Records: Ex-candidate was paid by rival before exiting race

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Campaign finance records indicate that a former candidate for New Mexico governor was paid $14,000 by a Democratic rival a day before announcing his exit from the race. Peter DeBenedittis told the Albuquerque Journal on Thursday that candidate Jeff Apodaca had paid him for an email list and to be a campaign spokesman after he had decided to drop out of the race. DeBenedittis says he was unemployed at the time, and the move was not improper. He says he was "trying to leverage the assets in my campaign into assets I can survive off of." Apodaca's campaign finance reports show the $4,000 and $10,000 payments to "Peter D and Company" of Santa Fe on March 13. DeBenedittis announced his withdrawal the next day. ___ Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com