The Roundhouse shrouded in darkness on a recent night. New disclosure data from the Secretary of State’s Office shows that 2025 saw the most lobbyist expenditures in recent years. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)
Lobbyists reported spending nearly $1 million so far in 2025, the highest total in at least five years even though the year is far from over.
State law requires lobbyists to disclose their expenditures by May 7 of this year, covering the period including the 2025 legislative session. Lobbyists must disclose costs for things like meals, entertainment, advertisements or other items of value they procure to influence lawmakers.
As of Friday morning, about 70 of roughly 665 registered New Mexico lobbyists had not yet filed their legally required disclosures, according to Alex Curtas, spokesperson for the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office.
So far this year, lobbyists spent a little more than $965,000, according to the latest filings. They are required to disclose expenditures again in October and then in January 2026.
The biggest spender, by far, this year was Missi Currier, CEO of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. According to her latest spending report, she paid the McGuire Woods Consulting firm for multiple campaigns against various “anti-industry” bills, often costing several thousands dollars at a time. She also disclosed a $166,000 payment to a consulting firm for a paid advertisement campaign.
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In total, according to Secretary of State records, Currier paid more than $360,000 to influence lawmakers this year. That’s more than one-third of the total lobbyist spending so far this year.
Notably, Currier voluntarily disclosed some of the bill numbers she was lobbying against during the 60-day legislative session.
They are House Bill 34, which would have required new environmental and health reviews to the state Oil Conservation Division’s review process; Senate Bill 48, which creates a community benefit fund to tackle climate change; House Bill 35, which would prohibit oil and gas operations within a mile of schools; and Senate Bill 4, the Clear Horizons Act.
All but Senate Bill 48 failed in the Legislature.
Lawmakers this year tried to enact requirements for lobbyists to disclose what bills they were lobbying on, along with their employers’ positions on those bills. National government transparency group Open Secrets recently ranked New Mexico near the bottom of the list nationally when it comes to lobbyist transparency.
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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham earlier this year vetoed House Bill 143, the lobbyist disclosure bill. She wrote that, while she supported the bill’s intent, it would impose “an onerous requirement” on lobbyists and their employers and that some of its provisions were unclear.
Without the requirement, much of the spending disclosed this week was categorized with vague descriptions such as “dinner for lawmakers,” or “lunch for Governor’s staff.”
New Mexico law also does not require lobbyists to disclose how much they’re being paid. That means that, even as the number of disclosed lobbyist spending is increasing, it’s still just the “tip of the iceberg,” said Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-NM), a cosponsor of the lobbyist disclosure bill.
“As eye popping as those numbers may be,” Steinborn told Source NM on Friday, “I would submit it dwarfs what is being spent to hire the lobbyists themselves.”
Mason Graham, spokesperson for good government group Common Cause, said the increase in lobbyist spending is disturbing given how little lobbyists are required to disclose and also reflects the sheer amount of power lobbyists have over a volunteer Legislature.
“Something that we continue to advocate for is increasing the length of the legislative session and for legislators to receive a salary,” he said. “Without those two things, legislators are really kind of reliant on lobbyists.”
See a chart below showing the top five biggest lobbyist expenditures each year for the last five years:
This post was originally authored and published by Patrick Lohmann from via RSS Feed. to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
