Daughter of this blue bastion’s last Republican senator shatters state Republican fundraising record

FIRST ON FOX — The daughter of New Mexico’s last Republican senator has set a new fundraising record for a GOP Senate candidate in the blue-leaning southwestern state.

Nella Domenici’s campaign announced early Friday that the candidate brought in over $1.25 million from mid-January, when she launched her bid, through the end of last month, which brought to a close the January-March first quarter of 2024 fundraising. Domenici’s campaign cash figures were shared first with Fox News Digital.

Domenici, the daughter of former longtime Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, is the presumptive GOP nominee and is aiming to defeat Democrat Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is running in November for a third six-year term representing New Mexico in the Senate. 

The $1.25 million haul is being touted as the largest fundraising total of any Republican U.S. Senate candidate in New Mexico history for the first quarter of an election year.

DAUGHTER OF NEW MEXICO’S LAST GOP SENATOR LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN

Nella Domenici is running for U.S. Senate in New Mexico. Her late father, former Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., is seen with President George W. Bush in January 2004. (Handout)

Domenici’s campaign also showcased that she received donations from more than 1,100 individuals. 

“What an incredible outpouring of broad support in such a short amount of time – New Mexico is truly ready for a change,” Domenici said in a statement.

And she argued that “for too long, New Mexico has been hurt by career politicians like Martin Heinrich who have put their extreme progressive ideology ahead of solving problems and the best interests of New Mexicans.”

Henrich has yet to announce his first-quarter fundraising. He brought in nearly $4.5 million last year and ended 2023 with roughly $3.5 million cash-on-hand in his campaign coffers, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images/File)

Pete Domenici served for 36 years in the Senate before retiring at the beginning of 2009 at the end of his sixth term.

The legacy of her father, who died in 2017, gives the younger Domenici a powerful political brand and plenty of name recognition in New Mexico.

And with decades of her own experience in the finance industry at Bridgewater Associates (where she served as chief financial officer), Credit Suisse and Citadel Investment group, Domenici comes with a broad fundraising network of her own. She said when announcing her bid that she would make an initial investment of a half million dollars.

Domenici also has the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, which encouraged her run. 

The Fox News Power Rankings for 2024 Senate races (Fox News)

But New Mexico, which was once a general election battleground, in recent cycles has shifted to the left and is no longer considered a crucial swing state.

President Biden carried the state by 10 points in 2020, and it’s been 15 years since a Republican held a Senate seat in the state.

And Heinrich won re-election in 2018, which was a blue-wave cycle, by more than 30 points.