New Mexico's Five-Layer Soros / MacArthur Infrastructure (2006–2026)

Follow the Money. Follow the Water. Follow the Policy. A source-backed timeline of how 20 years of coordinated Open Society Foundations and MacArthur Foundation investment — together with an allied media and advocacy chain — is documented in New Mexico public records across electoral, civic, prosecutorial, and political systems, 2006–2026.

How to read this. Dollar figures and relationships are compiled from public records — FEC and NM CFIS campaign-finance filings, IRS Form 990s, foundation grant announcements, county and state public-health and crime data, and documented journalism. These are documented connections and network mapping — not legal conclusions, and not allegations of unlawful conduct by any named person or organization. Donating to a candidate or funding a nonprofit is lawful, protected activity.

Layer 1 — Electoral Infrastructure: Secretary of State (2006–2014)

• Mary Herrera won NM Secretary of State in 2006 with 54.2% (an 8.4-point margin). The Secretary of State Project — a 527 funded by George Soros and Democracy Alliance donors — contributed $50,000 to her 2006 campaign, ~10% of her budget (per Ballotpedia & Center for Public Integrity).

• Maggie Toulouse Oliver: in 2014 the Soros-funded super PAC “SoS for Democracy” ran ads against her opponent. She won, remains in office as of 2026, and is a 2026 candidate for Governor (NM In Depth/KUNM, 2014).

Layer 2 — Civic Infrastructure: OSF Open Places Initiative (2013 →)

• April 2013: an Open Society Foundations Open Places Initiative planning grant (~$100,000) went to an Albuquerque coalition — one of eight U.S. sites (PR Newswire/OSF, 2013).

• Documented partners: New Mexico Voices for Children, NM Center on Law and Poverty, SouthWest Organizing Project, Native American Voters Alliance, and OLÉ.

• These groups form a civic-advocacy infrastructure documented in 2026 endorsing dozens of NM legislative candidates.

Layer 3 — Prosecutorial Reform: DA Election + MacArthur SJC (2016–2022)

• Public records show $107,000 from George Soros to the NM Safety & Justice 527 PAC, backing Raúl Torrez's successful 2016 Bernalillo County DA race (NM In Depth, 2016; InfluenceWatch).

• That PAC spent ~$92,500 on media/ad buys (via BerlinRosen) and ~$11,500 on polling; registered through Perkins Coie, DC, treasurer Whitney Tymas.

• Conviction rate is disputed: the NM Legislative Finance Committee reported it fell to 59% (2020); Torrez's office called that data “erroneous” and asserts ~83% (KOB, Jan 2022). District judges separately documented a 65% dismissal/acquittal/mistrial rate on grand-jury trial cases (2019).

• MacArthur Safety + Justice Challenge: Bernalillo joined as a $50,000 Innovation Fund site (Oct 2018), Behavioral Health Diversion area; partners APD, Sheriff, DA, Public Defender; Stepping Up Innovator (Mar 2020); Pretrial Equity Transformation Network (2022).

• Local funding confirmed: Nov 2014, ~69% of voters approved a 1/8% (0.125%) gross-receipts tax for behavioral/mental health (effective July 2015); now ~$22M/year, governed by the Albuquerque–Bernalillo County Governing Commission. This is separate from MacArthur's $22M national expansion grant.

Layer 4 — Political Elevation: District Attorney → Attorney General (2023 →)

• Raúl Torrez took office as NM Attorney General in 2023.

• As AG, he led or joined 36 lawsuits against the federal administration in 2025 — ~$12 billion in federal funding at stake — beginning Jan. 21, 2025 (Source New Mexico, Dec 2025).

• Cases span SNAP cuts, education (ARPA) funds, tariffs, National Guard deployments, and immigration-enforcement grant conditions (NM DOJ releases, 2025).

Layer 5 — The Network's 2026 Candidates

• Maggie Toulouse Oliver — Secretary of State (Soros-backed 2014), 2026 Governor candidate.

