New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign sputtered out earlier this year, but the campaign found at least one alternative use for the money it raised. The Las Cruces Sun-News reported Thursday that the campaign donated $10,000 to efforts to get a spaceport sales tax approved in Sierra County, New Mexico, in April. That donation was the single largest contribution to “People for Aerospace”, the group that spearheaded the pro-spaceport tax effort; the group raised about $105,000 overall. “He was a supporter,” Gary Whitehead, chairman of People for Aerospace, told the Sun-News. “It’s been kind of his project and he certainly wanted it to be successful and he was willing to invest in the success of the election.” Voters in Sierra County approved the tax by a two-to-one margin in April.
[…] Richardson’s campaign legacy […]
I’ve always wondered what happens to all that money a candidate raises who then drops out.
In Richardson’s case, his campaign was in debt at the time he dropped out. They’re still trying to raise money to cover it.
There was a correction issued in the Las Cruces Sun-News stating that Governor Richardson’s donation to “People For Aerospace came from his Richardson for Governor campaign fund and not his Richardson for President campaign.
Governor Richardson is term limited and can not run for a third consecutive term as Governor in New Mexico.