New Mexico group seeks to ban all corporate, ‘dark’ money spending on politics

A new coalition concerned about money’s growing influence on New Mexico politics is urging state lawmakers to consider legislation this January that would ban corporations from political spending. 

The newly formed group, Money Out of Politics New Mexico, announced Thursday that it was launching a campaign modeled after similar efforts in Montana and Hawaii. Chair Natalie Wright Curley told Source NM that eliminating corporate and “dark” money from politics is a key step in returning democracy to the hands of regular people instead of the wealthy.

The “Corporate Money Out of Politics Act” would revoke corporations’ power to donate to political campaigns or ballot measures. 

Wright, a patent attorney, argues that states have constitutional authority under the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution — which grants all powers to states that are not explicitly granted to the federal government — gives the Legislature authority to regulate state-issued corporate charters. That includes revoking corporate ability to spend money directly on campaigns or political action committees. 

The legislation aims to bypass the 2010 Citizens United ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited funds on campaigns. 

In May, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signed Act 11, which established new restrictions on political spending activities by corporations and other “artificial persons” and limited the powers granted to those entities.

Groups including the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce have already challenged the law in court on First Amendment grounds, citing the Citizens United ruling.

Montana voters this November will also have a chance to pass a similar law through a ballot initiative known as the Montana Plan. 

According to Wright’s group, corporations and businesses have spent at least $3.7 million on various political campaigns so far in 2026. The group, citing news reports and Secretary of State’s Office filings, has totaled at least $2.6 million in “dark or otherwise opaque” spending this year, as well.

So-called “dark” money refers to donations from corporations or others funneled through Super PACs, a practice that leaves the public unable to determine donors’ identities. 

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Wright said her group has already received tentative interest from lawmakers interested in carrying the bill, though the coalition is still securing a sponsor for the 60-day session beginning Jan. 19. 

The bill is necessary to begin to undo the damage of unfettered corporate spending in politics over the last 16 years, she said. 

“After Citizens United came out in 2010, I think it totally changed how our democracy operated,” she said. “It just really concerns me, how that’s continued to grow and be a problem, and how it affects the voices of everyday Americans.”

The group’s proposal follows a suite of legislative ethics reform proposals unveiled earlier this week by the think tank Think New Mexico, including several aimed at closing loopholes around “dark” money in state politics.