Doug Turner to Grovel for Money from Trump Donors at Mar-a-Lago

Apr

2026

PRESS RELEASE

Doug Turner to Grovel for Money from Trump Donors at Mar-a-Lago

On the second day of voting, Turner chooses Trump mansion over New Mexicans

On May 6th, GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Turner won't be campaigning in New Mexico, despite being virtually unknown to voters. Instead, he will be at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, rubbing shoulders with high-dollar Trump donors at a fundraiser benefitting his fledgling campaign.

The invitation for the high-dollar fundraiser asks for $10,00 or $25,000 contributions and describes Turner as “poised to shape the future of American energy independence, national security, and secure President Trump’s America First Agenda.” It also lists Alaska Republican candidate for Governor, Bernadette Wilson, as a “special guest” alongside Turner.

“On the second day of early voting, Doug Turner won’t be in New Mexico talking to voters; instead, he’ll be groveling for $25,000 checks from Trump donors at the epicenter of out-of-touch MAGA absurdity, Mar-a-Lago. Choosing to hold a ‘seated-dinner’ fundraiser at the Mar-a-Lago mansion instead of campaigning in New Mexico shows MAGA Dougie’s priorities lie with the failed national GOP agenda instead of working for New Mexicans,” said Democratic Party of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Garcia. “This entire lackluster GOP gubernatorial field is backing the Trump presidency of rising costs and unaffordable healthcare, and whoever wins the primary will have to answer to New Mexicans for it in the general election.”

In the primary, all three Republican gubernatorial candidates are pandering to the right of the primary electorate, unconcerned with the accountability they’ll face in the general election for their Trump-aligned positions. Doug Turner, Gregg Hull, and the Republican Party of New Mexico continue the GOP’s long-held opposition to New Mexico’s universal early childcare by failing to call on Rodriguez to drop his lawsuit to eliminate the successful program, essentially supporting the Duke of Scottsdale’s attempt. In fact, when asked about early childcare at a candidate forum earlier this week, Turner and Hull skirted around the subject, refusing to clearly address their stance on it.

In Trump’s second term, it is critical that New Mexico has a Democratic governor. New Mexicans remember how disastrous the last Republican governor was, whose cuts to education and healthcare took years to recover from. Whereas Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has stepped up to protect reproductive healthcare, implement universal childcare, and proactively respond to Trump’s healthcare cuts and rising costs of living.