Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is making national headlines again — not for policy success, but for unprecedented campaign spending. According to reporting by the Santa Fe New Mexican, Haaland has already raised a jaw-dropping $6.9 million since February in her bid to become New Mexico’s next governor. Most of that money, however, is coming from far outside the state — and a shocking 60 percent of it has already been spent.
Haaland’s campaign finance report shows she has just $2.8 million left in the bank. Critics say she’s burning through donor cash at a reckless pace. Nearly $2.1 million has gone to a D.C.-based outfit called Middle Seat, a “progressive” digital consulting firm known for its work with far-left groups such as Justice Democrats.
A Haaland campaign spokeswoman, Hannah Menchhoff, told the New Mexican the campaign was focusing on “a massive people-powered fundraising program” so Haaland could spend “more time meeting with everyday New Mexicans.” Yet, even her own filings show just 16 percent — barely one in six — of her 129,830 donations came from inside the state.
Political analyst Brian Sanderoff told the New Mexican that Haaland’s heavy spending to build a national donor base is “an initial investment” to “cast a wide net.” But that “investment” appears to come with waste, bloated overhead, and growing questions about how much of the cash actually reaches New Mexico communities rather than Washington consultants.
While Haaland touts herself as a “grassroots” candidate, the numbers tell a different story. Her campaign resembles a national progressive movement built on small donations from liberal enclaves — not from New Mexicans who will actually live under her policies.
Her Democrat rivals are not much better. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, long tied to party insiders, has raised nearly $2.5 million, mostly from high-dollar donors. Roughly 80 percent of Bregman’s contributors are in-state, but he too faces criticism for “big overhead,” as fellow Democrat Ken Miyagishima told the New Mexican.
Miyagishima, the former Las Cruces mayor and third Democratic contender, admitted to loaning $50,000 to his own campaign and questioned his opponents’ financial stewardship. “Yes, Deb has raised a lot of money … but spent almost $4 million,” he said. “I don’t know on what. It sure looks like it’s … spending money to raise money.”
Despite her self-styled image as a champion of the working class, Haaland’s campaign looks more like a cash-fueled vanity project financed by progressive activists and billionaires like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who cut the maximum $12,400 check for both the primary and general election.
Even as Haaland clings to the mantle of the potential “first Native American governor,” her campaign’s extravagance raises real doubts about judgment and priorities. With massive D.C. contracts, questionable staff payments — including $50,000 to her former campaign manager Scott Forrester months after he left — and millions drained before a single vote is cast, her “historic” run is starting to look more like another example of Democratic excess and insider enrichment.