April 15 – District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and her predecessor, Marco Serna, are both Democrats who live in Santa Fe and endorse treatment-based solutions to substance abuse-related crimes.
In most other respects, they appear to be polar opposites — especially in their approach to raising money as they try to win the party’s nomination in the 1st Judicial District.
Their battle may be the most notable race during the fast-approaching June primary. Serna led the district attorney’s office from 2016 to 2020 before unsuccessfully running for an open seat in the 3rd Congressional District. Carmack-Altwies, who once worked for Serna, won the nomination and succeeded him as top prosecutor in a district that includes Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties.
Neither denies that money matters: Without a Republican candidate in the race, the Democratic primary is a fundraising sprint. And money will likely be crucial if they want to tell voters about their many differences — and talk about each other’s record in office.
To wit: One of Carmack-Altwies’ recent fundraising events was a reception hosted by a slew of attorneys at a private law firm, with suggested donations of $250, $500 and $1,000 per person. In contrast, Serna’s camp held an Al Hurricane Jr. concert at the Eagles Club on Sunday, with tickets priced at $15 each.
Carmack-Altwies, who raised more than any other DA candidate in the entire state during her 2020 bid for the post, is once again ahead of her opponent in fundraising.
She has raised $77,904 through about 132 donations so far this election cycle, according to campaign finance reports filed last week.
More than half – about $41,000 – came from donors who gave $5,000 or more. About $20,000 of that came from relatives 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 $1,000 donation to her employer’s campaign .
Susan Murphy confirmed that she and Mark Murphy are Haley Murphy’s parents and said she donated to Carmack-Altwies because she is proud of the work her daughter does with the DA’s Special Victims Unit, where she is under prosecutes more sexual crimes against children. She added that her daughter has “great respect” for Carmack-Altwies and the work she has done.
Carmack-Altwies said in a telephone interview Thursday that “more than 80%” of her staff has donated to her campaign.
“The people I work with day in and day out have donated to my campaign; I think that says a lot about what this campaign is about,” she said. “The people who have been there and know what’s going on in the criminal justice system — whether that’s my staff members, other attorneys who work in our community — those people are overwhelmingly supportive of me.”
Campaign finance reports show Carmack-Altwies received 17 donations of $2 each, which appear to have come from its employees, including organization spokesman Nathan Lederman and donors who listed their professions as victims’ advocates and paralegals.
When asked if she had asked staff to donate a specific amount or if it was a coincidence that more than a dozen had chosen to give $2, Carmack-Altwies said she was not involved in the donations.
“What it shows is that certain members of my staff wanted to participate, wanted to express their support, and that’s what they did,” she said. “I’m never going to ask people for a certain amount of money, and that includes 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 acted irritated when asked whether the company’s financial support would get his clients more favorable plea deals.
“Absolutely not,” Carmack-Altwies said. “It never has and it never will.”
Carmack-Altwies said many other attorneys, including some from the Public Defenders Office, attended the reception and made a donation.
“I’ve had donations from people who have seen the good work I’ve done for this community and want to see it continue and not go back because the old days of the office faded into the dust,” she said.
Meanwhile, Serna has reportedly raised approximately $67,549 through 78 individual donations. About 45% of that, about $30,000, came from people who gave $5,000 or more.
Former Attorney General Hector Balderas, now 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 Paul Blanchard, owner of Albuquerque Downs Racetrack & Casino.
Some 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 remember every donation, but some 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 alleging Carmack-Altwies’ office violated his right to free speech by removing his comments and charging him from the Facebook page after he posted critical comments about its handling of cases against people accused of helping to topple the Soldiers’ Monument on the Plaza.
“I am very angry with her actions,” Borrego said.
Despite trailing his opponent by about $10,000, Serna said in a phone interview that he is pleased with his fundraising results so far.
“Honestly, we were able to exceed our goal,” he said. “I hope to raise more…but our original goal for our entire campaign was $60,00, so we were extremely 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 primaries, said she also has a fundraising goal, but “I’m not going to share that.”