• Raúl Torrez — Attorney General (Soros-backed DA 2016), reported possible Governor candidate.

• NMVC Action Fund — 501(c)(4) aligned with NM Voices for Children; 2026 slate endorses Deb Haaland + 40+ NM House candidates (nmvcaf.org).

• CVNM Action Fund — PAC arm of Conservation Voters NM (~$1.4M revenue, 2024); endorses Deb Haaland for Governor (cvnm.org).

• Deb Haaland — former U.S. Interior Secretary, 2026 Governor candidate carrying NMVC and CVNM endorsements.

Media Chain — BerlinRosen's Documented Client Network

The firm paid ~$92.5K by the Soros-funded NM Safety & Justice PAC in 2016 is among the most active progressive communications firms nationally. The 2022 cycle alone shows ~$12.9M in reported payments (OpenSecrets):

• Dan Goldman for New York — $5,010,374 (49 payments)

• New York State Democratic Committee — $1,301,460

• Color of Change — $1,045,850

• Working Families Party — $980,585

• Open Democracy PAC — $686,798

• Leaders We Deserve — $194,000 digital ads (FEC Schedule E, 2024)

These are the firm's broader national clients — shared-vendor context, not a claim each is tied to the 2016 New Mexico race.

Quality-of-Life Outcomes During the Investment Era

Documented from government/public sources; correlation with the funding timeline is context, not proof of cause — many factors influence crime and public health.

• Auto theft: Albuquerque MSA #1 nationally per-capita in 2016, 2017 & 2018 (NICB Hot Spots).

• Homicides: 117 in Albuquerque in 2021, up ~46% (NM Legislative Finance Committee).

• Overdose deaths: 456 in Bernalillo in 2021, ~44% of the state total; fentanyl in ~69% (City of ABQ/BernCo, Vital Strategies).

• Homelessness: 2,740 counted in Albuquerque on Jan 29, 2024, ~half unsheltered (ABQ Journal / NM Coalition to End Homelessness).

---

Sources

• NM In Depth — Soros super PAC, Torrez 2016 ($107K) — https://nmindepth.com/2016/soros-funded-super-pac-supports-torrez-in-bernco-da-race-with-107k/

• InfluenceWatch — New Mexico Safety and Justice (527) — https://www.influencewatch.org/political-party/new-mexico-safety-and-justice/

• PR Newswire / OSF — Open Places Initiative grants (2013) — https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grants-awarded-to-nonprofits-in-eight-regions-to-design-plans-for-lasting-local-change-201920471.html

• MacArthur Foundation — SJC expands to 52 cities/counties — https://www.macfound.org/press/press-releases/safety-and-justice-challenge-expands-52-cities-counties

• Safety and Justice Challenge — Bernalillo County, NM — https://safetyandjusticechallenge.org/our-network/bernalillo-county-nm/

• Ballotpedia — Secretary of State Project ($50K to Herrera, 2006) — https://ballotpedia.org/Secretary_of_State_Project

• Source New Mexico — AG Torrez, 36 lawsuits (2025) — https://sourcenm.com/2025/12/31/a-year-of-suing-the-trump-administration-qa-with-new-mexico-ag-raul-torrez/

• NMVC Action Fund — 2026 endorsements — https://www.nmvcaf.org/2026-endorsements

• CVNM — Action Fund endorses Deb Haaland — https://cvnm.org/cvnm-action-fund-endorses-deb-haaland-for-governor/

• NM Legislative Finance Committee — 2022 Crime Memo — https://nmlegis.gov/Entity/LFC/Documents/Program_Evaluation_Progress_Reports/LFC%20Crime%20Memo_FINAL%202022.pdf

• OpenSecrets — BerlinRosen vendor profile (2022) — https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2022&vendor=BerlinRosen

• KOB — DA responds to LFC conviction-rate analysis — https://www.kob.com/archive/district-attorney-responds-to-lfc-report-on-rebuttable-presumption/

For educational and informational purposes only. Findings are research drawn from public records and do not constitute legal conclusions or advice.