Fundraising efforts reflect DA candidates' distinct styles

Apr. 15—District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and her predecessor, Marco Serna, both are Democrats who live in Santa Fe and endorse treatment-based solutions to substance abuse-related crimes.

They appear to be polar opposites in most other regards — notably, their approaches to raising money as they seek to win the party's nomination in the 1st Judicial District.

Their battle may be the most noteworthy race in the fast-approaching June primary. Serna headed the DA's Office from 2016-2020 before making an unsuccessful run for an open seat in the 3rd Congressional District. Carmack-Altwies, who once worked for Serna, won the nomination and succeeded him as the top prosecutor in a district that includes Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties.

Neither denies money will matter: Without a Republican candidate in the race, the Democratic primary is a fundraising sprint. And money likely will be critical as they seek to tell voters about their many differences — and talk about one another's record in office.

To wit: One of Carmack-Altwies' recent fundraising events was a reception hosted by a slew of lawyers at a private law firm, with suggested donations set at $250, $500 and $1,000 a pop. In contrast, Serna's camp held an Al Hurricane Jr. concert at the Eagles Club Sunday with tickets going for $15 each.

Carmack-Altwies, who raised more than any other DA candidate statewide during her 2020 bid for the post, is once again ahead of her opponent in fundraising.

According to campaign finance reports filed last week, she has raised $77,904 thus far in this election cycle, through approximately 132 donations.

More than half — about $41,000 — came from donors who gave $5,000 or more. Of that, approximately $20,000 came from family members in New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Other top donors included Mark Murphy of Roswell, who donated $6,600, and Susan Murphy, also of Roswell, who donated $5,000.

Carmack-Altwies described the Murphys as "friends" and declined to discuss whether they were related to Deputy District Attorney Haley Murphy, who in addition to co-hosting a fundraising reception also made an individual donation of $1,000 to her employer's campaign.

Susan Murphy confirmed she and Mark Murphy are Haley Murphy's parents and said she donated to Carmack-Altwies because she's proud of the work her daughter does in the DA's special victims unit, where she prosecutes sex crimes against children, among other things. She added her daughter has "a lot of respect" for Carmack-Altwies and the job she's done.

Carmack-Altwies said in a phone interview Thursday "over 80%" of her staff donated to her campaign.

"The people I work with day in and day out donated to my campaign; I think that says a lot about what this campaign is about," she said. "The people that have been around that know what's going on in the criminal justice system — whether that's my staff members, other attorneys that work in our community — those people are overwhelmingly supporting me."

Campaign finance reports show Carmack-Altwies received 17 donations of $2 each, which appear to be from her employees, including agency spokesman Nathan Lederman and donors who listed their occupations as victims' advocates and paralegals.

Asked if she had asked staff to donate a specific amount or whether it was a coincidence more than a dozen had chosen to give $2, Carmack-Altwies said she had no involvement in the donations.

"What it shows is certain members of my staff wanted to participate, wanted to voice their support, and that is what they did," she said. "I'm never going to ask people for a specific amount of money and neither is my campaign."

Clark, Jones & Ruyle Attorneys at Law — the Santa Fe law firm that hosted a reception for Carmack-Altwies last month — also donated $2,000 to her campaign. Partner Tom Clark, who regularly handles high-profile cases in the district and across the state, did not respond to a message seeking comment for this story.

Carmack-Altwies bristled when asked whether the firm's financial support would garner its clients more favorable plea deals.

"Absolutely not," Carmack-Altwies said. "Never have and never will."

Carmack-Altwies said many other attorneys, including some from the Public Defenders Office, attended the reception and donated.

"I got donations from people who have seen the good work I've done for this community and want to see that continue and not go back got the old days of the office just running itself into the dust," she said.

Meanwhile, Serna has collected about $67,549 through 78 individual donations, according to the reports. Approximately 45% of that, about $30,000, came from people who gave $5,000 or more.

Former Attorney General Hector Balderas, now the president of Northern New Mexico College, was among Serna's top donors. He gave $5,000.

Serna also received $350 from former state auditor Brian Colón and $5,250 from Albuquerque Downs Racetrack & Casino owner Paul Blanchard.

Several of Serna's largest donations came from out of state. Knoxville, Tenn., marketing director Katheryne Anne Heath gave $5,500, as did Pompano Beach, Fla., CEO Brandon Bowsky.

Serna said he didn't recall every donation but said some of the out-of-area contributions came from people he met while running for Congress in 2020. He said Heath was a friend of a friend.

Santa Fe real estate developer Aaron Borrego also donated $5,000 to Serna's campaign. Borrego said the money came from a $25,000 settlement he received to resolve a 2021 lawsuit in which he alleged Carmack-Altwies' office violated his free speech rights by deleting his comments and blocking him from its Facebook page after he posted comments critical of her handling of cases against people charged with helping topple the Soldiers' Monument on the Plaza.

"I have been very upset with her performance," Borrego said.

Despite trailing his opponent by about $10,000, Serna said in a phone interview he's pleased with the results of his fundraising efforts so far.

"To be honest, we were able to surpass our goal," he said. "I hope to raise more ... but our initial goal for our entire campaign was $60,00 so we were beyond excited and blessed to reach $7,000 above that in the first reporting period."

Carmack-Altwies, who raised more than $100,000 ahead of the 2020 primary, said she, too, has a fundraising goal, but "I'm not going to share that."