New Mexico Ethics Commission sues nonprofit run by campaign manager for Dem gov. candidate Bregman

A new lawsuit filed by the New Mexico Ethics Commission alleges the nonprofit New Mexico Safety over Profit failed to report at least $56,000 spent lobbying against medical malpractice reform before the legislative session.

The group’s executive director, Jon Lipschutz, manages Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sam Bregman’s campaign. Bregman, who also serves as the 2nd Judicial District attorney, could not be reached for comment Monday morning.

Lipschutz initially incorporated his organization last year under the name Fairness for New Mexico Patients, as Searchlight New Mexico reported earlier this year. New Mexico Safety Over Profit operates as a 501c(4) nonprofit, putting it under no federal legal obligations to disclose its donors, thus earning the moniker “dark money groups.”

That federal status, however, does not exempt the organization from the disclosure requirements of New Mexico’s Lobbyist Regulation Act or Campaign Reporting Act, the Ethics Commission noted in a news release announcing its June 10 civil complaint, which it filed in the state’s 2nd Judicial District.

The complaint stems from an advertising campaign by the group that lobbied against a medical malpractice reform bill during the last legislative session. Proponents, such as Think New Mexico, said capping attorney fees and ending lump-sum payouts, among other proposals, would help address the state’s physician shortage.

The State Ethics Commission noted that the nonprofit correctly reported other spending during the session but failed to “report the contributions, pledges to contribute, expenditures and commitments to expend for the advertising campaign,” in 2024 within 15 days after the end of the 2025 legislative session, violating state law. The complaint showed photos of advertisements purchased in the Albuquerque Journal and Santa Fe New Mexican in addition to $56,000 in ads on Facebook. The Ethics Commission requested a judge order New Mexico Safety over Profit to fully account for spending in 2024 — including releasing the name and occupation of donors on the campaign — and to pay $5,000 in penalties.

In a written statement provided to Source, Lipschutz characterized the lawsuit as a “distraction and troubling escalation,” and said his organization is “confident that we have complied with both the letter and the spirit of New Mexico’s campaign finance laws.”

And, he said: “At a time when out-of-state hospital corporations and insurance interests are spending heavily to influence healthcare policy behind closed doors, it’s telling that the Ethics Commission has chosen to single out the one organization fighting to protect patients.”

New Mexicans have the right to know who is funding lobbying campaigns, State Ethics Commission Executive Director Jeremy Farris said in a written statement Monday.

“This right is particularly important when the lobbying campaign concerns how New Mexico should understand and address its shortage of healthcare professionals,” Farris said. “NMSOP has publicly stated that transparency and accountability are core to its mission, yet it refuses to comply with basic disclosure obligations required by the Lobbyist Regulation Act. This lawsuit is about ensuring that all organizations advocating for legislative change follow the same legal standard.”