Diane Denish

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish says she will not raise money during the upcoming session of the New Mexico Legislature, continuing a voluntary policy she’s practiced during her time in office.

By law, the governor and lawmakers can’t raise money during legislative sessions, but Denish, the only Democratic candidate for governor, is not prohibited, she said in a news release. However, according to the release, “Denish has always believed that it’s important to lead by example.”

“When the legislature is in session, I believe our focus must be solely on the issues important to New Mexico families, not campaign fundraising,” Denish said. “That’s why I go beyond what the law requires and have consistently chosen not to solicit contributions during legislative session. The fact that this is an election year changes nothing – the people’s business always comes first.”

Denish Campaign Manager Oren Shur said the state should also “look at making changes to ensure that everyone is playing by the same rules.” One gubernatorial candidate – state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque – is prohibited by law from raising money during the session, while the other candidates are not.

“But in the meantime, the Republican candidates have an opportunity to take the same voluntary step and send an important message to the people of New Mexico,” Shur said. “The Republicans like to talk about taking the high road, but when presented with an opportunity to back it up with action, they suddenly become pretty quiet.”

Since Arnold-Jones is already barred from raising money for the session, I didn’t ask her to comment on the challenge from Shur. I sent an e-mail to the others, and I’ll let you know if they do comment.

Denish also announced recently that she will voluntarily release a quarterly campaign-finance report in January. She’s been releasing the reports more often than the law requires for some time. I recently asked the Republican gubernatorial candidates in an e-mail if any would match Denish in releasing a finance report in January. None have responded.

Update, 6 p.m.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Turner said the prohibition on fundraising during sessions should apply to anyone who has influence over legislation.

“I’m going to raise money during the session. I raised money during the special session, I’m going to raise money during the next session,” he said. “I’m unelected, I can’t vote on anything, so I’m going to keep pounding away.”

Update, 7:15 p.m.

Arnold-Jones’ campaign pointed me to a Monday news release in which she called for a rule change to make the fundraising prohibition during sessions apply to all candidates.

“As a state representative, I am the only candidate prohibited from raising campaign funds throughout the legislative session. Those rules do not apply to the lieutenant governor, yet she presides over and has voting rights in the Senate,” Arnold-Jones said in that release. “In fact, those rules do not apply to any of my competitors in any way and they should. It is important we are all playing by the same rules on the same field.”