Prison industries pony up cash in governor's race

The New Mexico Governors race seem to have fallen into the hands of the Private Prison corporations. The money that is contributed surely is an honest contribution with no string attached.

These might not be the kinds of sources for campaign cash that candidates like to brag about, but the industries behind them are reliable contributors to politicians in both major parties in New Mexico. And this election year is no different.

In the governor's race, it appears that Republican Susana Martinez has a lock on money from private prison operators.

Gambling interests, including tribes who operate casinos, wagered early on Democrat Diane Denish, the current lieutenant governor. The latest campaign finance reports, however, show some of them are hedging their bets by making late contributions to front-runner Martinez, the district attorney in Las Cruces.

Denish, meanwhile, has smoked her opponent in terms of tobacco industry cash and has chugged more money from the liquor industry.

The corrections industry

The state first began contracting with private prison operators in the 1990s under then Gov. Gary Johnson, a Republican. But the prison industry didn't start pumping real money into New Mexico campaigns until after Democrat Bill Richardson became governor eight years ago.

Richardson became a favorite of the GEO Group, a Florida company formerly known as Wackenhut, which operates three private prisons in New Mexico. The most recent one, in Clayton, came about during Richardson's watch.

GEO gave Richardson $43,750 for his 2006 re-election campaign — as well as another $7,000 for his 2008 presidential run. According to the Institute of Money in State Government, Richardson has received more money from GEO than any other politician nationwide running for a state office since 2003.

The company also been generous with other state politicians, contributing more than $200,000 in recent decades. New Mexico, which has no limits on contributions, is second only to Florida among the states where GEO made political contributions. In fact, four of the top 10 recipients of GEO contributions since 2003 are New Mexico Democrats — including Denish, who has received $11,000 from the company during that period.

This year, however, Republican Martinez is getting the lion's share of GEO cash. The company has given her campaign $33,000 — including a $25,000 check contributed on Oct. 14.



In contrast, Denish only received $2,500 from GEO for her current campaign, and that contribution came in June 2009.

Corrections Corporation of America, the Tennessee firm that operates the New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility in Grants, has given both Martinez and Denish contributions totaling $2,000 each.

Neither Martinez nor Denish has raised the possibility of de-privatizing the state's prisons in the next four years.

Excerpt from The New Mexican
Thursday, October 28, 2010
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