New Chapter, New Mexico discloses no real address or leaders, and treasurer appears to be former GOP candidate

Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

A new political committee has recently purchased advertisements seeking to influence multiple New Mexico House of Representatives races, though little public information exists about who is behind the group or where its funding comes from.

New Chapter, New Mexico is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization that spent roughly $85,000 on mailers and social media advertisements of the $262,000 it has in its coffers, according to recent Secretary of State’s Office election filings.

A review of Facebook, Instagram and Google ad libraries shows the organization has purchased more than 50 digital ads, several dozen of which express support for or opposition to Democratic candidates in 10 state House races.

The ads generally laud the candidates for their opposition to President Donald Trump and feature voiceovers that sound artificially generated. The ads also attack several incumbents for voting in favor of providing state lawmakers with salaries, a proposition voters will decide via a ballot question in November.

The digital ads, which cost up to $16,000 according to a Source NM review, support incumbents and challengers, in contested and uncontested primaries alike, all over the state. The group also purchased mailers in at least one race with an open seat in support of Tilli Villalobos, who is running against Lori Martinez in the House District 37 Democratic primary.

In some cases, the ads back incumbents facing challenges, such as Reps. Marian Matthews (D-Albuquerque), Joseph Sanchez (D-Las Vegas) and Raymundo Lara (D-Chamberino). The group also placed ads in favor of incumbents in uncontested races in the June 2 primary, such as Patty Lundstrom (D-Gallup), Cynthia Borrego (D-Albuquerque), Art de La Cruz (D-Albuquerque) and House Speaker Javier Martinez (D-Albuquerque).

But the ads also back challengers in some of the Democratic primary races, such as Ambrose Castellano, who is seeking Gonzales’s House District 70 seat; Marsella Duarte Serna, who is seeking Rep. Yanira Gurrola’s seat; and Veronica Mireles, who is running against incumbent Rep. E. Diane Torres-Velásquez (D-Albuquerque) in the House District 30 primary.

Because the group is a 501(c)4, it is not required to disclose its donors. Secretary of State filings do not list a leader of the organization, and its address is at a Postnet location at a strip mall in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights neighborhoods. Postnet offers mailboxes for rent.

Source NM’s calls to a phone number the organization listed were not returned since last week.

New Chapter, New Mexico’s treasurer Greg Gallegos appears to be the same Greg Gallegos who ran as a Republican for House District 27 in 2024, a race he lost to incumbent Rep. Matthews. Gallegos’ phone number in filings for his 2024 House race is identical to the phone number for the Greg Gallegos listed as treasurer for New Chapter, New Mexico.

Gallegos is also listed as treasurer for a new political action committee called “Back Forty Action.” The committee’s YouTube page has four campaign ads, uploaded within the last week, that express support for Debbie Rodella, who is facing Yolanda Jaramillo in the House District 41 Democratic primary, and Ramona Martinez, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena (D-Mesilla) in the House District 33 race.

In a brief interview Thursday, Gallegos declined to identify the leaders of New Chapter, New Mexico. He also said he’d made a “typo” when he listed his home address in recent filings as “Katy, N.M.” He lives in Katy, Texas.

Gallegos did not respond to repeated requests for comment Monday.

In an email to supporters Thursday, Neri Holguin, who is incumbent Rep. Gonzales’ campaign manager, blasted New Chapter as an “anonymous and well funded dark money group” that is “flooding Facebook and Instagram with attack ads against Anita.”

The group’s advertisements for Castellano, the challenger, describe him as a “No B.S. Democrat” who will take on Trump and “lower costs, fix health care, public schools and stand with workers.”

As for Gonzales, the ad says she gave “herself a massive pay raise while defunding schools.”

Holguin said the reference to “defunding schools” is an apparent reference to House Bill 80, which increased the percentage of state funds used to clean up abandoned wells and polluted sites. The bipartisan bill passed both chambers unanimously during the legislative session earlier this year.

“Their argument is that making oil and gas pay for its own cleanup means less money for education,” Holguin wrote. “That’s nonsense.”

In another race, the group’s advertisements laud incumbent Rep. Matthews for her “big heart and real results — two things Donald Trump knows nothing about.”

Matthews’ challenger, Abby Foster, criticized Matthews in a news release Monday for accepting the help from groups like New Chapter that are “truly ‘bad actors’ who deserve to be driven out of politics. It is hugely disappointing that Marian embraces them,” she said.

Matthews told Source NM on Monday that she’d never heard of New Chapter, New Mexico and does not know why the group would decide to buy ads supporting her.

“That is not an organization that I’ve heard anything about,” she said.

Patrick Lohmann is a reporter for Source New Mexico.