Hidden donors fuel New Mexico primary ads through nonprofits | Carlsbad Current Argus

This story originally appeared in New Mexico In Depth at nmindepth.com.

Two political groups spending heavily in New Mexico’s primary elections have found a way to keep their donors hidden. Whether the arrangements comply with state law is unclear.

The setup is an example of what political spending watchdogs call “gray money,” where a nonprofit gives money to a political committee, or PAC. Under state law, the PAC has to disclose the nonprofit as the source of money it’s using in its efforts to influence elections.

The term “gray money” refers to political spending that is only partly transparent — visible up to the nonprofit, but not beyond it to the original donors. The people who gave money to the nonprofit stay hidden from public view.

The twist here is that the two PACs and their nonprofit donors have reported enough information to raise questions about whether the PACs themselves formed the nonprofits in order to keep their donors hidden.

One PAC that was created on March 3, Accountable New Mexico, has reported receiving $650,000 from a nonprofit called Stand for New Mexico, which incorporated March 2. The nonprofit was the sole donor reported in its second primary disclosure. The political group and the nonprofit share a treasurer, Alyssa Brooks, and a Washington D.C. address.

Brooks did not return a phone call or respond to an email from New Mexico In Depth asking about the nonprofit’s donors.

Accountable New Mexico has spent heavily on negative television ads targeting former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who is running against Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Bregman spokesperson Joanie Griffin said in an email that the campaign has “no idea” who funds the nonprofit.

“The campaign has no relationship nor communication with Accountable New Mexico,” she wrote.

Another political group, New Chapter New Mexico, is similarly relying on one nonprofit for its funds. Its entire $262,000 came from a nonprofit that shares its exact name, New Chapter New Mexico, and its mailing address.

New Chapter’s treasurer, Greg Gallegos, ran as a Republican against Democratic Rep. Marian Matthews in 2024, a race he lost. In 2026, the group’s disclosure reports note spending on advertising to support Matthews and seven other Democrats in legislative races, as well as a payment of almost $7,000 to Gallegos’s firm, KGH Strategies, for “compliance consulting.”

Gallegos did not respond to a phone call or email from New Mexico In Depth. He has also created another PAC called Back Forty New Mexico, listing himself as treasurer. Back Forty has not yet filed disclosure reports. Videos supporting seven of the eight candidates that New Chapter is supporting can be seen on youtube channels of Back Forty and New Chapter.

These arrangements have raised questions about whether the nonprofits were created by the PACs they are funding, given their shared officers, addresses and, in one case, the same name. State law prohibits making contributions “with an intent to conceal the names of persons who are the true source of funds used to make independent expenditures.”

Whether the nonprofits themselves are required to disclose their donors depends on how they are classified under state campaign finance law.

Nonprofits whose primary purpose is raising or spending money to influence elections can qualify as political committees, a designation that triggers stricter donor disclosure requirements.

But if political activity is not a nonprofit’s primary purpose, the organization is required to disclose only the donors who funded political advertising it paid for directly, rather than all donors to the organization. And if a nonprofit gives money to a PAC instead of paying for ads itself, as in these two cases, it is not required to file reports identifying its donors at all.

It’s unclear if these two nonprofit’s primary purpose is political activity. The groups’ IRS Form 990 tax filings may provide insight into that question because the filings show an organization’s overall revenue and spending, allowing the public to compare those figures with campaign finance reports and determine whether most of the groups’ money was spent on politics. But those records may not become public for more than a year — well after the June 2 primary election.