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Getting the corrupting influence of big money out of our political campaigns must be the clarion call for every thoughtful American who cares about the future of our country.  Whether it鈥檚 the lack of affordable healthcare, the horrific gun violence in our schools and streets, the climate chaos killing our planet or the wars abroad 鈥� every issue we care about has been usurped by the artificial intelligence, crypto currency and other big money interests putting their thumbs on the scale for their preferred candidates. Recent news coverage about the dark money flowing into the New Mexico State Land commissioner and secretary of state races confirms that our cherished democratic values in New Mexico are threatened.

Corporate political power has grown as rapidly as the number of billionaires and multimillionaires who are funding it. Two years ago, 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion to purchase candidates and influence our elections. With unprecedented outside spending from Super political action committees, dark money organizations and misleading 鈥渟hell pacs鈥� already underway in the 2026 primaries, the Democratic Party of New Mexico was the first in the country to seriously tackle this problem when more than 90% of the delegates at the Pre-Primary Convention in April voted in favor of the People鈥檚 Primary Pledge. The pledge is aptly named because the goal is to return our primary elections to the people.

We want our Democratic Party primary election to be a contest of ideas, not a contest between billionaires and Super PACs.  Voters must have confidence that the primary elections are fair and the candidates we choose will represent the people鈥檚 interests, not the interests of Big Money.  Working class voters should have no doubt that the candidates chosen in our primaries are not beholden to the same billionaires and corporations that are exploiting and hurting us.

There is no easy fix but pay attention to which candidates have disavowed any benefits from dark money interests operating in the shadows. Voters are being deluged with mailers and social media advertisements paid for by innocuous sounding groups pulling strings to support one candidate over another. Enough is enough. New Mexicans won鈥檛 be bought. And neither will those candidates who reject corporate and Super PAC money in their races.

I applaud the leaders and rank-and-file in the Democratic Party of New Mexico for taking the corrupting influence of unregulated and unlimited Super PAC money in our primary elections seriously and setting the example for the rest of the country with a strong People鈥檚 Primary Pledge resolution.  Learn more about it at

Lora Lucero is a retired city planner, lawyer and editor.