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The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a complaint alleging illegal coordination of advertising efforts between former 1st Congressional District Republican candidate Darren White and the New Mexico GOP in last year’s election.
In a May 29 letter, the FEC notified White’s attorney, Christopher Collins, that its investigation turned up no evidence that White or his campaign illegally coordinated with the Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico (RCCNM). The Democratic Party of New Mexico filed the complaint, which cited White’s membership on the state GOP’s executive committee as its evidence, last year.
White is the two-term Bernalillo County sheriff.
The complaint alleged that the White campaign illegally coordinated with the RCCNM in the creation of a TV ad attacking White’s opponent, Democrat Martin Heinrich, who went on to win the race.
“White denies any coordination between himself and RCCNM, and maintains he had no part in creating nor did he assent to the creation and airing of (the ad),” the FEC letter states. “We have no evidence to the contrary.”
The FEC’s letter also states that RCCNM “maintained a firewall to prevent coordination with White and the White Committee.”
State GOP chairman Harvey Yates released this statement:
“This was a deliberate attempt to malign the Republican Party and boost the Democrats’ chances of winning in last year’s election,” he said. “The recent FEC ruling puts to rest any speculation concerning the party’s innocence and highlights the willingness of the Democratic Party to exploit the FEC process for partisan purposes.”
The Democratic Party also filed a complaint last year alleging that the White campaign illegally coordinated with Freedom’s Watch, a national group that ran an ad that was similar to the RCCNM ad. The Freedom’s Watch and RCCNM ads were created by the same company and contained some similarities.
The status of the complaint alleging coordination between White and Freedom’s Watch is not immediately known. The FEC’s letter to Collins doesn’t mention Freedom’s Watch or its ad.
