By NATHAN BROWN
The Santa Fe New Mexican
There’s a lot of money at stake when it comes to New Mexico’s medical malpractice laws.
Perhaps it’s not surprising advocates on both sides of the issue contribute a lot to lawmakers’ campaigns.
From the 2020 primary election cycle through 2026, the Committee on Individual Responsibility — the political action committee associated with the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association — has made $937,000 in donations to individual politicians or their PACs and $442,200 to broader PACs such as those associated with House and Senate Democrats and the state House speaker, according to state campaign finance records.
On the other side, the New Mexico Medical PAC, affiliated with the New Mexico Medical Society, made $202,250 in donations to particular politicians during the same period and $18,700 to other PACs, mostly Senate and House Republican committees.
The New Mexico Hospital Association Health PAC has given $116,550 to individual politicians during the same period.
These donations represent only part of the spending.
The trial lawyers were the biggest donors to New Mexico Safety Over Profit, a group opposed to changing the state’s malpractice laws, which made headlines last year when it initially tried to avoid disclosing its donors.
Plenty of individual trial lawyers and doctors alike also donate money to politicians.
Marina Pino, who serves as counsel in the elections and government program at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, said the trend of increased political spending at the federal level since the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, striking down many campaign finance laws, has happened in state capitals as well.
“Research shows at the state level that the preferences of big donors tend to be more persuasive on government decisions,” she said in an interview.
While the issues vary by state, she said, the common pattern is that campaign spending helps shape legislative agendas.
“What the big donors care about are what the legislatures are going to care about,” she said.
Partisan split
The PACs spread the donations between leadership and rank-and-file lawmakers, although those in leadership positions and chairs of key committees tend to get the largest amounts.
While the trial lawyers’ PAC donates exclusively to Democrats and liberal-leaning PACs, medical interests split their donations. Almost 40% of the medical PACs’ contributions have gone to Republicans since 2020, while about 30% of the hospital PACs’ did.
For years, Republicans have backed limits on damages, while Democrats have been divided. The same pattern is playing out again this year — Republicans already have made the need for changes a major part of their public messaging about the session.
“Without meaningful medical malpractice reform, the doctor exodus will continue,” Rep. Jenifer Jones, R-Deming, said Friday.
Democrats are still split, with some including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in favor of changes and others skeptical.
“We have to be looking at what will really work, and what is really being driven by the [hospital and insurance] industry,” Sen. Jospeh Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a personal injury attorney, told The New Mexican last week.
The Brennan Center has long advocated for stricter campaign finance laws. One thing states can do, Pino said, is offer public financing of campaigns with matching of small-dollar contributions.
“It shows everyday Americans that there’s another way they can have their voice heard,” she said.
The cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe have public financing options in their municipal elections, although they work somewhat differently and many candidates don’t utilize them.
A new idea the Brennan Center is pushing — similar to the example of red-state legislatures that passed abortion bans before the 2022 Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade — is for states to pass “trigger laws” that would institute campaign finance regulations in the event Citizens United is overturned. Virginia recently became the first state to introduce such a measure, and Pino would like to see others follow suit.
“We’re hoping this can be something replicated across the states,” she said.
Box Top contribution recipients
Amounts are cumulative from the 2020 primaries until today.
COMMITTEE ON INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY, TOP 10 LAWMAKERS
- Sen. Linda López, D-Albuquerque: $30,700
- Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces: $30,200
- Sen. Natalie Figueroa, D-Albuquerque: $26,400
- Rep. Meredith Dixon, D-Albuquerque: $25,900
- Former Rep. Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque: $25,400
- Rep. Joy Garratt, D-Albuquerque: $25,400
- Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces: $25,400
- Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces: $25,200
- Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque: $25,200
- Rep. Elizabeth “Liz” Thomson, D-Albuquerque: $25,200
COMMITTEE ON INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY, TOP FIVE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES
- The Speaker Fund: $108,000
- Brian Egolf Speaker Fund: $51,000
- New Mexico Workers First: $50,000
- New Mexico Senate Democrats: $40,000
- New Mexico House Democratic campaign committee: $25,400
NEW MEXICO HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION HEALTH PAC, TOP 10 LAWMAKERS
- Rep. Patricia “Patty” Lundstrom, D-Gallup: $9,000
- Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque: $7,000
- Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup: $6,000
- Lt. Gov. Howie Morales: $6,000
- Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte: $5,500
- Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham: $5,200
- Former Rep. Ambrose Castellano, D-Serrafina: $4,500
- House Minority Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena: $4,500
- Attorney General Raúl Torrez: $4,000
- Dixon: $3,000
NEW MEXICO MEDICAL PAC, TOP 11 LAWMAKERS
- Sen. Martin Hickey, D-Albuquerque: $12,500
- Muñoz: $9,250
- Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque: $8,250
- Rep. Doreen Gallegos, D-La Cruces: $7,750
- Former Sen. Greg Nibert, R-Roswell: $6,750
- Former Sen. Gregory Baca, R-Belen: $6,500
- Armstrong: $6,500
- Sen. Cindy Nava, D-Bernalillo: $6,000
- Sen. Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho: $6,000
- Lundstrom: $6,000
- Rep. Jenifer Jones, R-Deming: $6,000