MRGCD board election Tuesday

Tuesday, June 6, is Election Day for four positions on the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District Board of Directors. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Seven members serve on the MRGCD board: three from Bernalillo County; one each from Sandoval, Socorro and Valencia counties; and one in an at-large position. Terms are four years.

At stake in this election are two of the Bernalillo County seats and the Socorro County and Sandoval County seats.

Seven candidates — two each in three contested races and one who is unopposed — are on the ballot. They are:

Position No. 3 – Bernalillo County: Incumbent Karen Dunning of Los Ranchos is facing Pat McCraw, who lives in the Albuquerque’s South Valley.

Position No. 4 – Bernalillo County: Joaquin Baca is unopposed in his bid to succeed Adrian Oglesby, who did not seek a new term.

Position No. 6 – Socorro County: James Lee Martin, who lives in Lemitar, is facing Valerie Moore, also of Lemitar.

Position No. 7 – Sandoval County: Incumbent Derrick J. Lente of Sandia Pueblo is facing Orlando J. Lucero of Bernalillo.

MRGCD serves 11,000 irrigators, delivering water to 70,000 acres of cropland along 150 miles of the Rio Grande from Cochiti Dam to the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge. Board members also make decisions that affect drainage, flood control, fish and wildlife and recreation. People must own property in the area benefitted by the conservancy district to be eligible to vote.

For a list of polling places and other election information, go to www. mrgcd.com.