Deb Haaland has more New Mexico donors than anyone in the governor's race, and her state filings prove it. The same filings show $72,000 from oil and gas companies, most of it from Texas and Oklahoma, and four contributions totaling $34,000 that list no contributor at all.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Deb Haaland has answered criticism of her out-of-state money with one point: she has received more donations from New Mexicans than any other candidate. A line-by-line count of her two general-election finance reports, filed with the New Mexico Secretary of State, supports that claim.
The same filings show three other things. Most of her contributions, and most of her dollars, still came from outside New Mexico. About $72,000 came from oil and gas producers, a pipeline company and gas utilities. And four contributions totaling $34,000 appear in the reports with no name and no address.
Haaland's campaign, Deb for New Mexico, did not respond to written questions sent Oct. 20 and Oct. 21.
The in-state claim holds up
Haaland's Second General Report covers Sept. 8 through Oct. 5. The Inquirer's count:
5,863 contributions from New Mexico addresses. Republican Gregg Hull reported 1,400 in the same period. Haaland has more than four times as many.
$751,484.53 from New Mexico addresses. Hull reported $632,935.71. She outraised him in New Mexico, too.
By her own measure, she is right.
Most of the money is still from elsewhere
The same report holds 34,402 monetary contributions totaling $1,925,399.93.
Only 17% of the contributions came from New Mexico addresses. The other 83% came from 54 other states and territories.
California addresses accounted for 6,014 contributions, more than New Mexico's 5,863.
39% of the dollars came from New Mexico. Out-of-state addresses supplied about $1.15 million.
The pattern holds across the whole general election. Across both reports, Haaland received 109,029 monetary contributions totaling $5,366,875.92. 17.6% of the contributions and 39.6% of the dollars came from New Mexico addresses.
Small checks, and 71 big ones
Haaland's campaign has said her low average contribution shows support from ordinary voters rather than wealthy interests. Spokesperson Hannah Menchoff made that argument to Source NM last week, saying the smaller average signals broad support instead of corporate backing.
The filings support the first half. In the latest period, 93.5% of her contributions were under $100, and the average was $55.97. Hull's averaged about $450.
They complicate the second half. Those small checks added up to 27% of the period's money. Meanwhile, 28 contributors gave the $12,400 maximum in the latest report, for $347,200, or 18% of the period's money. Across both general-election reports, 71 contributors gave the maximum, a combined $880,400.
The latest period's maximum givers include Devon Energy, Occidental Petroleum, New Mexico Gas Company, Motorola Solutions' PAC, the IBEW, UFCW and NEA PACs, the New Mexico Federation of Labor, the Mescalero Apache Tribe, Stahmanns Inc. and individual donors from New Mexico, Texas, California, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Utah. Thirteen of the 28 had New Mexico addresses.
The oil and gas money
Haaland ran the U.S. Interior Department, which oversees drilling on federal land, much of it in New Mexico's Permian Basin. Her general-election filings list these energy contributors:
Contributor | Address | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
ConocoPhillips Company | Houston, TX | July 2 | $12,400 |
Permian Resources | Midland, TX | July 10 | $5,000 |
Energy Transfer, LP | Dallas, TX | Aug. 3 | $12,400 |
Devon Energy Production Company | Oklahoma City, OK | Sept. 15 | $12,400 |
Occidental Petroleum Corp. | Houston, TX | Sept. 15 | $12,400 |
Southwest Gas Corporation | Las Vegas, NV | Aug. 24 | $5,000 |
New Mexico Gas Company | Albuquerque, NM | Sept. 23 | $12,400 |
That's $72,000 in all. The five oil producers and the pipeline company account for $54,600, every dollar from out-of-state addresses. Energy Transfer appears in the filing as "Energy Tranfer, LP."
Hull's oil and gas money ran the other way. The Inquirer's count of his filings found $47,200 from five oil, gas or petroleum companies, all with New Mexico addresses.
The filings also include Lea Midstream ($10,000), Goodnight Midstream ($5,000) and Select Water Solutions ($6,000), all with Texas addresses. The filings list them as manufacturing, water management and water services businesses, and the Inquirer has not confirmed their industry.
The Oct. 20 questions asked whether Devon or Occidental met with Haaland or asked for anything, and whether she would recuse from state decisions affecting them. The campaign has not answered.
Four contributions with no name
Four contributions in the filed reports carry no contributor name and no address. Each is labeled only "Political Committee":
$5,000 on July 10
$10,000 on Sept. 8
$8,000 on Sept. 15
$11,000 on Sept. 25
That's $34,000 the public cannot trace from the reports as filed. Other political committees in the same reports, including the New Mexico Federation of Labor and the NEA's fund, appear by name. The Inquirer could not determine whether the names were left out by the campaign or dropped by the Secretary of State's system when the reports were printed.
How we reported this: The Inquirer downloaded Deb for New Mexico's First and Second General Reports from the Secretary of State's Campaign Finance Information System on Oct. 21, 2026: 7,557 and 3,511 pages. We extracted every contribution line. Our monetary total for the Second General Report matches the report's own summary page exactly; for the First General Report, our total runs $250 above the summary page, a 0.007% difference we could not resolve. The First General Report on the state's site is dated Oct. 13, after its Sept. 14 due date; Source NM reported on her filing for that period in mid-September, so the posted version appears to be a revision, and we used it as posted. Counts are transactions, not unique donors, and exclude refunds, bank interest and vendor credits. "New Mexico" means the address on the filing, not where a donor works or votes. Industry labels are limited to well-known companies and what the filings state. Hull figures come from the Inquirer's count of his filings published Oct. 21. We sent questions to the Haaland campaign, Devon Energy and Occidental Petroleum on Oct. 20, and to ConocoPhillips on Oct. 21. On Oct. 21 we also asked the campaign, the Secretary of State's Office and the State Ethics Commission about the four unnamed committees. None had responded at publication. We are looking for anyone who can identify those committees or describe the business of Lea Midstream and Goodnight Midstream. Responses received after publication will be added as dated updates. Corrections and tips: [email protected] or 505-932-9060.