NMID tracks October campaign filings

Today is a filing day for New Mexico candidates, the first for the general election. NMID will track 17 key legislative races — plus the secretary of state contest and check out the super PACs too — as Republicans fight to hold their two-year majority in the House and Democrats battle to keep control of the Senate.

Plenty to uncover in the Openness Project

If you’re a money-in-politics geek, you’ll love the Openness Project. New Mexico’s Campaign Finance Information System operated by the Secretary of State’s office is a great resource that has improved in recent years, with bulk downloads and more. But the Openness Project enhances that data with graphics, details and a more accessible way to examine the data over four election cycles. So, here are a few things one can learn from surfing around the Openness Project that it might otherwise take a lot of digging to find out:

Democratic Attorney General Hector Balderas and Lt. Gov. John Sanchez have plenty of cash in the bank, topping the list of candidates. Neither is running for office in 2016, but might they be preparing for 2018 when Gov. Susana Martinez leaves office?