Report: Shendo raises $18,730

Tribes with casinos give $14,900 of that total; Luján has more than $757,000

Steve Terrell | The New Mexican

5/23/2008 - 5/24/08

According to his latest campaign finance report, Benny Shendo Jr. got the bulk of his recent contributions for the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary from out-of-state Indian tribes that have casinos.

Shendo's campaign finance report, which was made available Friday on the Federal Election Commission Web site, shows Shendo, a former state secretary of Indian affairs, still is far behind front-runners Ben Ray Luján and Don Wiviott in fundraising.

A spokesman for the Shendo campaign said most of the gaming contributions were made during an April conference of the National Indian Gaming Association.

The tribes with casinos that gave to Shendo include the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians in California, which contributed $6,900, the maximum allowed in the race, and the Barona Band of Mission Indians, also in California, which gave $2,500.

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Colorado gave Shendo $2,000 last month as well as $2,300 previously reported. The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay in California contributed $2,000 to Shendo's campaign while the executive branch of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma gave $1,000.

Darrell Mike, chairman of the 29 Palms Band of Mission Indians in California, donated $500 to the campaign. These add up to $14,900 out of the $18,730 raised in Shendo's most recent report.

Shendo previously reported contributions from several New Mexico gaming tribes, including $6,900 each from Jemez and Isleta pueblos, $2,300 from Acoma Pueblo and $250 from Tesuque Pueblo. In the report, he also listed a $4,600 contribution from Eddie Gomez, executive director of Isleta Pueblo.

Shendo isn't the only candidate to get support from Indian tribes with casinos.

Ben Ray Luján reported this week a $2,300 contribution from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, which previously gave him another $2,300. Gov. Robert Benevidez of Isleta Pueblo also gave Luján $2,300, as did the Jicarilla Apache Nation.

This week, Pojoaque Pueblo, which used to employ Luján as a card dealer and supervisor, endorsed his candidacy for Congress, but no campaign contribution from the pueblo has been reported.

Shendo has raised more than $132,000 since the start of his campaign. According to the new report, he has $63,760 cash on hand.

Another new campaign finance report to become available from the FEC on Friday was that of Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya, who also is running for the 3rd District seat. Montoya raised $36,940 in the last reporting period, bringing his total to about $110,000 since the beginning of his campaign. He has less than $4,000 cash on hand, according to the report.

Contributions to Montoya include several from the local real estate and development community, including former City Manager and Rancho Viejo developer Ike Pino, who has contributed a total of $4,610; consultant and former City Councilor David Schutz and his wife, Molly, who have donated a total of $350; John Paul Romero, owner of South West Design, who has given a total of $4,400; and real-estate company owner Ron Sebesta.

Wiviott, who has given his campaign more than $1 million, leads the pack by far, while Luján has raised more than $757,000. As of May 14, Wiviott had $150,414 cash on hand, while Luján had $167,596. However, since then, according to reports filed in the past week, Wiviott has written a check for an additional $250,000 while Luján filed papers with the FEC this week saying he has taken out a bank loan of $150,000 for his campaign since the period covered in the last report.

As for the other candidates in the six-man race, Jon Adams has raised $68,285 and has $11,858 cash on hand while Rudy Martin has taken in a little more than $10,000, including a $7,000 loan from himself. Martin has $1,351 cash on hand.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.