Female Republican candidate and daughter of Republican legend breaks fundraising record in New Mexico Republican Senate race, four years after Biden won the state by 10 POINTS
- Nella Domenici’s campaign raised $1.25 million in the first quarter of the year
- She is the daughter of the late Republican Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico
- Domenici wants to impeach Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich
- Cook Political Report rates New Mexico Senate race as ‘solid Democrat’
Sen. hopeful Nella Domenici broke a Republican Senate fundraising record in New Mexico with her $1.25 million raise in the first three months of the year.
Domenici announced her Republican Senate bid to unseat Democratic New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich on January 17.
According to her campaign, the first quarter fundraising total is the most of any Republican Senate candidate ever in the state in the first quarter of an election year. The previous record for a Republican was set in 2012 with $760,000.
The Republican Senate hopeful and former director of Bridgewater Associates received contributions from more than 1,100 donors.
Domenici is the daughter of the late Sen. Pete Domenici, who served six terms as New Mexico’s longest-serving senator in state history before retiring in 2009.
Nella Domenici announced she was entering the Republican Senate race in New Mexico in January. She is the daughter of the late Republican Senator Pete Domenici.
The late Senator Pete Domenici with then-President George W. Bush in 2002. Domenici was New Mexico’s longest-serving senator
Domenici jumped into the race, focusing on rising costs, rampant crime and concerns that the U.S. border is “wide open.”
She has the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and is expected to win the state Senate primary on June 4.
If she receives the Republican nomination, she will face a tough election battle against Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich.
Cook Political Report rates New Mexico’s Senate race as “solid Democrat.”
Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich has been a member of the Senate since 2013. He ended 2023 with more than $3.5 million in cash as he runs for re-election in November
Heinrich has been a member of the Senate since 2013. Previously, he represented New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District since 2009.
In 2018, he won re-election by more than 23 points, amid a blue wave in response to the election of Donald Trump.
Heinrich has not released his fundraising totals for the first quarter of the year, but he has raised $781,851 in the last three months of 2023 and more than $6.9 million for the entire election cycle.
He ended the year with more than $3.5 million cash on hand.
The Federal Election Commission filing deadline for the first quarter of the year is April 15.
In 2020, President Biden won New Mexico by more than ten points. That same year, Democratic Senator Ben Ray Lujan won his race by more than six points.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also won reelection in the 2022 midterm elections by more than five points.