ALBUQUERQUE — The Federal Election Commission treated New Mexico’s Republicans and Democrats equally this week, dismissing complaints they filed against each other in October in the final days of the 2008 campaign.
The FEC, in a ruling posted Tuesday on its website, rejected the state Democratic Party’s allegation that the Republican Campaign Committee of New Mexico knowingly made prohibited in-kind contributions to GOP 1st Congressional District candidate Darren White.
The commission also dismissed a complaint by the New Mexico Republican Party against the state Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee involving a mailer in a legislative race.
The FEC said communications cited in the congressional race complaint did not meet standards required to show coordination among White, the campaign committee and Freedom’s Watch Inc., a conservative Washington, D.C.-based group that runs ads against Democrats in congressional races.
“We fundamentally disagree with the FEC findings,” Josh Geise, executive director of the Democratic Party, said Tuesday.
State Republican officials did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
New Mexico Democrats contended federal election laws were broken in ads against their 1st District candidate, Martin Heinrich, the race’s eventual winner. Two television ads — one by the GOP committee and the other by Freedom’s Watch — were produced by the same firm and used the same Heinrich photographs, they said.
The complaint alleged there was evidence the GOP committee ad was coordinated with White, and said the law was violated when the committee made, and White accepted, a contribution in excess of federal limits. Democrats also alleged the Freedom’s Watch ad was coordinated with the GOP committee.
The separate Republican complaint centered on an October mailer that urged voters to elect Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and legislative candidate Ben Rodefer. The mailer featured their photographs.
The GOP asked the FEC to sanction the Democratic committee, because it’s a political action committee that raises money that can be used only to promote state candidates.
The committee’s executive director, Rep. Mimi Stewart, said when the complaint was filed that the issue was an “honest oversight.” The FEC dismissed the complaint but sent a letter of caution to the Democratic group.
