Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), who is seeking a third term this November, has made it a point on the campaign trail to brand his Republican challenger, ex-hedge fund executive Nella Domenici, as out-of-touch for her ties to Wall Street. That hasn’t stopped Heinrich from raking in donations from financial industry political action committees, as well as private equity, hedge fund, and venture capitalist firm executives, records show.
Over roughly the last decade, PACs associated with major banks steered more than $330,000 to Heinrich’s campaign and leadership PAC, according to Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
The New Mexico Democrat, filings show, also accepted at least $450,000 from executives at influential firms.
Heinrich’s willingness to pocket the checks, including this election cycle, will likely open him up to hypocrisy charges from Republicans as the Democrat runs against Domenici. In a fundraising email last month, Heinrich said Domenici has “built a career out of making the ultra-wealthy wealthier,” citing the Republican candidate’s financial disclosure showing she and her husband hold up to $94 million in assets.
Domenici used to work at Bridgewater Associates, a Connecticut-based investment firm, as well as Citadel, Credit Suisse, and other companies. She is the daughter of the late former New Mexico Republican senator Pete Domenici, who died in 2017.
“Well once you’ve made your fortune off selling out national interests and exploiting American workers, the next logical step is obviously the U.S. Senate,” Heinrich posted on social media in June in response to an article on Domenici.
Upon Domenici entering the race, Heinrich told supporters in a fundraising email that he’s “not in this fight to prop up Wall Street,” highlighting his Republican challenger’s “long career as a hedge fund executive.”
Still, executives have continued to boost Heinrich’s campaign, according to filings. They work at top firms such as Bain Capital, Blackrock, Blackstone, Lone Pine Capital, and Schooner Capital.
And Heinrich’s campaign and leadership PAC, filings show, hasn’t sworn off donations from the likes of banking giant UBS, the American Bankers Association, Citigroup, Blackrock, Wells Fargo, and other corporate PACs, according to a Washington Examiner analysis.
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Heinrich’s campaign did not return a request for comment.
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections tracker, rates his Senate seat as “solid” blue. Still, a recent poll commissioned by Domenici and the National Republican Senatorial Committee found Heinrich leading the GOP hopeful by just three percentage points.