.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

SANTA FE, N.M. — Surpassing $1 million in the final quarter of 2019, former CIA operative Valerie Plame ended the year as the top money raiser of all candidates in the race for the 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by Ben Ray Luján, who is running for seat now occupied by retiring U.S. Sen. Tom Udall.

Plame, a Democrat from Santa Fe, raised more than $427,000 from more than 13,700 donors in the final three months of 2019, bringing her total to $1.11 million, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

“A campaign’s values are reflective of who its message inspires to donate,” Plame said in a statement. “It’s encouraging that we’ve had thousands of contributions from regular working people and that our average amount is so modest.”

Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Santa Fe attorney, raised the second most among the 3rd Congressional District candidates, collecting $284,179 in the fourth quarter of 2019 to raise her fundraising total to $682,398.

Since reporting the data to the FEC, Leger Fernandez has earned endorsements from the Latino Victory Fund and Sierra Club.

First Judical District Attorney Marco Serna raised $151,411 in the final quarter of 2019, bringing his total for the year to $502,958.