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2007 New Mexico Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2007)

handle is hein.sag/sagnm0005 and id is 1 raw text is: February 7, 2007

OPINION
OF
GARY K. KING
Attorney General                             Opinion No. 07-01
BY:   Zachary Shandler
Assistant Attorney General
TO:   The Honorable Leonard Lee Rawson
State Senator, District 37
P.O. Box 996
Las Cruces, New Mexico 88004
QUESTION:
Whether the legislative session fundraising prohibition in the State Campaign Reporting Act,
NMSA 1978, Section 1-19-34.1 and the State Lobbyist Regulation Act, NMSA 1978 Section 2-
11-8.1 apply to contributions to candidates for federal office?
CONCLUSION:
Based on the doctrine of Federal Preemption, the prohibitions in the State Campaign Reporting
Act and State Lobbyist Regulation Act do not regulate contributions to candidates for federal
office.
FACTS:
This is the second request to a state agency in the last four years to opine on the legislative
session fundraising prohibition as it relates to a state elected official seeking federal office. In
2003, the Secretary of State's office was asked whether state Senator Richard Romero, as a
candidate for United States Representative, was subject to the prohibition. The letter cited to a
federal court case, Teper v. Miller, 82 F. 3d 989 (1 1th Cir. 1996), which stated that federal
campaign finance laws preempted a Georgia state law that prohibited fundraising during a
legislative session. The Secretary of State letter also cited to a section of the State Campaign
Reporting Act, NMSA 1978, Section 1-19-37, and found that it did not apply to candidates for
federal office. The Secretary of State's office concluded: Senator Romero's congressional
fundraising activities would appear to be exempt from Section 1-19-34.1. Letter to Mr. David
Duhigg from Denise Lamb, Bureau of Elections, October 22, 2003.

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