.

The Democratic Party’s federal account had a balance of $72,790 at the end of March, according to the most recent report filed with the FEC.