Filmmaker running for governor as an independent
A young filmmaker is jumping into the race for governor of New Mexico, launching an independent campaign as an unabashed political newcomer.
Christopher Michael Roybal, 34, said he has been a Democrat for much of his voting life but is running without a party for New Mexico’s top job “to give people other options.”
“Running as an independent is my way to take a stand and say I’m rejecting labels,” he said.
Roybal said he has not been involved much in politics. Raised in El Valle de Arroyo Seco near Española, he graduated from St. Michael’s High School and the University of Southern California and runs his own film production company, Incredible Films, based in Albuquerque. The firm lists a string of clients and collaborators ranging from the state Children, Youth and Families Department and National Hispanic Cultural Center to Wal-Mart and Intel.
But he said Monday, a year out from the 2018 gubernatorial election, that he aims to represent — or at least engage — everyday New Mexicans and described his campaign as like a yearlong service project.
Roybal’s platform calls for fostering more affordable housing, alleviating hunger and eliminating pay disparities between men and women. He also says the state must seriously consider legalizing and taxing recreational cannabis.
He supports open primary elections and easing restrictions on ballot access. “By fostering more open elections, more open primaries, we get the opportunity to look at people instead of candidates, instead of parties,” he said.
Roybal said at least half the donations from his campaign will go to what he described as other worthy causes.
Getting on the ballot as an independent candidate will require thousands of signatures, however.
The New Mexico Secretary of State will not publish exactly how many signatures are required until March 1.
But generally, independent candidates must collect signatures totaling 3 percent of the number of votes cast in the last race. About 500,000 people voted for governor in 2014.
The state has not seen a third party or independent candidate for governor since the Green Party’s David Bacon won about 5 percent of the vote in 2002.
The minimum age to serve as governor of New Mexico is 30.
Four candidates are running for the Democratic Party’s nomination to become the next governor: U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Jeff Apodaca, state Sen. Joe Cervantes and Peter Debenedittis. One Republican, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, is seeking his party’s nod for the post in the June primary elections.