Submitted by By Adam Prior, Republican nominee for New Mexico House District 44
New Mexico’s doctor shortage is not abstract. It is a family waiting months for a specialist, a senior driving hours for care or a rural hospital struggling to stay open. Medical-malpractice policy affects patients’ rights and whether physicians can afford to practice here.
Recent reporting by The Santa Fe New Mexican found that the Committee on Individual Responsibility, the political action committee associated with the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, gave $937,000 to politicians or their committees over six years, plus $442,200 to broader political committees. That spending deserves public scrutiny.
In District 44, Representative Kathleen Cates serves on the House Health and Human Services Committee. Campaign-finance records show she received $15,000 from COIR across three election cycles: $2,000 in 2022, $5,000 in 2023, $5,000 in 2024, and $3,000 in December 2025. The latest contribution belongs to the 2026 cycle. Current-cycle filings through June 27 also list $8,100 from donors identifying as lawyers. That does not establish that they are trial lawyers, malpractice attorneys or association members; only the $3,000 PAC contribution is confirmed association money.
Contributions alone do not prove corruption or a purchased vote. Cates voted for House Bill 99, the bipartisan 2026 malpractice compromise. It passed the House 66-3, passed the Senate 40-2 and was signed by the governor. Claims that she opposed final passage are false.
Still, transparency matters. Voters should know when groups with direct legislative interests finance campaigns of lawmakers shaping policy.
If elected, I will protect legitimate patients’ rights while working to recruit and retain physicians, stabilize rural care and keep policymaking open. Trial lawyers, hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies and political parties deserve a hearing, but none should write our laws behind closed doors. District 44 deserves facts, balance, complete disclosure and a representative who is always fully accountable first to the public.
Author disclosure: Adam Prior is challenging Representative Kathleen Cates in the November 3, 2026 general election.