The least Trumpy of the three GOP governor candidates is not shy about cozying up to the president and his pals as the campaign enters its final frantic weeks and still with no clear front-runner.

ABQ businessman Doug Turner, a longtime moderate, raised Republican eyebrows with his response when he was asked if he was a MAGA Republican. He replied that he is more of "an independent." 

But it is Turner and not his rivals Gregg Hull or Duke Rodriguez who will benefit from a fund-raiser at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club next week. And now Turner's tepid reaction to Trumpism is being rewarded again with an endorsement from a prominent New Mexican who works in the Trump administration, former US Rep. Yvette Herrell. 

Herrell, who was ousted from her congressional seat in 2020 by Dem Gabe Vasquez after serving one term and who now labors as an assistant secretary for congressional relations in the U.S. Department of Agriculture appointed by the president, came with this:

I'm proud to fully endorse Doug Turner in the Republican primary for New Mexico Governor! I know that Doug is the candidate we can trust to stand up for our conservative values and shake things up in Santa Fe. He has the plan, experience, and backbone needed to stop the radical progressive agenda that’s holding our state back - and turn New Mexico around. I encourage New Mexico Republicans to join me in backing Doug Turner for Governor all the way!" 

Herrell is close to Trump. How close? She voted against certifying the 2020 election that he lost and doubled down by voting against an independent commission to investigate the deadly January 6 capital insurrection. 

Herrell is also close to the state's oil boys. So are many others working to get the Trump crowd  on board with Turner even if he may not be a grassroots favorite. 

Trump has made no official endorsement in the GOP primary. 

MONEY WARS

Hull and Rodriguez

Can Turner fund-raise off that Herrell endorsement and also turn his Mar-a-Lago invite into a festival of dollars? He has raised half a million so far and consultants say he will need at least that much and perhaps more to finish off the campaign. 

The prospect of him doing so appears to have caught the eye of fellow businessman Duke Rodriguez who has pledged to spend upwards of $2 million of personal money on the primary. But Rodriguez has hedged on putting up the entire amount at once. He reported donating $1 million in the early going but now as the money wars escalate, he tells us he is dipping into that second million: 

In my last report, we were already near $350,000 spent. Since then, we’ve added roughly $150,000 in radio, $165,000 in billboards, and $400,000 in television—pushing well past the $1 million mark. And that still doesn’t include direct mail, additional print, targeted billboards in key markets, digital marketing, or streaming ads that are already underway or about to launch. We’ve already deployed more than my two opponents are likely to raise—combined—whether measured by what they’ve spent or what they have on hand. With record-high undecided voters and a wide-open race, even average turnout creates a perfect storm. They’ll run out of money before they ever break through. Make no mistake: we are fully committed, we are in deep.

Veteran observers, including this one, can't recall a later starting GOP Guv campaign. None of the candidates has begun their major media although that could happen any day now. 

With three mostly unknown hopefuls, campaign experts like Democrat Terry Brunner believe the race could be decided by the quality and quantity of the TV ads that the GOP trio produces:

I actually think it could come down to who puts up the most ads in the final month. 

That's all the more reason the fund-raising of Turner and Hull is so crucial and why there will be continued pressure on Rodriguez to spend even more than the $2 million he is already in for. 

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.