{"id":5282,"date":"2015-03-13T11:25:06","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T18:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=5282"},"modified":"2020-06-02T10:25:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T17:25:29","slug":"unions-give-big-in-nm-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/unions-give-big-in-nm-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Unions Give big in NM Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Credit:<\/a>

Credit: Rocky A (Flickr Creative Commons)<\/p><\/div>\n

By Sandra Fish
\nNew Mexico In Depth<\/p>\n

Campaign cash may be as much at the heart of the the fight over union membership laws in New Mexico as the dispute over union dues, though no one will directly say so.<\/p>\n

Labor unions spent nearly $2.8 million in the 2013-14 election cycle, virtually all of that going to Democratic political action committees and candidates, a New Mexico In Depth analysis shows.\u00a0<\/span>The bulk of that money \u2013 more than $1.7 million \u2013 went to Patriot Majority New Mexico, a political action committee, or super PAC, supporting Democratic House candidates.<\/p>\n

The fight for the House was a losing effort for Democrats and unions, with Republicans taking control of the body for the first time in 60 years.\u00a0That set up the \u201cright-to-work\u201d battle that ended \u2013 for now \u2013 with a Senate committee tabling two bills to ban union fees for non-members who benefit from union-negotiated salaries and benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis session clearly shows they (unions) have significant power over the political process in this state,\u201d said Paul Gessing, president of the Rio Grande Foundation, a free-market think tank that supports the legislation.\u00a0Gessing said if Gov. Susana Martinez doesn\u2019t put the issue on the agenda for 2016\u2019s 30-day session, it likely will return in 2017.<\/p>\n

Carter Bundy, a lobbyist for AFSCME, a government employees\u2019 union, agreed that the issue is far from dead in New Mexico.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s something that a lot of national people are looking to have passed in as many states as possible,\u201d Bundy said. \u201cIt may still pass this year. We\u2019re not out of the woods yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats are big beneficiaries<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unions donated nearly $273,000 directly to House candidates, with more than $187,000 going to candidates who lost. In fact, 10 House candidates received union donations of $9,450 or more. Only two of them \u2013 Reps. Matthew McQueen and Stephanie Garcia Richard – won in November.<\/p>\n